182 Items (typed unbound pages with solid wood covers)
Container:
Box 1, Folder 9
Type:
Archival materials
Diaries
Place:
China
Beijing (China)
China -- Description and Travel
Date:
1925-1926
Scope and Contents note:
Binding removed, 9 ½" x 6". 182 pages. First entry, 30 June 1925. Last entry, 13 March 1926. Inscribed, "The Memoirs of MA". Wood cover. In the introduction, March wrote, "Chronicles of Benjamin" had, for three years, served as a journal, notebook, and record for himself of places he visited. Said that since he's now not alone that it is fitting to rename his notes, "Memoirs of MA." (Chinese name of his family). ["Chronicles of Benjamin" may be found in Series V, subseries B, photo albums.]
Scope and Contents:
A diary typed by the young Chinese art scholar Benjamin March from June 1925 to March 1926 describing his life in China. Events include March's marriage to the author Dorothy Rowe (1898-1969) in Nanjing, their honeymoon in Hangzhou and Suzhou, and their subsequent life in Beijing. March describes hikes through scenic areas in Hangzhou and Beijing; his acquaintance with scholars such as John Calvin Ferguson and Alan Priest; attending performances by Ruth St. Denis and Mei Lanfang, and his work at Yenching University.
The Memoirs of Ma
Biographical / Historical:
East Asian art historian, curator and lecturer, Benjamin Franklin March Jr., was born in Chicago on July 4, 1899 to Benjamin and Isabel March. He studied, lectured, and wrote in the United States and China and through his works gained respect as one of the foremost authorities on Chinese art during the 1920s and 1930s. March was East Asian art lecturer at the University of Michigan, and curator of Asian art at the Detroit Institute of Art. Although he lived only thirty-five years, Benjamin March was a respected and influential scholar of Asian art.
Benjamin March Papers, FSA.A.1995.10. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Judith March Davis, 1995
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 00-112, Smithsonian Institution, Office of Product Development and Licensing, Product Development and Licensing Records
File consists of newspaper clippings, progress and board reports 1968-1982, Jean Crawford biographical statement clipped from Jugtown Pottery: History and Design, Jugtown pottery brochures, handwritten notes, Smithsonian Museum Shop order form, proposal for catalog of American handicrafts, correspondence and clippings regarding Dedham Pottery.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Ralph Rinzler papers and audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection of personal notebooks of civil engineers.
Scope and Contents note:
Mainly personal notebooks of engineers, although one is a listing of products of a manufacturer of gears and another is a compilation of shop orders for various products of a manufacturer. They generally contain technical descriptions, drawings, specifications, and financial data.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Notes, copy of accounts (undated) with numbers on the left "shop orders," copy of Dickson telegram to Edison Laboratory, copies of 3 handwritten pages "From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison" headed "Mem: Photography of the bottom of the Sea." and copies of articles, including 1 from The Photographic Times on Prof. Marey's "well-known apparatus for taking consecutive photographs of moving objects."
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Gordon Hendricks Motion Picture History Papers, 1895-1970, National Museum of American History.
The collection documents the inventive career of physicist and engineer Robert W. Kearns. Kearns invented and patented in 1967 the windshield wiper system with intermittent operation (US 3,351,836), among other inventions. The papers include notebooks, correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, patents, drawings, and trade literature.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes notebooks, correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, patents, drawings, and trade literature. Kearns held patents related to circuitry which are integral to electronic intermittent windshield wipers. The windshield wiper documentation consists of patents, correspondence, and a set of drawings from November 16, 1967 for Tann Company. Other documentation includes Kearns's work with the engineering firm Kearns and Law (brochures, shop orders, agreements); his National Bureau of Standards work, which consists of his personnel file and notebooks detailing his highway skid resistance research; and subject files that cover a range of topics that interested Kearns, such as radar, speed control, and electric cars. At the heart of the collection are 32 invention notebooks (1963-1986) belonging to Kearns as well as engineers he worked with including John Quan, Brian Ivan Brown, and Timothy Kearns, son of Robert Kearns. Bound, paginated, and dated, the notebooks contain sketches, schematics, calculations, data, telephone numbers, and details about materials, costs, testing data, and descriptions for many of Kearns's projects. The notebooks present a comprehensive overview of his ideas and are significant to understanding his creative process and how his ideas changed or did not change over time. The majority of the notebooks are arranged in chronological order and therefore researchers can see Kearns's work unfold. Many of the notebooks are stamped with a "PO" to indicate a "protective order" followed by a number, and many of the notebooks were used during court proceedings. The protective order restricted access to notebooks which were filed with the court, or to be filed with the court at a future date.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1957-1991
Series 2: Notebooks, 1954-1994
Series 3: Patents, 1957-1985
Series 4: Kearns and Law Engineers, 1957-1962
Series 5: Kearns Engineers, 1967-1985
Series 6: National Bureau of Standards, 1967-1972
Series 7: Ford Motor Company (Engineering Technical Education Program), 1964-1966
Series 8: Windshield Wiper Materials (Kearns vs. Ford Motor Company), 1962-1993
Series 9: Subject Files, 1965-1999
Series 10: Correspondence, 1989-1999
Biographical / Historical:
Robert William Kearns was born in Gary, Indiana on March 10, 1927 to Martin W. Kearns and Mary E. Kearns. One of three children, Kearns grewup in the Detroit area, graduating from the University of Detroit, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (1952); Wayne State University, Masters of Science in Engineering Mechanics (1957); and Case Western Reserve University, Ph.D. in engineering (1964). Kearns also earned certificates in nuclear reactor control from Argonne National Laboratories (1958 and 1959). He was a Corporal in the United States Army, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Strategic Services Unit (SSU); the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.) from July 31, 1945 to November 29, 1946.
Prior to joining the military in 1945, Kearns worked at Mercury Engineering Company (1943-1945) in Detroit as a draftsman preparing engineering shop drawings. After the war, Kearns joined the H & A Tool and Die Company (1946-1947), also in Detroit, as a draftsman preparing engineering shop drawings for the manufacture of the individual parts for machinery and special dies. Through the University of Detroit Cooperative Program with the National Bureau of Standards, he participated in an engineer in training program (1949-1952) where he executed a variety of standardized tests on engineering materials. He held a variety of engineering positions: designer/draftsman with Peerless Design Company, Detroit (1952); junior engineer with Burroughs Corporation Research Laboratories, Philadelphia (1952-1953); and engineer with Bendix Aviation Corporation, Detroit (1953-1957) where Kearns supervised and directed of a group of engineers responsible for the design of computer components, servomechanisms, control systems and related devices. Other duties included planning, liaison with other Bendix divisions, establishing test equipment requirements, as well as technical specifications and reports. In 1957, Kearns joined the faculty of Wayne State University, Department of Engineering Mechanics, as an assistant professor (1957-1963), later becoming an associate professor (1963-1967).
Kearns also established two independent businesses, the engineering firms of Kearns and Law (1963-1976) and Computer Central (1965-1976). Founded with partner Kenneth J. Law, an electrical engineer, Kearns and Law provided industry with consultation, research, design, and development services in the fields of computers, automatic controls and instrumentation. Computer Central manufactured a series of control components such as the Linear Range Comparator, Sign or Equality Binary Comparator, Identity Comparator, Dual Brush V-Scan Encoder Electronics, Gray Code to Binary Code Encoder Electronics, and Digital Difference to Analog Converters. Kearns served as Detroit's Commissioner of Buildings and Safety Engineering (1967-1971), where he acted as an administrator, overseeing professional engineering activities such as building inspections. Kearns moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1971 to become principal investigator for the highway skid resistance program at the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (1971-1976).
In 1967, Kearns invented and patented an electronic windshield wiper system with intermittent operation (US 3,351,836). Previous wiper systems were controlled by vacuum tubes. He installed his device on his 1962 Ford Galaxy and met with Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation in 1963 with the goal of manufacturing his idea and being a supplier to the auto industry. Kearns tried to commercialize the wiper through the Tann Corporation. In 1969, Kearns's intermittent windshield wiper was installed on Ford cars without his knowledge. He ultimately filed suit against Ford for patent infringement in 1978 (representing himself as Kearns Associates), seeking $141 million in damages (a figure eventually raised to $325 million). Kearns's purpose in pursuing litigation was not a cash award. Rather, he wanted the rightful ownership. In all, he filed lawsuits against 26 car manufacturers and other companies concerning the same patent (US 3,351,836). In July 1990, a federal jury ruled that Ford had unintentionally infringed on Kearns's patent and awarded him $10.2 million. In June 1992, Kearns was awarded $11 million from Chrysler. Kearns held over 30 patents, with the majority relating to windshield wipers.
Kearns died in 2005. He married Phyllis Hall (1932-2013) in 1953, divorcing in 1989. The couple had six children: Dennis Kearns (b.1954); Timothy Kearns (b.1956); Patrick Kearns (b.1958); Kathleen Corsetty (b. 1961); Maureen Kearns (b. 1964); and Bob Kearns (b. 1967).
Provenance:
Collection donated by the Estate of Robert W. Kearns, through Dennis Kearns and Maureen Kearns, 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some health-related materials in Series 6: National Bureau of Standards are restricted until 2055.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research. Some health-related materials in Series 6: National Bureau of Standards are restricted until 2055.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Robert W. Kearns Papers, 1963-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Nicholai H. Hiller Papers, 1891-1937, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Business Ventures. Product Development and Licensing Search this
Container:
Box 32 of 42
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted for 15 years. Any requests to access these records during the restriction period, including requests from the staff of Smithsonian Business Ventures, must first receive permission, in writing, from the Director of Product Development and Licensing, until Jan-01-2021; Transferring office; 08/16/1994 memorandum, Johnstone to Watson; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 07-001, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Business Ventures, Product Development and Licensing, Product and Contract Records
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company Records
Sponsor:
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
99.3 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Blueprints
Correspondence
Black-and-white photographs
Place:
Pittsburgh (Pa.)
Date:
1881-1950
Scope and Contents:
These records of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contain photographs of gas engines, steam turbines, machine tools, foundry and manufacturing methods, and automobile engines, 1896-1921; instruction books, bulletins, and catalogs, 1889-1950; engine lists for compound, junior compound, and standard engines, 1881-1913; blueprints, specifications, shop orders, and correspondence; record books for Corliss engines, turbines, pumps, 1900-1910; and drawings of Otto gas engines, 1900-1906, and Westinghouse pumps and engines, 1883-1921.
Arrangement:
The collection is unarranged.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
