The list of selected staff publications may be searched by keyword or author and can be sorted by year.
Publications
“The Inception of the World War II ‘Ike Jacket.’”
Military Collector and Historian 43 (Winter 1991): 146–153.
"Review of Improbable Warriors: Women Scientists and the U.S. Navy in World War II by Kathleen Broome Williams."
Technology and Culture 44 (2003): 439–440.
“Military Uniforms,”
in Dictionary of American History, ed. Stanley Kutler. 3rd ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons Reference Books. 2003.
Wallops Station and the Creation of an American Space Program.
Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration History Office, 1997.
This master's thesis explores the social and administrative history of the Wallops Island, V.A. launch facility during the early years of NASA.
“A Different Kind of Chemistry: a History of Tungsten Halogen Lighting.”
IEEE Industry Applications Magazine 7 (November–December 2001).
A look at the invention and development of this energy-efficient light source.
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy.
assoc. ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001.
A wide range of energy technologies are covered in this 3 volume set. Though primarily devoted to the current state of the technologies, a substantial amount of historical background (including many brief biographical sketches) is included.
Great Inventions: The Light Bulb.
assoc. ed. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press, 2004.
Written for second-grade students, this book introduces both how light bulbs work and their history.
“From Tallahassee to Timbuktu: Cold War efforts to measure intercontinental distances,”
in Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (2000): 393–415.
“Political Geodesy: the Army, the Air Force, and the World Geodetic System of 1960,”
in Annals of Science 59 (2002): 363–389.
Instruments of Science. An Historical Encyclopedia
with Robert Bud Deborah Warner, eds., (London and New York, 1998).
"The Pharmacy Collections"
with Eric W. Jentsch. Caduceus. (Winter 1997, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp.33–42).
A brief history of the pharmacy collections at the Smithsonian Institution.
"Changing in Place: Public Spaces on the National Mall"
companion piece to the exhibition "Extending the Legacy: Planning America's Capital for the 20th Century" (1996).
This brochure, based on an 1875 panoramic photo, provides a brief history of the design of the National Mall.
"A Presidential Train Wreck,”
Maryland Magazine, Summer 1990.
An account of an 1881 collision involving Rutherford B. Hayes and his family.
"Fisher Body Corporation."
Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography. New York: Facts On File, 1988.
A history of the Fisher Brothers and Fisher Body Corporation, an automobile body manufacturing firm that supplied General Motors and helped to popularize the luxurious closed car in the 1920s.
"At Home on the Highway.”
American Heritage, December 1985.
A brief history of recreation vehicles, including house cars, tent trailers, and house trailers.
"Body by Fisher: The Closed Car Revolution,”
Automobile Quarterly>/i>, August 1991.
The article examines the democratization of the closed car in the 1920s and Fisher Body Corporation's role in supplying closed bodies in huge quantities and varied styles. It looks at design changes, manufacturing changes, and aspects of consumer demand that explain the soaring popularity of the closed car.
“The Controversial Parking Meter,”
Antique Automobile, January–February 1997.
A study of curb space, efforts to control it, and effects on central business districts. Cities installed parking meters in the 1930s to relieve congestion and increase revenue; motorists and storekeepers mounted a brief, intense legal battle.
"Planes, Trailers and Automobiles: The Land Yachts of Glenn Curtiss,”
Automobile Quarterly, April 1994.
A look at motor vehicle innovations by airplane pioneer Glenn Curtiss, including lightweight car-trailer combinations
that led to the establishment of a recreational house trailer industry.
"The Selden Automobile Patent,”
in Icons of Invention: American Patent Models, 1990.
A study of George Selden's 1895 patent on the automobile and the control that he exercised over the early automobile manufacturing industry.
Home on the Road: The Motor Home in America.
Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
A history of recreation vehicles since 1900 with emphasis on self-propelled units and adaptations of motor vehicles. Explores motorists' innovations, furnishings, family vacation travel and domestic life, and early RV manufacturing.
"The Stars Wore Stripes: GIs Entertaining GIs at Fort George G. Meade and Overseas, 1941–1945,"
Anne Arundel County History Notes, April 1990, July 1990, October 1990, July 1991.
A description of the Special Service Division, the Army's equivalent of the USO. Talented soldiers organized stage
shows, sports activities, canteens, movies, and other morale programs for soldiers near battle fronts.
"Three Cheers for Henry Clay: The Construction and Advance Demonstration of the Morse Telegraph at Annapolis Junction,"
Anne Arundel County History Notes, January 1993.
A day-by-day account of adversity and triumph during construction of the first telegraph line in 1844. Midway between Washington and Baltimore, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail set up a telegraph station and sent the first practical messages and news bulletins by wire.
"Stations by Tichy: Modern Architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1940–1957,"
Keystone, Autumn 1993.
This article examines small-town railroad stations reinterpreted in a moderne, streamlined style by Lester Tichy,
chief architect for Raymond Loewy.
"The Great Transportation Revolutions."
Traffic World (Special Issue, April 2007).
Feature article in 100th anniversary issue of the standard periodical of the North American transportation industry, published each week since 1907, the longest continuous-running weekly in the world.
"Evolution of Energy Use and Transportation,"
in Zumerchik, J., ed., Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy, v. 3. New York and London: Macmillan Reference, 2001.
Historical changes in transportation energy sources, fuels, and engines.