This area contains a selection of materials from the Division of Information Technology and Society, National Museum of American History.

Information Age Tour area includes images and descriptions about the Museum's 14,000 square foot exhibition: Information Age: People, Information & Technology. 

The artifacts section includes images and descriptions of landmark artifacts in the Division's collection that were not included in the Information Age exhibition.

The Oral/Video History section contains transcripts of oral and video histories with leading figures in the history of computing, along with some sound and video clips.

The Archives section includes significant documents from the Division's archival records, publications, and presentations.

The Computerworld Smithsonian Awards link transfers you to a web site about the annual "Computerworld Smithsonian Awards" Program.  It honors outstanding achievements in the use of computer technology in society today.

Information Age Tour

This slide tour of information age presents a selection of artifacts and scenes from the exhibition.

The exhibition Information Age: People, Information & Technology opened at the Smithsonian Institution in May 1990. One of the largest displays in the museum, it covers the history of information technology and its relation to society from the origin of the telegraph to the present.

The exhibition has over 900 original artifacts. They include Samuel Morse's original telegraph, Alexander Bell's original telephones, one of the first punched card machines, the 4-rotor German ENIGMA coding device and the machine the Americans used to break the code-the BOMBE, the ENIAC computer, the TELESTAR test vehicle, the Watergate bugs, and high definition television.

Information Age also has over 50 interactive computer and video displays. It is the Smithsonian's most interactive exhibition.

Information Age centers on the technical evolution of electrical and electronic information technology. The telegraph began a revolution in communications by transmitting information coded into electrical form instantly to distant locations. This new phenomenon of instant information was later expanded by the telephone, radio and television. Then the digital electronic computer made it possible to process information instantly. As the computer developed and matured, communication and processing technologies were joined into networks that now stretch around the world, affecting all areas of global society.

Although the exhibition is built around a technical structure, its emphasis is as much on social as technical change. The transformations in information technology both shaped and were shaped by social forces such as business, politics, wars, and consumer interests. The exhibition highlights the interaction between these social forces and the development of information technology.

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Oral/Video Histories

Although the development of modern communications and computers is among the most important aspects of modern American history, historical writing about the development is remarkably sparse. And few of the leaders of the development have written their own memoirs.

The Smithsonian Institution is capturing the recollections of some of these people in the form of oral and video histories. In this area, you will find transcripts of some of the Smithsonian's images. Copyrights of the interviews belong to the Smithsonian Institution. They may be cited or quoted briefly, but not reproduced or published in any form.

Marc Andreesen - Interview with Mr. Marc Andreesen, Chief Technical Officer of Netscape, Inc., winner of the 1995 SAIC Leadership Award for Global Integration, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Robert Ballard - Interview with Dr. Robert Ballard of the Jason Project, winner of the 1990 Award in the Category of Education and Academia, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program

Gordon Bell - Interview with Dr. Gordon Bell, winner of the 1995 MCI Leadership Award for Innovation, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program

Seymour Cray - Interview with Seymour Cray, Winner of the 1994 MCI Information Technology Leadership Award for Innovation, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

J. Presper Eckert -Interview with J. Presper Eckert, Co-Inventor of the ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer)
From Development of the Eniac Interviews, Smithsonian Videohistory Collection, Record Unit 9537, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, DC

Larry Ellison - Interview with Mr. Larry Ellison, Chief Executive Officer of Oracle, winner of the 1994 SAIC Leadership Award for Global Integration, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Douglas Engelbart -Interview with Mr. Douglas Engelbart, Winner of the 1994 Price Waterhouse Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Bill Gates - Interview with Mr. William "Bill" Gates, Winner of the 1993 Price Waterhouse Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Steve Jobs - Interview with Mr. Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer of NEXT.

Ann Meyer - Interview with Ms. Ann Meyer of the Center for Applied Special Technology, winner of the 1993 Award in the Category of Education and Academia, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Tom Nies - Interview with Mr. Tom Nies, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CINCOM Corporation, a pioneer software company.

Kenneth H. Olsen - Interview with Mr. Kenneth H. Olsen of Digital Equipment Corporation, winner of the 1993 MCI Information Technology Leadership Award for Innovation, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Charles S. Peskin and David M. McQueen - Interview with Charles S. Peskin and David M. McQueen, Winners of the 1994 Cray Leadership Award for Breakthrough Computational Science, Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program.

Lewis Sadler - Interview with Mr. Lewis Sadler, Winner of a 1989 Computerworld Smithsonian award in the category of Government and Nonprofit Organizations.

Hal Uplinger - Interview with Mr. Hal Uplinger, Winner of a 1989 Computerworld Smithsonian Award in the Media, Arts & Entertainment Category for the production of the "Live Aid Concert"

Don Wetzel -Interview with Mr. Don Wetzel, Co-Patentee of the Automatic Teller Machine. The National Museum of American History gratefully acknowledges the financial support of MasterCard International in the creation of this transcription and the video history from with it was made.

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Archival Documents

In addition to exhibitions and historical artifacts, the Smithsonian also houses copies of many important historical documents. As time allows for posting, selections of these relating to the history of computing will appear here as Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. You may download the acrobat reader at www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html. Whenever possible, we will post scanned material in this format to retain the look and feel of the original document.

This area also includes publications and presentations related to the history of computing.

Original Press Release 1 for ENIAC Computer, February 16, 1946 (3 pages / 48 K)
Original Press Release 2 for ENIAC Computer, February 16, 1946 (2 pages / 42 K)
Original Press Release 4 for ENIAC Computer: Physical Aspects and Operations, February 16, 1946 (3 pages / 31 K)

Presentation entitled "Using the Computer: Episodes Across 50 years" by David K. Allison. Delivered to the ACM Annual Meeting Session honor the 50th Anniversary of the ENIAC, Philadelphia, February 14, 1996. (590K)

The book Landmarks in Digital Computing reviews a selection of important artifacts from the Smithsonian Collection. Excerpts are available on-line.

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