Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview
Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.
The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.
"Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview" showing 518 items.
Page 1 of 52
- No Image Available
Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, 1889-1938
- Notes
- Bridge designer, consulting engineer, and authority on bridge cable construction
- Summary
- Papers documenting the career of bridge designer and engineer Holton Duncan Robinson. The collection includes photographs, including cyanotypes, of bridges under construction; five patents; correspondence; programs; articles; and an 1889 notebook containing calculations
- Cite as
- Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, 1889-1938, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Ann Robinson Henshaw
- Date
- 1889
- 1889-1938
- 20th century
- 1900-1950
- creator
- Robinson, Holton Duncan 1863-1945
- donor
- Henshaw, Ann Robinson
- Local number
- 2007.3045 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[Howard University School of Engineering : acetate film photonegative, ca. 1930s.]
- Summary
- One student with machinery, uncaptioned. "Agfa Safety Film" edge imprint
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1930
- 1940
- ca 1930s
- 20th century
- 1930-1940
- photographer
- Scurlock, Addison N. 1883-1964
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University
- Local number
- 618ns0178959hu.tif (AC Scan)
- Freezer box 35
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
J. Parker Snow Collection, 1882-1933 (bulk 1930-1933)
- Notes
- Bridge engineer
- Summary
- Snow's engineering notebook, 1882; notes relating to his writings on the history of wooden bridges; drafts and manuscripts for articles he wrote on the development of wooden bridges; and correspondence, especially with engineering journals relating to efforts to get his manuscripts published
- Cite as
- J. Parker Snow Collection, 1882-1933 (bulk 1930-1933), Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1882
- 1882-1933
- bulk 1930-1933
- 20th century
- 1930-1940
- 1850-1900
- creator
- Snow, J. Parker
- collector
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3098 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Engineers & Scientists [black-and-white print advertisement, clipping] July 26, 1965
- Summary
- Advertisement for engineers and scientists by Del Mar Engineering Laboratories
- Cite as
- Del Mar Avionics Holter Monitor Records, 1951-2011, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1965
- July 26, 1965
- 1950-2000
- 1960-1970
- publisher
- Los Angeles Times
- Local number
- AC1249-0000001.tif (AC Scan No.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Robert Scofield Condon Engineering Papers, ca. 1924-1973
- Notes
- Robert S. Condon, engineer at Continental Can Co., was born in Bloomington, Ill. Graduate engineer, University of Illinois. Married Catherine Behrens, 1924 (d. 1958); they spent 15 years in Rutland, Vermont, where he was a founder of the Fibre Can Machinery Corp., later sold to the Continental Can Co. His second wife was Ilza de Souza Condon. After retirement, Condon continued consulting work; his last project was the "Marvel" pencil pointer or sharpener
- Summary
- Documents and photographs (including prints and negatives) relating to the patents, inventions, and designs of mechanical engineer Robert Scofield Condon. The bulk of the material concerns the development of his small "Marvel" pencil sharpener
- Cite as
- Robert Scofield Condon Engineering Papers, ca. 1924-1973, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1924
- 1924-1973
- ca 1924-1973
- 1920-1980
- 20th century
- author
- Condon, Robert Scofield (engineer) 1896-1973
- donor
- Condon, Robert B
- Subject
- Fibre Can Machinery Corp. Rutland (Vt.)
- Continental Can Co
- Local number
- 1991.8049 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[Howard University School of Engineering : acetate film photonegative, ca. 1930s.]
- Summary
- Uncaptioned. Four students working with large machinery. "Agfa Safety Film" edge imprint. Technically excellent image
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1930
- 1940
- ca 1930s
- 20th century
- 1930-1940
- photographer
- Scurlock, Addison N. 1883-1964
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University
- Local number
- 618ns0178956hu.tif (AC Scan)
- Freezer box 35
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[Howard University School of Engineering : acetate film photonegative, ca. 1930s.]
- Summary
- Three students with machinery, uncaptioned. "Agfa Safety Film" edge imprint
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1930
- 1940
- ca 1930s
- 1930-1940
- 20th century
- photographer
- Scurlock, Addison N. 1883-1964
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University
- Local number
- 618ns0178957hu.tif (AC Scan)
- Freezer box 35
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[Howard University School of Engineering : acetate film photonegative, ca. 1930s.]
- Summary
- Three students with machinery, reading gauges: uncaptioned. "Agfa Safety Film" edge imprint
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1930
- 1940
- ca 1930s
- 20th century
- 1930-1940
- photographer
- Scurlock, Addison N. 1883-1964
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University
- Local number
- 618ns0178960hu.tif (AC Scan)
- Freezer box 35
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Alexander Binder Company Records, 1910-1965 (bulk 1921-1955)
- Notes
- Clinton B. Alexander patented and sold loose-leaf binders, tape splicers and plummet adjustors for plumb bobs
- Summary
- The collection consists of samples of marketing and sales materials produced by other businesses in the 1920s and 1930s, correspondence between Alexander and his vendors and customers, sales records sorted by year, and artifacts such as binders and material samples related to the production of binders
- Cite as
- Alexander Binder Company Records, 1921-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1921
- 1921-1965
- 1910-1965 bulk 1921-1955
- 20th century
- creator
- Clinton B. Alexander Binder Company Washington, D.C
- Creator
- Alexander, Clinton B
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3162 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Corvette ZR-1 racing sports car, 1990
- Description
- Few private owners, and only extremely wealthy ones, campaigned cars in the top sports car races in Europe. As a result of the European influences toward more specialized engineering for the best sports cars, the "prototype" racing classes emerged in the US for the fastest, most powerful US and European-built sports cars - none of which were street legal by any stretch.
- In this context, professional sports car racing became more popular by the 1970s. Later, organizations such as the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) organized professional races for prototype sports cars and high-powered "GT" sports coupes.
- The Corvette ZR-1 No. 92 was built specially by Tommy Morrison Motorsports in 1990 for racing in the IMSA "GTO" class. General Motors provided backing and technical services; the major financial sponsors were Mobil Oil and EDS. The car is one of several built "from the ground up" as race cars. The tubular space frame resembles that of a modern NASCAR racer; the body follows the Corvette ZR-1's lines exactly but was designed to fit the custom-built frame. The modified Chevrolet V-8 engine was developed by the Mercruiser Corp. The all-independent suspension is that of a production ZR-1 Corvette, with special springing and shock absorbers for racing.
- No. 92 placed 4th in class in the 1991 Daytona 24-hour endurance race, on Daytona's "road course" that uses multiple corners on the big track's infield combined with part of the high banking used by NASCAR racers. The 92 also placed 6th in class in the 1991 Sebring 12-hour endurance race, held at the historic sports car track in Sebring, FL, that still uses a portion of a World War II-era concrete airfield in its circuitous course. Even finishing these endurance races is an accomplishment, and 4th and 6th places, out of the large fields of competing cars, are regarded as highly successful.
- Another of Morrison's ZR-1's set the world speed record for a 24-hour run, averaging some 174 mph.
- Sports-car racing was a post-World War II phenomenon in the US. While racing by stock cars, sprint cars, and dragsters attracted fans of generally middle-class and more modest means, sports-car racing attracted young car-owners and fans primarily of wealthier means. This relationship stemmed from the pronounced cachet that went with European automotive engineering from the late 1930s through the 1960s.
- Ex-servicemen who had been based in England began bringing British sports cars to American soil in 1948. Auto dealerships selling such makes as MG, Triumph, and Jaguar - and Porsche from Germany and Alfa-Romeo from Italy - opened in the US for the first time. These cars were typical of European engineering for two-door performance cars: light, agile, many with small or medium-sized engines compared to general US custom, and right at home on curving, twisting roads where a driver could test his or her cornering skill. Many sports cars were relatively small (by American passenger-car standards) two-door convertibles, and a few were low-slung, two-door coupes. Organized racing for sports cars sprang up immediately. Since no oval track could bring out the qualities of sports-car agility, local organizers often marked out multi-cornered courses with rubber cones and hay bales on the abundant pavements of abandoned military airfields. Organized races through city streets were sometimes approved by local officials.
- Soon enough, paved race tracks—with hilly, twisting layouts emulating courses in continental Europe for "Formula" and sports cars—began appearing in the US. And variations on sports-car racing also quickly took root: endurance races (of two, six, 12, and 24 hours), together with numerous classes (so that less-powerful MGs and Triumphs, for example, could race in different classes than, say, Jaguars, Ferraris, or Maserattis). And "autocrossing" was organized locally in towns all over the US—wherein one car at a time competed for the shortest elapsed time over short, twisting courses often marked off temporarily on large, open macadam parking lots.
- Before long, America got its first sports car: the Chevrolet Corvette, introduced tentatively in 1953. By the late 1950s, a re-engineered Corvette took its place as a competitive sports car, both in the showrooms and on sport-car race tracks.
- The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) organized sports car races in the US and also licensed amateur drivers, after an on-track skills test with a well-experienced driver. Regional championships were competed-for in many classes, including hand-built sports cars intended only for the track. Through about 1960, a top amateur competitor could file an entry and drive his production sports car to a sports car race, tape-up the headlights (to keep broken glass from flying too far in an incident), remove a few excess parts such as mufflers and bumpers, paint-on an assigned race number to the car temporarily, and go racing. By the early 1960s, such a cavalier approach became passé, and serious sports-car racers prepared their cars as fully as stock-car and sprint-car owners. The SCCA responded to the change by loosening the design rules for its "production" classes to include a variety of engine and other performance modifications - although the car still had to be "street legal," meaning it still had to comply, off the track, with passenger vehicle licensing requirements for use on public roads. The SCCA "modified" classes became more so, including exotic cars intended only for the most serious racing.
- Europeans, meanwhile, developed sports car racing after World War II to a level of sophistication in cars and organization of races almost equal to that of Formula 1 "Grand Prix" racing. And in both types of racing, factory teams were by far the majority of participants.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1990
- maker
- Morrison Motorsports, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1997.0120.01
- accession number
- 1997.0120
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
