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 16 items.
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- No Image Available
Cummings Structural Concrete Company Records, 1884-1952
- Notes
- Robert A. Cummings (1866-1937) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania consulting civil engineer and an early advocate of reinforced concrete construction
- Summary
- Correspondence and business records documenting Cummings's firm, consulting work, and participation in professional associations, especially the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1892-1893, circa 1900-1939; technical data and publications on soils testing, 1900-1939; and drawings, blueprints, and photographs and glass negatives of construction projects
- Cite as
- Cummings Structural Concrete Company Records, 1884-1952, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1884
- 1884-1952
- 1900-1950
- Creator
- Cummings Structural Concrete Company
- author
- Cummings, Robert A. 1866-1962
- collector
- Engineering and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Chicago Surface Lines Drawings, 1880-1948
- Notes
- The street railway system began in Chicago around 1858 with horse-powered cars. In 1880 cable cars began replacing this slow and expensive method, and in the late 1880s new companies sprang up using the new electric "trolleys". The older companies soon followed. The 1890s and early 1900s saw the consolidation and reorganization of the numerous companies until the Unification Ordinance of 1913, which stipulated that all would come under the management of a single company, the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL). The CSL became the largest street railway system in the world
- Summary
- Blueprints and tracings of the Chicago surface railway system,1886-1926. The 15 blueprints are from the Chicago City Railway Company and the West Chicago Street Railroad Company (1891). The 192 tracings include plans of cars for Chicago Railway (1904-1916), Lake Street Elevated Railroad (1895), and the Chicago City Railway (1908-9). Plans of switches, track layouts, power stations, and other railroad structures for a number of companies, most being for the West Chicago Street Railroad Company (1888-1892). Also a single drawing from the Pennsylvania & West Virginia Railway, 1948
- Cite as
- Chicago Surface Lines Drawings, 1880-1948, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1880
- 1880-1948
- creator
- Chicago Surface Lines
- collector
- Transportation, Division of, NMAH, SI
- creator
- West Chicago Street Railroad Company
- donor
- Chicago Transit Authority
- creator
- Chicago City Railway Company
- Pennsylvania & West Virginia Railway
- Subject
- Chicago Board of Traction Supervising Engineers
- Chicago Consolidated Traction Company
- Chicago Railways Company
- Chicago Union Traction Company
- D.T. Steelwork Company
- Garden City Construction Company
- Gilbert Car Manufacturing Company
- Lake Street Elevated Railroad (Chicago, Ill.)
- North Chicago Street Railroad Company
- United States Construction Company
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Cass Gilbert Collection, 1897-1936
- Notes
- American architect of commercial and public buildings, b. Zanesville, Ohio; educated in St. Paul, Minnesota. Firmly supportive of the European tradition and the eastern academic league of architects. Among his many familiar public buildings are the Treasury Annex and the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., the state capitol buildings of West Virginia, Arkansas, and Minnesota, and the public libraries of St. Louis and Detroit. His most famous building is the Woolworth Building in New York (1913); with its 55 stories and Gothic ornament, it is considered Gilbert's greatest achievement
- Summary
- Correspondence (1919-1932), contracts, statistical data, news clippings, booklets, miscellaneous Gilbert papers, three volumes of specification data of the Supreme Court Buildings, twenty pencil and pastel sketchbooks of Gilbert's periodic travels in Europe, 1897-1932, and a box of miscellaneous unbound sketches, including many for the Supreme Court. The bulk of the collection consists of bound volumes containing photoprints of forty-one Gilbert buildings under construction
- Photographers include Belden & Company (45 Clinton Street, Newark, N.J.) and P. O. Valentine (33 Homestead Park, Newark, N.J.). The photographs are mounted on linen, in cloth-covered loose-leaf binders bearing building or project names. Most photograph volumes each contain more than 100 prints, including duplicates. For example, Vol. 49, on the Seaside Sanatorium (Waterford, Conn.) contains 149 prints from approx. 75 different negatives
- Cite as
- Cass Gilbert Collection, 1897-1936, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1897
- 1897-1936
- 1890-1940
- 1900-1950
- 1880-1950
- artist.
- Gilbert, Cass 1859-1934
- collector
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of (NMAH, SI)
- photographer
- Belden & Company 45 Clinton Street, Newark, N.J.
- Valentine, P. O. 33 Homestead, Park, Newark
- Subject
- Woolworth Building New York (N.Y.)
- New York Life Insurance Building
- Supreme Court Building Washington (D.C.)
- Seaside Sanatorium Waterford, Conn
- Local number
- 239827 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Lewis Latimer Patent Drawing
- Description
- Electricity pioneer Lewis Latimer drew this component of an arc lamp, an early type of electric light, for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company in 1880.
- The son of escaped slaves and a Civil War veteran at age sixteen, Latimer trained himself as a draftsman. His technical and artistic skills earned him jobs with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, among others. An inventor in his own right, Latimer received numerous patents and was a renowned industry expert on incandescent lighting.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- maker
- Latimer, Lewis H.
- ID Number
- 1983.0458.21
- accession number
- 1983.0458
- catalog number
- 1983.0458.21
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Records of Wedge Innovations, 1985-1996
- Notes
- The SmartLevel was conceived in 1985 by Andrew G. Butler, who formed Wedge Innovations in 1986 in the basement of his home in order to develop and market this level. The company developed the sensor technology and software necessary to build the WedgeLevel. The heart of this tool was an electronic sensor circuit connected to a microprocessor capable of measuring the tool's orientation
- Summary
- Collection documents the invention and development of a new hand tool, the SmartLevel, an electronic builder's level, including company management and policies. It contains design notebooks, detailed technical drawings, financial statements, correspondence, operational records, advertisements, etc
- Series 1: Corporate Records, 1985-1993, address the overall management of Wedge Innovations and documents its policies
- Series 2: Engineering Records (1985-1994) document the design and development of the SmartLevel, including design notebooks and detailed technical drawings
- Series 3: Financial Records (1986-1992): Wedge's summary financial statements
- Series 4: Marketing Records (1986-1992) document customer and dealer relations through correspondence, operational records, advertisements, photographs, and videotapes
- Series 5: Operations Records (1990-1992) document the manufacturing process and the company's offshore operations
- Series 6: Product Development Records (1987-1992) document the company's intended development of an entire "Smart Tools" line
- Series 7: Corporate Culture series (1985-1996) contains employee photographs and oral history interviews with key Wedge personnel
- Cite as
- Records of Wedge Innovations, 1985-1996, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1985
- 1985-1996
- 1980-2000
- 1950-2000
- 1970-2000
- 1990-2000
- creator
- Wedge Innovations
- interviewer
- Shayt, David H
- donor
- Butler, Andrew G
- Bayley, Brian
- Reeder, Kevin
- Fetter, Rick
- Wisnig, Ronald
- Gunderson, Ken
- Local number
- 1996.3066 (NMAH Acc.)
- 1996.3065 (NMAH Acc.)
- 1995.3072 (NMAH Acc.)
- 1995.3067 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Bartlett Hayward Company Records, 1882-1950
- Notes
- The Bartlett-Hayward Company of Baltimore, Maryland, was founded in 1840 as Hayward and Friend, stove manufacturers. The company eventually expanded into the foundry, machinery, erection, and engineering fields and began manufacture of gas holders in 1876. It merged with Koppers Company in 1937
- Summary
- These records deal chiefly with the manufacture, erection, and sale of gas holders. They include record books of drawings, 1882-1906, 1912, 1918; design calculation books; 1904-1935; trade literature, 1945; order books, 1920-1921; order progress reports, 1926-1929, 1946-1950; specifications, calculations and data; notes; shipping records; records of drawing costs; lists of materials needed; a card file listing owner, location, and dimensions of gas holders built by the company, 1883-1946; a record of employee injuries, 1929; and photographs of coupling engines, gas holders and their erection, gas works, and plants
- Cite as
- Bartlett-Hayward Company Records, 1882-1950, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1864
- 1864-1883
- 1882-1950
- 19th century
- 1860-1890
- author
- Bartlett-Hayward Company
- Koppers Company
- collector
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3095 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Llewellyn N. Edwards Papers, 1925-1964
- Notes
- Edwards, bridge designer and engineer, worked from 1901 to 1943 for the Boston Bridge Works, the Boston and Maine Railroad, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, the Toronto Department of Works, the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, and the Maine State Highway Commission. Edwards also was interested in the history of bridge engineering, particularly early American bridges
- Summary
- The papers include captioned photographs of dirt roads in North Carolina and Mississippi, 1913; articles, including reprints from engineering journals; typed and handwritten notes on bridges; a handwritten, bound bibliography on bridges; typed notes on bridges and bridge history, including some drawings; correspondence, most relating to his research on the history of bridges but also relating to other topics; reports on landslides in California; a partial manuscript (L-Z) for a glossary of terms relating to bridge engineering and construction; a typescript of "A Manual of Bridge Construction;" a manuscript of "Bridge Construction in America"; and extensive correspondence with J. P. Snow on the history of wooden bridges
- Date
- 1911
- 1911-1950
- 1925-1964
- 20th century
- author
- Edwards, Llewellyn N. 1873-1952
- collector
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3077 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
James Gallagher Collection, 1924-1931
- Summary
- Materials relating to bridge construction in California. Includes a set of drawings for the San Joaquin River Bridge, Mossdale, California (1924), a California Division of Highways Bridge Department Manual (1931), and booklets by the California Highway Commission containing contracts and specifications for the construction of bridges on state highways (1925-26)
- Cite as
- James Gallagher Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1924
- 1924-1931
- author
- Gallagher, James (civil engineer)
- collector
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- California Department of Public Works Division of Highways
- California Highway Commission
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Alexander Lyman Holley Papers, 1864-1883
- Summary
- These papers document Holley's work as a mechanical engineer, especially his design of Bessemer plants and other steel production components. Includes drawings and tracings, 1864-1882, by Holley and his staff or copied by Holley on European trips, relating mostly to steel production, but also to steam engines and railway engineering
- Also: four microfilm reels containing copies of correspondence of Holley (and his wife Mary) concerning design and construction of steel production facilities
- Cite as
- Alexander Lyman Holley Papers, 1864-1883, Division of the History of Technology, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1864
- 1864-1883
- 19th century
- 1860-1890
- author
- Holley, Alexander Lyman (mechanical engineer) 1832-1882
- Holley, Mary
- collector
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Roland C. Hawes Papers, 1908-1997
- Notes
- The career of Roland C. Hawes, born Oct. 4, 1908, Riverside, California, began in chemical analysis and led him into the scientific apparatus and instruments industry, where he worked in the field of spectrophotometry. B.S., chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1930. He died in 1999
- Summary
- Correspondence, handwritten notes and sketches, memorandum reports, catalogs, printed material, patent documents, drawings, blueprints (original and diazo copies), and photographs document Hawes's work in the field of immunnassay, spectrophotometry, scientific apparatus and instruments industry, and administrative duties at Applied Physics Corporation/Cary Instruments
- The bulk of the papers consist of materials found in Series 2: Research files A-Z, 1913 (1927-1990) (4.5 cubic feet). Series 5: Cary Instruments 1937-1992 (4 cubic feet) and Series 6: Consulting, 1908-(1939-1992) (3.5 cubic feet)
- Cite as
- Roland C. Hawes Papers, 1908-1997, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1908
- 1997
- 1908-1997
- 20th century
- 1930-1950
- 1890-1920
- creator
- Hawes, Roland C. 1908-1999
- author
- Applied Physics Corporation
- Cary Instruments
- Subject
- Cary, Howard
- Beckman, Arnold O
- George, Kenyon
- Duffield, Jack J
- National Technical Laboratories
- Beckman Instruments, Inc
- Applied Physics Corporation
- Cary Instruments
- Varian Associates
- Aviv & Associates, Inc
- Local number
- 1997.3139 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH