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 553 items.
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[Fessenden's engineers, black-and-white photoprint.]
- Cite as
- George H. Clark Radioana Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
- Date
- 1914
- 1920-1930
- collector
- Clark, George H
- Subject
- Fessenden, R.A
- Local number
- AC0055-0000105.tif (AC Scan)
- 86-10566 (SI neg number)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- 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
[View from top of bridge tower of bridge construction. Active no. 13624 stereo interpositive.]
- Notes
- Currently stored in box 1.2.9 [14]
- Same as RSN 427
- Date
- 1895
- 1900-1910
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- H.C. White Co
- Local number
- RSN 426
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
[View from top of bridge tower of bridge construction.] 13624 interpositive
- Notes
- Currently stored in box 1.2.9 [14]
- Same as RSN 426
- Date
- 1900-1910
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- H.C. White Co
- Local number
- RSN 427
- Video number 06384
- 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
Winston Churchill at demonstration of the magnetically levitated railway at Bachelet Works [black and white photoprint,] 1914
- Notes
- In Box 1, Folder 12
- Summary
- Photographer unidentified, but possibly by Brown Bros. Churchill is shown in profile, slightly to the right of the center of the image
- Cite as
- Emile Bachelet Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Albert E. Bachelet
- Date
- 1914
- 1910-1920
- Subject
- Churchill, Winston Sir 1874-1965
- Bachelet, Emile (inventor) 1863-1946
- Local number
- AC0302-0000012.tif (AC Scan)
- 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
Coradi Model 32 Rolling Sphere Planimeter Sold by F. Weber & Co.
- Description
- This planimeter moves on two German silver rollers. The roller on the left rotates a steel wheel that in turn rotates an axle, which turns the measuring wheel and registering dial. The measuring wheel has a vernier. All three parts are made of white plastic. A piece of leather on a string is placed between the steel wheel and the axle when the instrument is stored.
- The twelve-inch rectangular German silver tracer arm is attached to a bronzed brass carriage below the measuring wheel and between the rollers. It has a brass tracer with steel point and support. The length of the arm is adjustable, and it is evenly divided to 0.5mm and numbered from 10 to 64. An extension for the tracer arm adds ten inches to its length and is numbered from 65 to 110.
- Above the roller on the left is marked: F. Weber & Co (/) Philadelphia. Above the roller on the right is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich (/) Switzerland (/) No 3811. An oblong German silver testing rule is marked for 0", 1", 2", 3", and 4". It is also marked: G. Coradi. Zurich.
- A fitted wooden case covered with black morocco leather is lined with purple velvet. A brush is in the corner of the case. A printed calibration chart glued inside the lid has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, and Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller. The values in the Position column are handwritten. A paragraph explains how to effectively use and care for the instrument. The date on the chart indicates that the Coradi firm made serial number 3,811 on May 14, 1914. Another piece of paper glued inside the lid explains how to safely remove the instrument from the case. The case's key is on a string inside the case.
- The Zurich workshop of Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) made a variety of planimeters, beginning in the early 1880s, with the rolling sphere form debuting around 1900. According to a 1915 catalog, Coradi sold this size of rolling sphere planimeter as model 32. F. Weber & Company was founded in Philadelphia in 1853 and took that name in 1887. It is best known for manufacturing and distributing art products. Other American firms, such as Keuffel & Esser, also distributed Coradi's precision disc planimeter. K&E sold this size as model 4262 for $95.00 from 1900 to 1915. Compare to MA*333660. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.
- References: J. W. Beardsley, "Description and Theory of Coradi's Rolling Ball Planimeter," Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies 28 (1902): 67–77; J. Y. Wheatley, The Polar Planimeter and Its Use in Engineering Calculations (New York: Keuffel & Esser, 1903), chapter 10, http://www.leinweb.com/snackbar/planimtr/wheatley/s10-6.htm; Mathematical-Mechanical Institute of G. Coradi, Catalogue of Mathematical Precision Instruments (Zurich, 1915), 13–17; "About Us," Martin/F. Weber Co., http://www.weberart.com/about/index.html; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 30th ed. (New York, 1900), 308; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 35th ed. (New York, 1915), 317.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1914
- distributor
- F. Weber & Co.
- maker
- Coradi, Gottlieb
- ID Number
- 1977.0112.01
- catalog number
- 335632
- accession number
- 1977.0112
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instruction Manual for Coradi Planimeters
- Description
- The citation information for this 40-page booklet is: G. Coradi, The Coradi Planimeters: Description and Instructions for the Use and Testing, with a General Elementary Explanation of Their Operation (Zurich, 1912). Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) established a workshop in Zurich in 1880 and began making wheel and disc polar planimeters in the Amsler style soon thereafter. In 1894, he designed the compensating polar planimeter, and by 1900, his firm was selling a precision rolling planimeter.
- This booklet explains the mathematical theory behind planimeters, which are used to measure the area bounded by a curved diagram. Coradi then describes the general parts of a planimeter and provides instructions for the forms manufactured by his workshop: the rolling sphere planimeter (see MA*333660 and 1977.0112.01), the precision disc planimeter (see MA*321745), and the compensating polar planimeter (see 1987.0929.01 and MA*321777). Olaus Henrici (1840–1918), a German mathematician who taught at English universities, helped Coradi prepare the booklet.
- The donor also provided three Coradi pamphlets on the coordinatograph, an instrument for quickly plotting points on a map according to their rectangular coordinates. According to the illustrations at the back of this booklet, Coradi's firm also made integraphs and pantographs.
- References: "People: Gottlieb Coradi," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 496–523.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1912
- maker
- Coradi, Gottlieb
- ID Number
- 1977.0112.02
- accession number
- 1977.0112
- catalog number
- 1977.0112.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Coradi Adjustable Polar Compensating Planimeter Sold by Eugene Dietzgen (Model 6612)
- Description
- This instrument has two arms. Made of German silver, the first arm is 9" long, and has a brass and steel tracer point with a support. The arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 5 to 38. (One unit is equivalent to 5mm.) It fits into a brass carriage painted black that has a white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. Screws on the carriage adjust the length of the tracer arm. The carriage is marked: No 20495.
- A 9" German silver pole arm fits into a hole in the carriage. Near that end, the arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 30 to 34. The arm fits inside a sliding rectangular tube made of brass painted black (i.e., "bronzed brass"). A cylindrical brass weight is attached to the end of the tube. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland D.P.G.M. Eugene Dietzgen Co. An oblong steel testing plate is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich.
- A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Length of the pole-arm for the constant 20,000. The values in the Position and Length columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 20,495 on January 18, 1913. The date and serial number indicate that this instrument was manufactured before MA*321777. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.
- Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) began to make wheel and disc polar planimeters in the early 1880s. In 1894, he made the pole arm higher than the tracer arm and connected the arms with a ball joint. This "compensating" planimeter could trace in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, preventing errors introduced by planimeters made in the Amsler style. The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago sold Coradi's compensating planimeter from at least 1905 to at least 1931. The version with the adjustable pole arm cost $47.00, which was $11.00 more than the standard version. The model number was changed from 6612 to 1806 between 1910 and 1926. Keuffel & Esser also sold the instrument from 1901 to 1939.
- References: "The Lang-Coradi Planimeter," in Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 496–523, on 515; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 362; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 9th ed. (Chicago, 1910), 503; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 183; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 14th ed. (Chicago, 1931), 205; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4240 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4240family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1913
- distributor
- Eugene Dietzgen Company
- maker
- Coradi, Gottlieb
- ID Number
- 1987.0929.01
- accession number
- 1987.0929
- catalog number
- 1987.0929.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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