Engineering, Building, and Architecture

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.

By 1943, the outlook for an Allied victory in World War II was steadily improving. The reign of the U-boats that had plagued Allied convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic was coming to an end.
Description
By 1943, the outlook for an Allied victory in World War II was steadily improving. The reign of the U-boats that had plagued Allied convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic was coming to an end. And the Axis powers were finally losing the tonnage war, which aimed to sink Allied merchant ships faster than replacements could be built. While the mass-produced Liberty ships were faithfully carrying cargo and troops to war zones, these ships were relatively slow. In response, the War Shipping Administration commissioned a new class of emergency vessels called Victory ships. This model represents one of the 534 Victory ships that were built alongside the Liberty ships in seven shipyards around the country.
Speed was the key difference between the Victory and Liberty ships. When Liberty ships were designed, all of the new steam turbine engines were reserved for naval vessels, leaving the Liberty ships with reciprocating steam engines. While these engines were reliable, the ships could only reach 11 knots, leaving them vulnerable to attack. As the war progressed, more turbine engines became available and were installed in the Victory ships, giving them a speed of over 16 knots.
Another improvement of the Victory design was a stronger and larger hull. This meant that more cargo could be transported at once, and improved the odds of the vessels continuing to serve in the merchant fleet during times of peace. After World War II, 170 Victory ships were sold as commercial freighters. About 20 were loaned back to the military and used in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Several Victory ships have been preserved as museum ships and are currently located in California and Florida.
date made
early 1940s
commissioned Victory ships like the ones this model represents
War Shipping Administration
ID Number
TR.313023
catalog number
TR*313023
accession number
170015
Although dry cargo freighters like the Liberty and Victory ships are probably the best-known emergency vessels of World War II, oil tankers were also mass produced in American shipyards and played an important role in the Allied victory.
Description
Although dry cargo freighters like the Liberty and Victory ships are probably the best-known emergency vessels of World War II, oil tankers were also mass produced in American shipyards and played an important role in the Allied victory. This model represents the most common type of tanker, T2-SE-A1, a commercial design that before the war started was already being constructed by the Sun Shipbuilding Company for Standard Oil. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Maritime Commission recognized that wet cargo like oil and machine lubricants would be just as necessary as guns and ammunition. The commission ordered this design to be built, in addition to the dry cargo designs.
Like the Victory ship, the T2 tanker was outfitted with a steam turbine engine that gave the vessel a speed of over 14 knots. Tankers were also built at some of the same shipyards as the other merchant vessels, and experienced a similar construction time average of about 70 days. But unlike the Victory or Liberty ships, no T2 tankers have survived to become museum ships, and only one remains afloat in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, mothballed in Beaumont, Texas.
date made
early 1940s
built tankers typical to this model
Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
purchased tankers typical to this model
Standard Oil
ID Number
TR.313036
catalog number
313036
accession number
173712
In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England.
Description
In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England. American mariners complained about the quality of the light emanating from local lighthouse towers, arguing that European lighthouses were more effective at shining bright beams of light over long distances. While American lighthouses relied on lamps and mirrors to direct mariners, European lighthouses were equipped with compact lenses that could shine for miles.
In 1822, French scientist Augustin-Jean Fresnel was studying optics and light waves. He discovered that by arranging a series of lenses and prisms into the shape of a beehive, the strength of lighthouse beams could be improved. His lens—known as the Fresnel lens—diffused light into beams that could be visible for miles. Fresnel designed his lenses in several different sizes, or orders. The first order lens, meant for use in coastal lighthouses, was the largest and the strongest lens. The sixth order lens was the smallest, designed for use in small harbors and ports.
By the 1860s, all of the lighthouses in the United States were fitted with Fresnel lenses. This lens came from a lighthouse on Bolivar Point, near Galveston, Texas. Galveston was the largest and busiest port in nineteenth-century Texas. Having a lighthouse here was imperative – the mouth of the bay provided entry to Houston and Texas City, as well as inland waterways. The Bolivar Point Light Station had second and third order Fresnel lenses over the years; this third order lens was installed in 1907. Its light could be seen from 17 miles away.
On 16-17 August 1915, a severe hurricane hit Galveston. As the storm grew worse, fifty to sixty people took refuge in the Bolivar Point Light Station. Around 9:15 PM, the light’s turning mechanism broke, forcing assistant lighthouse keeper J.B. Brooks to turn the Fresnel lens by hand. By 10 PM, the vibrations from the hurricane were so violent that Brooks began to worry the lens might shatter. He ceased turning the lens, trimmed the lamp wicks and worked to maintain a steady light through the night. The next morning, Brooks left the lighthouse to find Bolivar Point nearly swept away by the water.
Bolivar Point Light Station used this Fresnel lens until 1933. It was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the National Park Service.
date made
1822
late 1800s
all United States lighthouses outfitted with Fresnel lenses
1860s
lens used during a severe hurricane at Bolivar Point
1917-08-16 - 1917-08-17
donated to Smithsonian
1933
inventor
Fresnel, Augustin Jean
ID Number
TR.335567
catalog number
335567
accession number
1977.0626
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MC.329039
catalog number
329039
accession number
278175
This is the modern form of the Pickering governor and has the same spring mechanism carrying the governor balls.
Description
This is the modern form of the Pickering governor and has the same spring mechanism carrying the governor balls. It is provided with a speed ranger for obtaining different engine speeds up to a 50 percent increase over the minimum speed, and includes also an enclosure over the ball and gear mechanism.
The principle of the Pickering governor was widely adopted during the early 20th century to governing the speed of practically every type of machine and mechanism. It does not depend upon gravity for its proper operation and can, therefore, be used in any position, while the simplicity of its construction permits it to be made in every size. The principle is employed in the governors of telephone dials, talking machines, internal combustion engines, air compressors, steam engines, and steam turbines.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931
ID Number
MC.310290
catalog number
310290
accession number
115810
serial number
535755-B
The nation's first network of highways, built in the late 1920s and 1930s, created new opportunities for motorists and small business owners. It also created a perception that highways benefited ordinary Americans, enhancing their personal lives and giving them more freedom.
Description
The nation's first network of highways, built in the late 1920s and 1930s, created new opportunities for motorists and small business owners. It also created a perception that highways benefited ordinary Americans, enhancing their personal lives and giving them more freedom. These advantages contrasted with railroads, which benefited corporations and allowed them to control people's movements and the cost of their travels. In 2000, Oklahoma truckers moved 50 feet of concrete pavement from U.S. 66 to the collections of the National Museum of American History to mark the significance of U.S. numbered highways, and Route 66 as a prime example.
In 1926, almost 60 years after the first transcontinental railroad was completed, U. S. 66 was conceived as a public thoroughfare linking the Midwest, Southwest, and southern California. Its all-season route soon brought heavy traffic. Motorists and business owners adapted Route 66 for their needs and oriented their lives around it. Some earned a living by driving a truck or operating a roadside business, while others enjoyed leisure trips, advertised products, or moved to new homes. Clusters of roadside buildings made Route 66 the main street of a new community—one that was of, by, and for people on the move.
Route 66 also served as a conduit for mass migrations of workers, farmers, and their families who saw the highway as a path to a better life. During the Depression, Midwesterners saw it as a way out of hard times and failed farms, and they followed it to seek jobs in the Southwest and California. G.I.s traveled to defense camps during World War II, and after the war they settled in new homes nearby. Hordes of vacationers followed the advice of songwriters Bobby and Cynthia Troup: "Get your kicks on Route 66." Americans relied on Route 66 to change their circumstances for the better, and the highway earned a special place in American culture. Today, historians commemorate its importance.
Date made
1932
ID Number
2000.3074.01.01
catalog number
2000.3074.01.01
nonaccession number
2000.3074
This model of the Tom Thumb Locomotive was made by Bathe & Williams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1933. Greville Bathe was a machinist and steam engine hobbyist who would fashion his own parts to complete toy steam engines and models like this one.
Description (Brief)
This model of the Tom Thumb Locomotive was made by Bathe & Williams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1933. Greville Bathe was a machinist and steam engine hobbyist who would fashion his own parts to complete toy steam engines and models like this one. This model is a representation of the Tom Thumb Locomotive, and early American locomotive built by Peter Cooper in 1830 to prove that a steam-powered locomotive could navigate the hills and twists of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The model consists of an upright boiler, vertical engine, and geared drive.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1933
ID Number
MC.329095
catalog number
329095
accession number
278175
This diesel engine indicator was based on U.S. Patent Number 2,040,082 issued to Kalman John De Juhasz of State College, Pennsylvania on May 12, 1936.
Description
This diesel engine indicator was based on U.S. Patent Number 2,040,082 issued to Kalman John De Juhasz of State College, Pennsylvania on May 12, 1936. An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Engine indicators were originally developed for use on steam engines, and Mr. De Juhasz's design is one of many adaptations of steam engine indicator designs for use on diesel engines.
The device consists of a piston within a cylinder as shown on the right in the image. This cylinder is connected to a port in a cylinder of the engine under test, and the indicator's piston rises and falls as the pressure within the engine changes. A spring at the top of the cylinder provides a return force when the pressure in the engine decreases. A stylus is connected via a linkage to the moving piston so that it also rises and falls with pressure changes and records the pressure on a revolving drum with a paper card wrapped around it. This drum is seen to the left of the image. A cord is wrapped around the base of the drum and led via the pulley on the left to be attached to the engine under test so that it causes the drum to turn one revolution each stroke of the engine. A spring on the inside of the drum returns the recording paper to its starting point as the cord is relaxed. The result is a pressure-volume diagram of the engine while in operation, and engineers can measure and adjust the engine's properties under real time varying load conditions.
De Juhasz claimed his design improved over others due to his addition of cooling fins to the piston cylinder, reduction of mass of the piston and stylus, the use of light weight materials such as Bakelite, and a built in lubricator. He was an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Pennsylvania State College and Chief Engineer of a company manufacturing engine indicators.
The indicator is constructed of steel and Bakelite. Diagrams showing the complete design of the patent that it is based upon can be found in the patent document online at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov.
date made
ca 1938
ID Number
MC.311621
catalog number
311621
accession number
151188
patent number
2040082
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the cylinder pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. The indicator portion of this unit is a 1930 Crosby Valve and Gage company external spring model. The advantage of the outside spring was isolation of the spring from the varying temperatures inside the cylinder. The continuous recording attachment was invented by Professor Gaetano Lanza of MIT and patented in 1908.
The advantage of continuous measurements is that accurate assessments can be made of engines which experience widely varying loads during portions of their work. A continuous recording mechanism had been patented by T. Davidson approximately a year prior to the Lanza patent. Lanza’s improvement was the replacement of cords attached to the engine’s piston rod with a rigid metal attachment. This eliminated errors and distortions caused by the cord stretching and variations in the return springs.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine.
In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines. Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. This indicator is the result of nearly 150 years of design and performance improvements. The Lanza attachment enabled accurate and continuous of monitoring of engines that experienced widely varying load conditions.
date made
1930
ID Number
MC.309834
catalog number
309834
accession number
109635
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, this steam engine indicator is enclosed in a wooden case. It consists of a steel piston; an interchangeable external, helical wound spring; a large single recording drum with a spiral spring; and a brass stylus. The piston causes the stylus to rise and fall with pressure changes in the engine under measurement thereby directly recording the indicator’s output on the paper. Around the drum’s base is wound a cord that is attached to the connecting rod of the piston on the steam engine being measured. This causes the drum to rotate as the engine’s piston moves. An internal coil spring causes the cord to retract and the drum to counter rotate back to its original position as the connecting rod returns. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine. This indicator differs from other models in that it has provisions for making more than a single pressure-volume diagram. It can use an alternate recording drum that holds a roll of recording paper which is unwound as measurements proceed. The resulting series of pressure-volume diagrams allow comparison of engine performance over time and as load and other conditions change. The continuous recording mechanism was patented in 1907 and assigned to the Crosby Company.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines . Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. This Crosby steam indicator represented over one hundred years of evolution and improvement of the devices. Its ability to make continuous recordings was a significant improvement for many applications.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MC.335063
catalog number
335063
accession number
314531
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co.
Description
An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine. Manufactured by Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, these steam engine indicators are enclosed in a wooden case. Each consists of a steel piston; an interchangeable external, helical wound spring; a large single recording drum with a spiral spring; and a brass stylus. The piston causes the stylus to rise and fall with pressure changes in the engine under measurement thereby directly recording the indicator’s output on the paper. Around the drum’s base is wound a cord that is attached to the connecting rod of the piston on the steam engine being measured. This causes the drum to rotate as the engine’s piston moves. An internal coil spring causes the cord to retract and the drum to counter rotate back to its original position as the connecting rod returns. The result is a steam pressure-volume diagram which is used to measure the efficiency and other attributes of the steam engine. These indicators enabled simultaneous measurement of both ends of a cylinder.
The introduction of the steam indicator in the late 1790s and early 1800s by James Watt and others had a great impact on the understanding of how the steam behaved inside the engine's cylinder and thereby enabled much more exacting and sophisticated designs. The devices also changed how the economics and efficiency of steam engines were portrayed and marketed. They helped the prospective owner of a machine better understand how much his fuel costs would be for a given amount of work performed. Measurement of fuel consumed and work delivered by the engine was begun by Watt, who in part justified the selling price of his engines on the amount of fuel cost the purchaser might save compared to an alternate engine. In the early days of steam power, the method to compare engine performance was based on a concept termed the engine’s “duty”. It originally was calculated as the number of pounds of water raised one foot high per one bushel of coal consumed. The duty method was open to criticism due to its inability to take into consideration finer points of efficiency in real world applications of engines . Accurate determination of fuel used in relation to work performed has been fundamental to the design and improvement of all steam-driven prime movers ever since Watt’s time. And, the steam indicators’ key contribution was the accurate measurements of performance while the engine was actually doing the work it was designed to do. These Crosby steam indicators represented over one hundred years of evolution and improvement of the devices.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MC.335062
catalog number
335062
accession number
314531
copyright date
1949
patent date
1933-01-17
ID Number
1989.0493.01
catalog number
1989.0493.01
accession number
1989.0493
This model represents one of the 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II. The designation EC2-S-C1 was the standard designation of the dry cargo Liberty ships that were used by the United States Merchant Marine to transport nearly anything needed by the Allies.
Description
This model represents one of the 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II. The designation EC2-S-C1 was the standard designation of the dry cargo Liberty ships that were used by the United States Merchant Marine to transport nearly anything needed by the Allies. Whether in Europe, Africa, or the Pacific, most of the essential supplies arrived on ships, including tanks, ammunition, fuel, food, toilet paper, cigarettes, and even the troops themselves. Manning these vessels was a dangerous task, as the merchant vessels faced tremendous losses from submarines, mines, destroyers, aircraft, kamikaze fighters, and the unpredictable elements of the various destinations. One in 26 merchant mariners died during the war, a higher fatality rate than that of any branch of the armed forces.
Even before the United States was officially involved in World War II, shipyards on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts were building Liberty ships. Drawing from lessons learned at Hog Island in the First World War, Liberty ships were standardized and designed to be built quickly and efficiently. Using new welding technology, workers pieced together prefabricated sections in assembly-line fashion. This largely replaced the labor-intensive method of riveting, while lowering the cost and speeding up production. While it took about 230 days to build one Liberty ship in the first year, the average construction time eventually dropped to 42 days, with three new ships being launched each day in 1943.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the launching of the first Liberty ship on September 27, 1941, at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship was the SS Patrick Henry, named after the Revolutionary War hero whose famous “Give me Liberty or give me Death!” speech inspired the ships’ nickname. At the launching of the first “ugly duckling,” the President’s name for the stout and functional Liberty ships, he praised the shipyard workers: “With every new ship, they are striking a telling blow at the menace to our nation and the liberty of the free peoples of the world.” President Roosevelt proclaimed that these ships would help to bring a new kind of liberty to people around the world.
date made
early 1940s
launching of first Liberty Ship, SS Patrick Henry
1941-09-27
attended first launching
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
TR.313022
accession number
170015
catalog number
313022
Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation.
Description
Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation. Their distinctive shapes, colors, and other markings provide information indicating their purpose and how to navigate around them.
The placement and maintenance of navigational buoys are essential to shipping, since they often provide the only guidance for channel locations, shoals, reefs, and other hazards. If damaged by collisions, extinguished, or broken loose from their moorings, the Coast Guard will repair, replace, refuel, or relocate the failed buoy.
Designated an 8X20 LBR, this particular type of buoy was used by the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service on the East Coast from around 1930 until the early 1950s. It measures 8 feet in width and 20 feet high, and the letters mean Lighted, Bell, and Radar Reflector. It originally weighed ca. 15,600 pounds, including the 225-lb bell. The bottom of this example was removed to fit into the gallery.
It was designed to be deployed in shallow, protected coastal waters and could be seen about two miles away in daylight. The light on the top was powered by batteries stored under the round hatches in the large bottom compartment. The bell was rung by the rocking of the buoy in the waves.
ID Number
TR.336771
accession number
1978.2285
catalog number
336771
Hopper dredges are used to clear channels and offshore sandbars as well as sediment deposits that restrict navigation into rivers and harbors.
Description
Hopper dredges are used to clear channels and offshore sandbars as well as sediment deposits that restrict navigation into rivers and harbors. They work like underwater vacuum cleaners: each dredge is equipped with a suction pipe, or drag arm, that gathers up sediment from the bottom. The dredged sediment is then stored in the ship’s interior containers, or hoppers. When the hoppers are full, the dredge uses a series of pumps and pipelines to transport the sediment to a secondary location for disposal.
Built in 1926 by the Federal Shipping Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, in Kearny, New Jersey, the hopper dredge Willets Point could raise sediment from depths of 12 to 35 feet. This 200-foot vessel was designed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and represents the type of equipment used in early 20th-century harbor improvement work. In 1927 the Willets Point was commissioned to dredge sections of the Potomac River. At the time, large vessels could not reach Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, D. C., because of sedimentation in the channels and harbors. Between January and April 1927, the Willets Point moved 581,507 cubic yards of sediment from the bottom of the Potomac.
Hopper dredges cannot move quickly while working. As a result, dredges use a series of signal patterns to let nearby ships know when they are actively working. During the day an arrangement of black circles and diamonds is raised up on the mast, while at night the dredges use an alternating pattern of red and white lights.
This cutaway model was built by Severn-Lamb Ltd., in Stratford-on-Avon, England.
date made
1970
1926
ID Number
TR.330083
catalog number
330083
accession number
288668
This folding wood and cardboard case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. The back is marked: MADE IN GERMANY. Inside the top flap is the trademark for E. O. Richter & Co., which made drawing instruments in Chemnitz, Germany, from 1892 to the 1980s.
Description
This folding wood and cardboard case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. The back is marked: MADE IN GERMANY. Inside the top flap is the trademark for E. O. Richter & Co., which made drawing instruments in Chemnitz, Germany, from 1892 to the 1980s. An ivory label inside the case is marked: KOLESCH & CO. (/) 138 FULTON ST. (/) NEW YORK. The set includes:
1) 2-1/2" German silver and steel screwdriver that contains three pencil leads.
2) 3-3/16" German silver pen handle containing four needle points.
3) 6-1/4" German silver dividers with lengthening bar and removable pencil, needle, and pen points. The center hinge is marked: Richter, followed by the Richter trademark.
4) 5-7/8" German silver fixed-leg dividers. The center hinge is marked: Richter, followed by the Richter trademark.
5) 5-1/2" and 5-1/8" wood, German silver, and steel drawing pens.
6) 3-1/2" steel bow pen, bow dividers, and bow pencil. The side of each instrument is marked: D.R.P. (Richter held German patents on several of its drawing instruments.) Below the mark is the Richter trademark. The bow pencil is also marked: Germany.
Richter sold this set, which appears to be complete and original, as model E1612. Kolesch & Company, which distributed the instruments, was a successor to the firm established in the early 19th century by Edmund M. Blunt and operated from 1885 to 1947. In 1917, it sold this set as model 1270R for $20.70. Compare to MA.325684, which appears to be a newer version of the set.
Holton Duncan Robinson (1863–1945) owned this set. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1886 and then worked for the civil engineering firm Buck and McNulty in New York City. He then worked on several New York bridges and consulted for the Canadian Northern Railway Company. He partnered with D. B. Steinman in 1920 and designed dozens of bridges in the United States, Canada, Bolivia, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Denmark over the next twenty-five years.
References:
Catalogue of E. O. Richter & Co., 5th ed. (Chemnitz, Germany, [1926]), 71, 79; Charles E. Smart, The Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700 (Troy, N.Y.: Regal Art Press, 1962); Kolesch & Co., Illustrated Catalogue and Price-List, 11th ed. (New York, 1917), 50; D. B. Steinman, "Holton Duncan Robinson, M. ASCE," American Society of Civil Engineers Memoir 1571.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1892-ca 1930
maker
E. O. Richter & Co.
ID Number
2007.0039.01
accession number
2007.0039
catalog number
2007.0039.01

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