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 936 items.
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Sch[ool] of Eng[ineering], H[oward] U[niversity] April [19]42 [cellulose acetate photonegative]
- Summary
- Group of men working in a laboratory in groups. One group is working with a coil in solution, whilst another is working with a battery. The man in the front left is smoking a pipe. No ink on negative. "2 AGFA SAFETY FILM" edge imprint
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1942
- 1940-1950
- photographers
- Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.)
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University School of Engineering
- Local number
- Box 618.04.91
- AC0618.004.0000846.tif (scan number)
- No Scurlock number
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Sch[ool] of Eng[ineering], H[oward] U[niversity] April [19]42 [cellulose acetate photonegative]
- Summary
- Group of men in a laboratory standing around equipment on a table. No ink on negative. "3 AGFA SAFETY FILM" edge imprint
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1942
- 1940-1950
- photographers
- Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.)
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University School of Engineering
- Local number
- Box 618.04.91
- AC0618.004.0000848.tif (scan number)
- No Scurlock number
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Sch[ool] of Eng[ineering], H[oward] U[niversity] April [19]42 [cellulose acetate photonegative]
- Summary
- Ten men standing at benches working on experiments in a laboratory. No ink on negative. "3 AGFA SAFETY FILM" edge imprint. No Scurlock number
- Publications
- Used April 27, 2010, on the Smithsonian Photographic Initiative web site, "click! photography changes everything" (http://click.si.edu) to accompany contributor Jeremy Wolfe's (a professor at Harvard School of Medicine who investigates visual attention) story, which reflects on how photography changes what and how much we remember
- Cite as
- Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1942
- 1940-1950
- photographers
- Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.)
- film manufacturer
- Agfa
- Subject
- Howard University School of Engineering
- Local number
- Box 618.04.91
- AC0618.004.0000849.tif (AC scan number)
- 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
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
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
Planimeter, Parallel Bar Type
- Description
- This instrument consists of 12 flat parallel metal rods screwed at each end to somewhat wider parallel rods. The rods are equally spaced, except for the first and last, which are only half as far apart as the others. The device was designed for locating ordinates on a steam-engine indicator diagram that should be measured and multiplied by the length of the diagram to give a rough estimate of the area under the curve. This object was owned by the renowned American designer of steam engines, Erasmus Darwin Leavitt Jr. (1836–1916), and donated by his granddaughter, Margaret van D. Rice.
- Reference: N. Hawkins, Hawkins' Indicator Catechism (New York: Theo. Audel & Co., 1903), 107–110.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- late 19th century
- ID Number
- 1977.0460.11
- catalog number
- 336082
- accession number
- 1977.0460
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Post Instruction Manual for Versalog Slide Rule
- Description
- This is a later printing of 1978.0800.02. Its citation information is: E. I. Fiesenheiser, Versalog Slide Rule Instruction Manual, with R. A. Budenholzer and B. A. Fisher (Chicago: Frederick Post Company, 1963). The text appears not to have been revised since these three Illinois Institute of Technology engineering professors helped invent the Versalog slide rule and wrote instructions for using it in 1951. Marks inside the front cover indicate this copy was offered for sale in January 1969 for $1.00.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1963
- maker
- Frederick Post Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0097.03
- accession number
- 1980.0097
- catalog number
- 1980.0097.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
