Computers & Business Machines
Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.
The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers
67
Page 1 of 4
-
Painting by Bart Forbes, Computers
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Forbes, Bart
- ID Number
- 1980.3034.01
- catalog number
- 1980.3034.01
- nonaccession number
- 1980.3034
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Documentation, Algorithms for Polynomial Factorization
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1971
- Associated Name
- Riley, Robert F.
- maker
- University of Wisconsin. Computer Sciences Department
- ID Number
- 1999.3057.10
- nonaccession number
- 1999.3057
- catalog number
- 1999.3057.10
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
"Equal Bytes for Women"
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Computerworld
- ID Number
- 1990.0407.04
- catalog number
- 1990.0407.04
- accession number
- 1990.0407
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Badge, 1985 Federal Office Automation Conference
- Description
- This is a badge for Tom Chase, head conservator of the Freer Gallery of Art, admitting him to the Federal Office Automation Conference on October 30, 1985. The plastic badge is attached to a paper card giving further details.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000
- 2001
- 1985
- maker
- Christian Register
- ID Number
- 2011.3014.04
- nonaccession number
- 2011.3014
- catalog number
- 2011.3014.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
LOCI-2 Punch Card
- Description
- This is one of a series of forty-column perforated punch cards designed for use with the programmable Wang LOCI-2 electronic calculator. Each card is marked in the bottom left corner: IBM D56709. Each card is marked on the left side: LOCI (LOGARITHMIC COMPUTER) PROGRAM.
- For the calculator, see 1980.0096.01. For the card reader, see 1980.0096.01.1. For the card punch, see1980.0096.02.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965 or later
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.03.6
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.03.6
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
LOCI-2 Punch Card
- Description
- This is one of a series of forty-column perforated punch cards designed for use with the programmable Wang LOCI-2 electronic calculator. Each card is marked in the bottom left corner: IBM D56709. Each card is marked on the left side: LOCI (LOGARITHMIC COMPUTER) PROGRAM.
- For the calculator, see 1980.0096.01. For the card reader, see 1980.0096.01.1. For the card punch, see1980.0096.02.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965 or later
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.03.5
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.03.5
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Data Preparation Worksheet
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2017.3104.02
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3104
- catalog number
- 2017.3104.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
ComputerLand Photograph
- Description
- This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan in front of a software display at the ComputerLand store in NYC. On the back, written in pencil are the dates 1981-82.
- James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.
- ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.
- The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2017.3153.05
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3153
- catalog number
- 2017.3153.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Diskette with Text for September 11 Witness Story Web Page
- Description
- This 3 1/2" diskette contains the text used for the September 11 Witness Story page on the NMAH website.
- Web designer David McOwen, a member of the New Media Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, used these materials when designing sections of the NMAH website.
- The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2002
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.03
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Punch Cards used with a PDP-9 Minicomputer
- Description
- In the mid-1960s, the Computer Science Department at RAND Corporation turned its attention to developing computer graphics. A set of programs written in the programming language FORTRAN for the PDP-9 minicomputer were used to plot contour lines useful in determining the line of sight for microwave radiation emitted from a given point on a map. These cards have some of the data for one of these programs. The cards are white with a pink border on the top (occasional cards have a green border). Groups of cards are not numbered but groups of data are designated by black marks on the edge. A mark on the first card reads: 3000 500. A printout of a related program has non-accession number 1990.3046.10.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1968
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1990.3046.05
- catalog number
- 1990.3046.05
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3046
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Library of Congress Punch Card
- Description
- The late 1960s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan. This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Apparatus and Experiment SD Int. by Weiss, which had call number QP461 W4 1916. It was checked out on 12-22-72 to Borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1972
- 1972
- date made
- 1972
- maker
- Library of Congress
- ID Number
- 2002.3058.02
- nonaccession number
- 2002.3058
- catalog number
- 2002.3058.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Punch Cards used with a PDP-9 Minicomputer
- Description
- In the mid-1960s, the Computer Science Department at RAND Corporation turned its attention to developing computer graphics. A set of programs written in the programming language FORTRAN for the PDP-9 minicomputer were used to plot contour lines useful in determining the line of sight for microwave radiation emitted from a given point on a map.
- This group of cards is labeled: Last version using SC4020 plot routine. The cards have the data for a FORTRAN program with non-accession number 1990.3046.10. Theys are white with a green border along the top. A mark on the first card reads: $IBFTC CLAQR REF.
- The SC4020 was a computer-controlled microfilm printer and plotter produced by the Stromberg-Carlson Corporation. It was one of the first devices sold specifically to visualize computer calculations.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1968
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1990.3046.07
- catalog number
- 1990.3046.07
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3046
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Poster, 1944 Mark I --electromechanische Schaltelemente ubernehemen das Zahlen
- Description
- This is one of a set of illustrated posters on the history of computing from antiquity to the 1970s. The text is in German and the posters were published by IBM Deutschland. This particular poster discusses the ASCC Mark I electromechanical computer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1975
- maker
- IBM Deutschland
- ID Number
- 1988.0803.12
- catalog number
- 1988.0803.12
- accession number
- 1988.0803
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
NMAH Web Site Documentation Binder
- Description
- This white loose-leaf binder contains information about the design, configuration and installation of the files and servers needed to power the redesigned National Museum of American History website (americanhistory.si.edu). Included is information on how the page appearance was constructed using ColdFusion custom tags and an example of how each page would look. In addition to 185 pages of text, it includes 2 cd-rom disks entitled "Web Site Phase I Final File Set".
- The NMAH website was created by Mediatrope Interactive Studio of San Francisco, CA.
- The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2005
- 2005-04
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.01
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Cray-1 Computer System Brochure
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2018.3063.04
- nonaccession number
- 2018.3063
- catalog number
- 2018.3063.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
ComputerLand NYC Franchise Agreement
- Description
- This loose-leaf binder contains a copy of the franchise agreement between ComputerLand Corp. of California and Facks Computer, Inc. of New York dated January 1980. The binder also contains a manilla folder with newspaper clippings and legal documents concerning a legal dispute over the ownership of the franchise.
- James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.
- ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.
- The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2017.3153.09
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3153
- catalog number
- 2017.3153.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Patent Order Punch Card with Synchronous Motor Patent Papers
- Description
- This orange punch card, used by the U.S. Patent Office, is attached to a copy of the patent papers the card describes. The card has 53 columns versus the standard IBM 80-column punch card. It is marked PO-33, PATENT ORDER (Letter Unit) on the left edge, and IBM D7 7517 on the bottom edge.
- The following information is punched and printed on the card: the patent number (1913948), customer number (11530), month (01), day (29), and serv. code (6M).
- The patent papers requested (5 pages) were for patent number 1,913,948 filed on May 2, 1932 by David Perlman for a Synchronous Motor. His patent was for improvements in electrically operated time-pieces.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 2017.3122.03
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3122
- catalog number
- 2017.3122.03
- patent number
- 1,913,948
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Punch Cards used with a PDP-9 Minicomputer
- Description
- In the mid-1960s, the Computer Science Department at RAND Corporation turned its attention to developing computer graphics. A set of programs written in the programming language FORTRAN for the PDP-9 minicomputer were used to plot contour lines useful in determining the line of sight for microwave radiation emitted from a given point on a map.
- Groups of the punch cards are not numbered but some are grouped by black marks on the edge. The cards have the data for a FORTRAN program with non-accession number 1990.3046.10. The cards are white with a pink, green or no border on the top. A mark on the first card reads: 8258, CLAF6, D7300, 04M, 100CD, 150P, C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1968
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1990.3046.06
- catalog number
- 1990.3046.06
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3046
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
LOCI-2 Punch Card
- Description
- This is one of a series of forty-column perforated punch cards designed for use with the programmable Wang LOCI-2 electronic calculator. Each card is marked in the bottom left corner: IBM D56709. Each card is marked on the left side: LOCI (LOGARITHMIC COMPUTER) PROGRAM.
- For the calculator, see 1980.0096.01. For the card reader, see 1980.0096.01.1. For the card punch, see1980.0096.02.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965 or later
- Maker
- IBM
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.03.1
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.03.1
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
FileMaker Pro 4.1 Software
- Description
- This compact disc (cd-rom, a compact disc that functions as read-only memory) contains the FileMaker Pro 4.1 relational database software used by the NMAH web program. Descriptions of objects displayed in an exhibition were forward to the web program in a FileMaker file which they formatted for posting to the website.
- Web designer David McOwen, a member of the New Media Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, used these materials when designing sections of the NMAH website.
- The entire Smithsonian website is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1984-1998
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.02
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Pages
Filter Your Results
Click to remove a filter:
- data source
- topic
-
object type
- punched cards, set of 9
- Software 8
- punch card 8
- documentation 5
- Photographs 4
- Compact discs 3
- Punch Card 3
- brochure 3
- diskette 3
- Disks (object genres) 2
- binder, loose-leaf 2
- button, advertising 2
- sticker 2
- Badges 1
- Documentation 1
- Documents 1
- Leaflets (printed works) 1
- Magazines (periodicals) 1
- Maps 1
- Microcomputers 1
- date
- place
- set name
