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
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CD with Lift for Dreamweaver Software
- Description
- This gold colored compact disc (cd-r, a recordable compact disc) contains a copy of “Lift” software. This software was an add-on product used with Dreamweaver to ensure websites were compliant with U.S. government accessibility and usability regulations.
- 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
- 2002-2006
- ID Number
- 2017.3148.07
- nonaccession number
- 2017.3148
- catalog number
- 2017.3148.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Storage Counter
- Description
- This component from the Automatic Sequence Controled Calculator, an electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University, is stored in a plexiglass case.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1988.3099.02
- nonaccession number
- 1988.3099
- catalog number
- 1989.3099.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electromechnical Computer Components, ASSC Mark I Relays
- Description
- These eleven electrical components are from the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), and electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University and used at the Harvard Computation Laboratory duing and after World War II.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- 1983.3006.01
- nonaccession number
- 1983.3006
- catalog number
- 1983.3006.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
IBM Punch Card Gauge
- Description
- This gray metal instrument checked the "registration" or alignment of a card punch. Its surface is marked and numbered like an IBM punch card, with 80 columns of numbers. A sample punched card, held in place by three protrusions, fit over the surface and was compared to the rectangles below. Machines out of registration could then be reported.
- A mark on the bottom reads: MFG. BY I.B.M. Another mark there reads: GAUGE CARD FACE UP.
- The device fits in a brown cardboard envelope that is covered with cellophane. A mark on the envelope reads: 450550.
- This is a gauge for an IBM 5081 punch card and a related card punch. It was used at the University of Pittsburgh in Professor Robert A. McConnell’s research on parapsychology.
- For a related card, see 1990.0113.03.
- Reference:
- Accession File.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960s
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1990.0113.01
- catalog number
- 1990.0113.01
- accession number
- 1990.0113
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Model Relating to Powers Tabulating Equipment
- Description
- The wooden base of this model holds a metal container with a paper punch card that fits in it. A metal piece swings from a crosspiece above the card. The base also holds supports for another metal crosspiece. Three metal pieces rotate with this crosspiece. The base also holds two larger, facing metal rectangles. One rectangle has a plastic piece screwed to the top.
- A mark on the right side of the punch card reads: POWERS ACCOUNTING MACHINE COMPANY (/) ACCOUNTS PAYABLE. A mark on the left side of the punch card reads: P1384. The punched holes are round.
- A piece of paper pasted to the top of the base reads: This model represents my new (/) invention of a tabulator in connec- (/) tion with perforated cards, elimina- (/) ting a pin box of 540 pins and sub- (/) stitution forty-five levers instead. (/) Also eliminating connection box, with (/) both of these improvements the speed (/) will be doubled and such machine will (/) be small in size, cheaper to build, (/) more flexible and easier to manipulate. (/) August 19, 1924 (/) James Powers. Also signing the document were Fred J. Dole, Charles E. Whiteman and Achilles Rovegno, all of whom had associations with Francis H. Richards of New York, Powers’s patent attorney.
- No patent corresponding to this invention has been found.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1924
- maker
- James Powers
- ID Number
- 1991.0871.03
- accession number
- 1991.0871
- catalog number
- 1991.0871.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Harvard Mark I Print and Punch Unit, IBM ASCC
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.323580
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 323580
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Harvard Mark I Tape Transport, IBM ASCC
- Description
- This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
- The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight. Four drums carry punched tapes with programs.
- References:
- I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch with the cooperation of Robert V. D. Campbell, Makin' Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
- I. Bernard Cohen. Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.323581
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 323581
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324282
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324283
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324283
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Double Throw Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324286
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324286
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts. The numbers are the integers from 0 to 9. In addition the object includes a gear, contacts, a clutch and brushes.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324287
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324287
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Harvard Mark I paper tape, IBM ASCC
- Description
- Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one. As many as twenty-four holes could be punched in a single row.
- Reference:
- Harvard Computation Laboratory, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic-Sequence Controlled Calculator, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1946, especially chapter 2.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324289
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324289
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Wiring Diagram Removed from Card Punch
- Description
- This diagram was removed from a Remington Rand card punch with museum number MA.336297.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- MA.305981.06.01
- accession number
- 1973305981
- catalog number
- 305981.06.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pamphlet, The Totalisator
- Description
- The inventor and electrical engineer Leith Johnston (1899-1987) gave an address to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in which he described the way in which an electrical totalizator could be used in betting at racetracks. This undated illustrated pamphlet contains extracts from that talk. For a related object see 1990.0008.01.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Johnston & Murphy
- ID Number
- 1990.0008.02
- accession number
- 1990.0008
- catalog number
- 1990.0008.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Book, Financial Engineering
- Description
- Otto Berger Goldman, a consulting engineer and professor of heat engineering at the Oregon State Agricultural College, published thes "text for consulting, managing and designing engineers and for students" in 1920. It was inteneded to assist engineers in determining the "financial efficiency of undertakings." In addition to an introduction, the book includes chapters on cost segregation, fundamental financial calculations, basic costs, vestances, unit cost determination, determination of size of a system for best financial efficience, and determination of type and size of units. A second edition would appear in 1923.
- This copy of the book is from the personal library of mining engineer William F. Eberth (1905-1976), who spent fifteen years of his career with the Atomic Energy Commission working in South Africa.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920
- maker
- Goldman, O. B.
- ID Number
- MA.319872.05
- accession number
- 1975319872
- catalog number
- 319872.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Book, Methods of Operations Research
- Description
- This pioneering textbook on operations research was coauthored by Philip M. Morse (1903-1985), a professor of physics at M.I.T., and quantum chemist George E. Kimball (1906-1967), who also was on the faculty there. During World War II the two men worked for the U.S. Navy on a project relating to the mathematical analysis of Nazi U--boat operations. After the war, they envisioned a more general theory of mathematical analysis of industrial, governmental, and military operations, which is presented here.
- This copy of the book is from the personal library of William F. Eberth (1905-1976), who spent fifteen years of his career with the Atomic Energy Commission working in South Africa. The copy is not annotated.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1951
- maker
- Morse , Philip M.
- Kimball, George E.
- ID Number
- MA.319872.10
- accession number
- 1975319872
- catalog number
- 319872.10
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Advertising Ephemera - American Statistical Association ASA Connect - Cloud Computing
- Description
- In the twenty-first century, the delivery of computer services via the Internet, using computers independent of the user, is often known as “cloud computing.” Some professional associations have used cloud computing to provide a discussion center for members. This blue plastic giveaway is in the shape of a cloud. It advertises an online forum, the American Statistical Association's ASA Connect. A related paper sheet gives more information.
- A mark on the front of the cloud reads: ASA Connect (/) community.amstat.org.
- The materials were collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America in January 2015.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2015
- maker
- American Statistical Association
- ID Number
- 2015.3169.01
- nonaccession number
- 2015.3169
- catalog number
- 2015.3169.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electrotype Printing Block Showing a Manual Hollerith Key Punch
- Description
- This electrotype printing block is engraved in metal and attached to a wooden block. It shows a manually operated, key-driven Hollerith card punch with 11 keys. Hollerith patented such a machine in 1901, but it had only ten keys, numbered from 0 to 9. The machine shown on the electroplate has these number keys, plus one marked X.
- For key punches similar but not identical to that shown, see MA.335634, MA.335635, and MA.333894.
- Reference:
- H. Hollerith, "Apparatus for Perforating Record Cards," U.S. Patent 682,197, September 10, 1901.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1902
- ID Number
- 1977.0503.02
- catalog number
- 336121
- accession number
- 1977.0503
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Autopoint Mechanical Pencil
- Description
- This 5-3/4" black plastic and chrome-plated mechanical pencil is marked near its top: CHICAGO Autopoint USA (/) PATD AND PATS PEND. The word "Autopoint" is in script. The end of the pencil above the mark uncaps to reveal an eraser. A metal clip allows the pencil to be secured in a shirt pocket. The pen is stored in a rectangular gray cardboard box marked: Pencil Used by H H sr. (c[h]rome plated).
- Autopoint began manufacturing mechanical pencils in Chicago in 1918. Inventors assigned at least 30 patents to Autopoint between 1918 and 1929. One of the patents referred to on this pencil was taken out by Frank Deli of Chicago, for a metal pin that screwed into a threaded cylinder inside the pencil tip and thus acted to propel the lead. The diameter of the pin suggests the lead width was about 1 mm. The body of the pencil was to be made from bakelite or a similar plastic. Deli applied for his patent in 1921, although it was not granted until 1925. Bakelite, the plastics manufacturer, owned an interest in Autopoint from the 1920s to the 1940s. After several corporate acquisitions and reorganizations, Autopoint moved to Janesville, Wisc., in 1979, where it continues operations.
- His daughter-in-law reported that Herman Hollerith Sr. owned this pencil. Hollerith (1860–1929) trained as a mining engineer. He joined the U.S. Census Office in 1879, where he pioneered the development of punch cards for tabulating machines. These machines dramatically sped up the processing of data in the 1890 census. In 1896 he founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which merged with three other companies in 1911 and became the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. Hollerith retired in 1921 and raised cattle on a farm in Maryland until his death, so he presumably acquired the pencil during his retirement. For depictions and examples of Hollerith machines, see 1977.0503.01, 1977.0503.02, and 2011.3121.01, MA.312896, MA.335634, MA.335635, and MA.333894. See also the NMAH object group on tabulating machines, http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/tabulating-equipment.
- References: Autopoint, Inc., "About Us," http://autopointinc.com/about-us; Frank C. Deli, "Pencil" (U.S. Patent 1,552,123 issued September 1, 1925); Robert L. Bolin, "Web Resources Concerning the Mechanical Pencil Industry in Chicago," http://unllib.unl.edu/Bolin_resources/pencil_page/index.htm; William R. Aul, "Herman Hollerith: Data Processing Pioneer," Think, November 1972, http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html; United States Census Bureau, "Herman Hollerith," http://www.census.gov/history/www/census_then_now/notable_alumni/herman_hollerith.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1921-1929
- maker
- Autopoint, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1977.0503.03
- catalog number
- 336122
- accession number
- 1977.0503
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
3M Company Merchandise Data Recorder
- Description
- Automatic scanning and processing of informationabout merchandise Is now commonly done with bar code readers. In the 1950s, Howard Davis of the Jordan Marsh department stores began talking with Richad G. Zens about such processing. Engineers Henry Shunk and Joseph Welty of Massachusetts designed such a system, applied for a patent in 1959, and received it in 1963. They assigned the patent to Automatic Records, Inc. of Natick, Massachusetts. The machine used thermo-Fax paper produced by 3M Corporation, and 3M agreed to handle the recording part of the system, Scanners were produced by Automatic Records, a division of Printed Electronics Corporation of Natick. This object is the resulting "3M Merchancise Data Recorder." It has a beige metal case; metal reels and front platform; a plastic front window and on/off switch; a rubber cord, plug and wheel; and a paper tape. A mark on the object reads: 3M (/) MERCHANDISE DATA RECORDER. Another mark reads: MODEL 25AA (/) SERIAL NO. 4011034.
- For related documentation, and the historical information presented here, see 1984.0932.02.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- 3M
- ID Number
- 1984.0932.01
- accession number
- 1984.0932
- catalog number
- 1984.0932.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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- Computers & Business Machines 231
- Punch Cards 71
- Science 65
- Tabulating Equipment 31
- Cash and Credit Registers 23
- Communications 7
- Scale Rules 5
- Adding Machines 3
- Census, US 3
- Advertising 2
- Calculating Machines 2
- Education 2
- Handheld Electronic Calculators 2
- Railroads 2
- Rule, Calculating 2
- Slide Rules 2
- Women Mathematicians 2
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- Artifact Walls exhibit 1
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object type
- Punch Card 20
- Punch Cards, Group Of 19
- punch card 17
- Cash registers 16
- Electromechanical Computer Component 14
- Computer Component 13
- Pamphlets 12
- punched cards, set of 9
- Software 7
- card punch 7
- Photographs 5
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- Medicine and Science: Mathematics 167
- Punch Cards 71
- Science & Mathematics 65
- Medicine and Science: Computers 63
- Tabulating Equipment 31
- Cash and Credit Registers 23
- National Museum of American History 9
- Communications 7
- Scale Rules 5
- My Computing Device 4
- Adding Machines 3
- American Enterprise 3
- Advertising 2
- Calculating Machines 2
- Handheld Electronic Calculators 2
- Slide Rules 2
- Women Mathematicians 2
- Arithmetic Teaching 1
- Art in Industry 1
