This month the Institute Archives and Special Collections focuses on some of MIT’s early energy research. Robert J. Van de Graaff came to MIT in 1931, where he worked on the development of the high-voltage generator that bears his name. May’s Object of the Month describes the apparatus and includes photographs from the 1933 “Progress Report on the M.I.T. High-Voltage Generator at Round Hill.” The exhibit includes a link to a demonstration of the Van de Graaff generator by Professor Walter Lewin.

The Archives holds several collections that contain materials about the Van de Graaff generator: the Papers of Robert J. Van de Graaff (MC 45), the Records of the High Voltage Energy Corporation (MC 153), and the Records of the MIT President (AC 4). All are available for research, with 24 hours’ notice, in 14N-118, Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm.

Interest was high in 1861 as the proposed Institute of Technology moved through the Massachusetts legislative process. But among those opposed was the secretary of the Board of Education. In March, Governor John A. Andrew invited William Barton Rogers to a meeting of the board to persuade them of its advantages for education and industry. “Be thou the advocate,” wrote Massachusetts Governor Andrew in a letter exhibited as the Object of the Month by the Institute Archives and Special Collections. The proposal was finally approved by the Massachusetts legislature, and on April 10, 1861, Governor Andrew signed the Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Celebrate MIT’s anniversary month, and the countdown to MIT’s sesquicentennial in 2011, by learning more about the Institute’s beginnings and William Barton Rogers, the extraordinary man whose vision made it happen. Rogers’s papers and many documents concerning MIT’s early years are available for research in the Institute Archives, 14N-118, Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

A new FAQ, Thesis Access and Availability, has been added to the MIT Libraries web site.

The Thesis Access and Availability FAQ provides basic information about interpreting our public records for MIT theses in Barton. This page will help answer questions such as:

• How do I determine the “publication date” for a thesis?
• When is a thesis available to the public?
• How long does it take for theses to be added to DSpace?

For further information about MIT Thesis Collection, contact the Institute Archives.

On Friday, April 18, from 1-3pm the MIT Libraries will host a community celebration in honor of the opening of the Maihaugen Gallery. The newly constructed exhibit space will showcase some of the extraordinary items from the MIT Libraries’ collections.

The first exhibit: A Celebration of Gifts will feature rare and unique items donated to the Libraries by MIT alumni, faculty, and friends. Among the treasures that will be exhibited to the public for the first time are items from the collection of the Institute’s founder, William Barton Rogers. The exhibit will also include original notebooks from Harold “Doc” Edgerton, several rare books including a first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and a book of illustrations from the 1553 volume Historiae animalium by Konrad Gesner. Also featured will be items from the personal library of architect Charles Bulfinch, balloon prints from the Vail Collection, books by architect Santiago Calatrava with original artwork, works from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, and other items given to the Libraries.

The new facility is located adjacent to the Institute Archives (14N-118). The celebration will begin at 1pm with remarks by Ann Wolpert, director of the Libraries. Refreshments will be served. Please join us!

Photos by: L. Barry Hetherington, Bottom photo: Copyright Harold E. Edgerton 1992 Trust

The subject of the Archives’ March Object of the Month exhibit is MIT’s wind tunnels, beginning with an early improvisation in 1896. The focus of the exhibit is a photograph and description of a wind tunnel in use from 1914 to 1921, which was built on Vassar Street in Cambridge two years before MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge.

The photograph is from the MIT Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel Records (1914-1963) in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. These and other records concerning aeronautics and aeronautical engineering are available for research in the Archives in Building 14N-118.

For its February Object of the Month the Institute Archives and Special Collections focuses on snow removal, exhibiting a 1948 letter from Mayor James M. Curley to MIT President Karl T. Compton, and Compton’s reply. Curley communicates his concern about snow removal and possible spring floods, makes a few tentative suggestions on methods, and expresses his hope that Institute researchers will tackle the problem.

The letters exhibited are from the Records of the Office of the President, 1930-1959 (AC 4) which span the tenures of Karl T. Compton and James R. Killian, a period of enormous change at the Institute and in the world. The subjects documented in this rich collection range from MIT administrative history, through scientific research during World War II and the postwar period, to science policy. The records are available for research in the MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections, Building 14N-118, Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

The January Object of the Month exhibit by the Institute Archives and Special Collections highlights watercolors painted by Eleanor Manning O’Connor (B.S.in Architecture, MIT, 1909). The watercolors are from the Archives’ collection of the Records of Howe, Manning & Almy, an architectural firm started by Lois Lilley Howe (MIT, 1890) and later joined by O’Connor and a third MIT alumna, Mary Almy. The collection includes reports, paintings, drawings, blueprints, photographs, diaries, notes, and correspondence illuminating the lives and work of the three MIT alumnae. The materials are available for research in Room 14N-118, Monday through Thursday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, with 24 hours’ advance notice.

MIT’s founder, William Barton Rogers, was born December 7, 1804. Rogers, was a noted geologist and educator who had a vision for a new educational model. He began to organize his plans for a “polytechnic” institute as early as the 1840s, and he pursued his ideas until MIT was finally founded in 1861.

Learn more about William Barton Rogers and the founding of MIT on the web site of the Institute Archives and Special Collections. You are also welcome to visit the Archives in 14N-118, Monday through Thursday, between 10 am and 4 pm.

The Object of the Month exhibit of the Institute Archives and Special Collections is about the three men who received MIT’s first Ph.D.’s, their supervisor, and the lab he founded in 1903—the Research Laboratory of Physical Chemistry. Left to right in the photograph are Robert B. Sosman, Morris A. Stewart, and Raymond Haskell.

Browse more highlights of MIT’s history on the Archives web site, or visit the reading room, Building 14N-118, Monday through Thursday, between 10 am and 4 pm.

Read about MIT Libraries’ news in the latest issue of BiblioTech.  In this issue:

• From the Director–a column by Ann Wolpert, Director of Libraries
• New Technologies–an article about the Libraries’ beta projects
• From the Archives–a column by Tom Rosko, Head of the Institute Archives & Special Collections
• Supporting the Libraries–news about recent gifts to the Libraries
• DSpace Community Grows–an article about the newly formed DSpace Foundation
• Saving Endangered Languages–an article about preserving the work of late MIT linguistics professor Kenneth Hale

Get a PDF copy of BiblioTech or subscribe by emailing your name and address to dev-lib@mit.edu.

For its November Object of the Month the Institute Archives and Special Collections displays a sonar chart and other records of Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s search for a Spanish Armada wreck of 1588 in Tobermory Bay, Scotland. Earning an Sc.D. in electrical engineering at MIT in 1931, Edgerton spent the rest of his life at the Institute as teacher, researcher, and head of the Stroboscopic Light Lab. His papers, which include documentation of his development of high-speed photography techniques and equipment for underwater exploration, are available for research in the Institute Archives, Building 14N-118.

Thanks to the generosity of Thomas F. Peterson, Jr. ’57, the MIT Libraries will begin a project to digitize its Vail Balloon Print Collection.  The prints are part of the Vail Collection, originally collected by George Dering, and purchased and given to the Institute in 1912 by Theodore Vail, former president of AT&T and member of the MIT Corporation.

Consisting of over 1200 items, the collection is replete with wonderful images providing visual documentation of man’s vision of flying vehicles and human flight.  Images range from the fanciful to depictions of real events, such as the balloon sent up by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783.  Broadsides, articles, and clippings recount the history of man’s efforts to fly over the last three centuries, relating or commenting on individual efforts – some celebratory and other detailing the fatal results of failures.

The digitization of this premiere collection of prints will allow the world to better access these treasures; it is also a critical first step in their long-term preservation.  The project will also serve as a model for future digitization projects within the Libraries.

In celebration of the written word of E. Cary Brown, former Head of the MIT Economics Department, Dewey Library for Management and Social Sciences (E53-100) is hosting an exhibit of his selected writings from October 10th through October 22nd.

E. Cary Brown, a leading expert on fiscal policy and the economics of taxation, passed away in June of this year. He was a member of the Economics Department from 1947-1986 and its Head from 1965-1983.

The exhibit includes selections of Brown’s work, including books, book chapters, journal articles, and working papers. Highlighted are two of his most influential papers, “Business Income Taxation and Investment Incentives” and “Fiscal Policy in the `Thirties: A Reappraisal.” Come see this work alongside archival items documenting his time here at MIT.

For more information on Brown, see the memorial statement on the Economics Department web site.

The 50th anniversary of Sputnik is observed in the October Object of the Month exhibit of the Institute Archives & Special Collections. After the surprise launch of Sputnik by the USSR in 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed MIT’s James R. Killian the first Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. Killian chaired the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), which was instrumental in initiating national curriculum reforms in science and technology and in establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Sputnik 1 mockup - NASA image

No formal entrance examination was required in MIT’s first few years, but by 1869 applicants had to pass a qualifying exam in four subjects: English, algebra, geometry, and arithmetic. For its September Object of the Month the Archives is exhibiting the exam in its display case in the hallway across from 14N-118 and on the Web. Take the test, check your answers, and find out more about MIT’s history on the web site of the Institute Archives and Special Collections.

MIT catalogs going back to 1865, examinations from the nineteenth century and later, and a variety of materials relating to students, professors, courses, and other subjects are available for use in the Archives reading room, Building 14N-118, Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm.

In the 1980s MIT students and faculty members embarked on an exploration of human-powered flight. The August Object of the Month exhibit of the Institute Archives and Special Collections describes the project that produced the Daedalus, in which Kanellos Kanellopoulos made the record-breaking flight from Crete to Santorin in 1988. The records of Project Daedalus are available for research in the Archives reading room, Building 14N-118.

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Friday, July 20, noon – 1pm

While you won’t come out of this session qualified to be a patent attorney, you will be able to successfully find patent references from all over the world and know how to obtain patent text and diagrams.

The session will be a hands-on practicum which will help de-mystify the patent literature and expose attendees to key resources for finding patent literature. Using patent literature is important for understanding competitive technologies and keeping abreast of current product innovations.

Feel free to bring your lunch! Drinks and dessert will be provided.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

Full schedule of JulyAP 2007 information workshops

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Friday, July 13, noon – 1pm

Can you use and re-use your own work for future writing and teaching? Or is it locked tight behind a vault of copyright restrictions?

This session will help you find the keys to fully realize the potential of your own work for yourself and the world. It will provide a very brief summary of copyright law and how it affects your work, and an overview of actions you can take to improve the impact and reach of your research – including why retaining rights to your work matters, and how you can take advantage of such rights to increase citation and readership.

Feel free to bring your lunch! Drinks and dessert will be provided.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

Full schedule of JulyAP 2007 information workshops

What’s the big deal about open access anyway? If I’m writing an article, what rights should I keep? Where can I find out more?

Check out http://libraries.mit.edu/open-access to find out what’s happening nationally and beyond, and http://libraries.mit.edu/rights to find out how to retain your rights and increase the impact of your research.

Look for these posters showing current Open Access Models at the Engineering and Science Libraries (Barker, Hayden, Lindgren and Aero/Astro).

The MIT Archives’ June Object of the Month is Francis H. Bacon’s “Log of the Dorian,” being, in Bacon’s words, ” the Account of a Voyage in a small Boat in the Year 1878-79 from England to the Mediterranean by way of Belgium and Holland, and up the Rhine to the Danube, down to the Black Sea and through the Aegean to Athens, with Sketches made by Himself.”

Bacon’s handwritten journal, containing his watercolors, sketches, and other illustrations, is available for research in the Institute Archives and Special Collections, Building 14N-118.

The Hayden Library (Humanities and Science Libraries) will be open 24 hours a day, from the last day of classes through the last day of the final exam period: Thursday, May 17 through Friday, May 25.

NOTE: Overnight access to the library is restricted to members of the MIT community.

The May Object of the Month exhibit by the Institute Archives and Special Collections is about the physics of baseball, featuring a 1965 letter from Vannevar Bush to his MIT colleague Harold Edgerton in response to a batch of multiflash baseball pictures Edgerton had sent him. Included in the exhibit is a page from Edgerton’s notebook showing two of the photos of the type sent to Bush.

The papers of Bush and Edgerton are available for research in the Archives.

To celebrate the 146th anniversary of the founding of MIT (April 10, 1861), the Institute Archives and Special Collections showcases The Rogers Building, Boston, 1866-1938 — MIT’s First Building — as its April Object of the Month. The exhibit includes photographs of the inside of the building as well as links to related exhibits about MIT’s years as “Boston Tech.”

Learn more about MIT at the Institute Archives and Special Collections (14N-118) — The Source for MIT History.

For March the Institute Archives and Special Collections has chosen “VooDoo, vol. 1, no. 1 (March, 1919): Student Humor at MIT” for its Object of the Month exhibit. Learn more about VooDoo and its mascot, Phosphorus the cat.

The Object of the Month is also displayed in an exhibit case across from the Archives, Room 14N-118.

When: Friday, February 9, 12-1 pm
Where: MIT GIS Lab, Rotch Library, 7-238

We will explore the earth with Google Earth and World Wind - 2 freely available virtual globes. We will also explore KML (Keyhole Markup Language - the file format for Google Earth) and adding your own data into Google Earth. Registration not required, but seating is limited. For information about other upcoming GIS Lab workshops visit: http://libraries.mit.edu/gis/teach/spring2007.html

January’s Object of the Month exhibit describes the “Harmonic Diagram” designed in 1824 by physicist and inventor Charles Wheatstone. The “diagram” is a mechanical device for explaining music theory. It is one of the items from a wide range of time periods, on diverse subjects, in many formats, in the holdings of MIT’s Institute Archives and Special Collections.

Browse other exhibits for a sample of the scope of the Archives’ collections. All are welcome to visit the Archives for further exploration.

MIT’s founder, William Barton Rogers, was born 202 years ago on December 7. It is appropriate, then, that the Institute Archives and Special Collections, in its December Object of the Month exhibit, announces a grant from the Fred J. Brotherton Charitible Foundation to perform conservation work on one hundred documents from the Rogers papers, one of MIT’s most important historical collections. The grant includes funds to convert the guide to the Rogers papers to EAD (Encoded Archival Description), an encoding standard for electronic archival finding aids, to make information about the collection available on the World Wide Web.

The Institute Archives & Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability online of transcripts of oral histories with Walter A. Rosenblith and William R. Dickson.

Walter Rosenblith (1913-2002), Provost, Professor of Communications Biophysics, then Institute Professor, had a tremendous impact in the scientific realm and in the policies and academic structure of MIT. During much the same period, Bill Dickson (1935-2006) oversaw the dramatic growth of the Institute’s campus. We feel that these two oral histories make an interesting juxtaposition