Finding Aids

Peter Eisenhower Packard (1948-2017) spent his career in information technology at Bell Laboratories, SIAC, Bessemer Trust, and Sperry-UNIVAC. The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company, and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. This collection consists of nine technical programming and operators' manuals for UNIVAC systems, which date from 1962 to 1969.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980). In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly sold their firm to Remington Rand, Inc, a major manufacturer of business machines, who continued development of the UNIVAC system. The collection documents most of Sperry-Univac's major company functions and includes a large body of materials generated by the Sperry-Honeywell lawsuit that revolved around the question about who invented the first electronic-digital computer.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980), the developers of ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer. This collection consists of the administrative, financial, marketing, personnel, and legal records of Sperry UNIVAC and its predecessor companies. Also included are manuals, reports, and publications on hardware and software developed by Sperry UNIVAC; task force reports and studies for developing new products; printed materials from the Systems Programming Library Service; and biographical and historical data.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company; its UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC Division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980). In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly sold their firm to Remington Rand, Inc, a major business machine manufacturer, which continued developing the UNIVAC system. Thomas "Tim" J. Bergin (1940-) is an emeritus professor of computer science and information systems at American University; he was also curator/director of the Computer History Museum. Bergin obtained this collection of UNIVAC/ENIAC historical materials from other computer pioneers. The collection consists of research reports, booklets, published articles, lecture notes, and audiovisual materials that describe the development of the EDVAC, ENIAC, and UNIVAC computers. The materials are organized into five series by format: Manuals and pamphlets; Articles and reprints; Tributes and anniversary materials; Photographs and films; and Objects.

UNITE, Inc. stands for Unisys Information Technology Exchange, a not-for-profit corporation, where members share information about Unisys and the use and development of information technology. The predescessor, UNIVAC Scientific Exchange (USE) was formed in 1955, consisting of UNIVAC 1103A computer users (Boeing Airplane Company, Holloman Air Force Base, Lockheed Missile Systems Division and Ramo-Woolridge Corporation) and Sperry-UNIVAC representatives. Their records document the evolving relationship between USE, Inc. and Sperry-UNIVAC including the history of software development through problem issues reported and improvements, response to user demands, and customer expectations.