Scope and Content:

The Albert Rose papers include figures and lab notes, correspondence, and technical papers related to Rose’s work on picture tubes and photoconductivity at the David Sarnoff Research Center.

The Albert Rose photographs focus on the development and testing for television picture quality including the orthicon, super xx film, electron images, optical images, low velocity scanning electron microscope images, and direct light spot scanning. As well as electron beam paths in cylindrical negative fields and around horseshoe magnets.

Fifty-eight of Rose's lab notebooks (1935-1958) can be found in Record group 26.

Abstract:

Alfred Hermann Sommer (1909-2003) was a physical chemist who specialized in photoemission research and development. After fleeing from the German Nazi regime and working in London, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1953. He took a job with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) at its David Sarnoff Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, where he worked until 1974. The collection consists of several of Sommer's articles, publications, and patents.

Abstract:

Fred L. Bechly (1924-2004) was an electrical engineer who worked for RCA's Camden, New Jersey, plant, where he aided in the invention of the Tricolor Kinescope Monitor, which became the standard for color television. His papers describe his work with RCA in television and video recording from 1944 to 1983.

Scope and Content:

The Humboldt Leverenz papers include reports on experiments related to cathode ray tubes, afterglow powders, phosphors, and dark trace tube screens from 1941 to 1953. Experiment reports from 1941-1945 include a stamp and security information from the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Included within the reports are graphs, diagrams, calculations, and some images from the experiments. The papers also include notes and calculations by Dr. Leverenz as well as records, manuals, and progress reports from the Chemico-Physics section of RCA Laboratories from 1943 to 1949.

Forty-three of Leverenz's lab notebooks (1931-1954) can be found in Record group 26.

Scope and Content:

James R. Matey preserved documents which help to explain his work in developing instruments used to control and manipulate data and materials, tools to measure the impact of materials introduced in his experiments, and microscopes which became useful to describe and improve various products. His work is reflected clearly by the number of patents he received, and by the many records which document his work with microscopy, picture tubes, and VideoDiscs.

The Matey papers includes photographs, overhead transparencies, 35mm slides, videocassettes, and one video disc. These depict work done with scanning capacitance microscopy (SCaM) including micrographs of silicone on sapphire, video discs, and graphs and diagrams used in a presentation on scanning capacitance microscopy.

Twenty-nine of Matey's lab notebooks (1977-1991) can be found in Record group 26.

Abstract:

From 1906 to the 1970s, the Honeywell corporation grew from specializing in thermostats and home heating into military engineering, cameras and computing. James Warren Scarlett (1937-2016) was a team leader and electrical engineer at Honeywell through the crucial 1970s period where they led the world in developing process control technology for industrial plants. His records illustrate the development of Honeywell's Industrial Process Control Division's TDC 2000 and TDC 3000 systems. The collection has particular strengths in materials documenting the design of the user interface, sometimes referred to as the man-machine-interface (MMI). Materials include reports, papers, presentation slides, books, correspondence, and business cards.

Abstract:

KEMET Electronics Corporation specializes in passive electronic components, including getters (an essential element in vacuum tubes) and capacitors. The name "KEMET" was derived from the words "chemical" and "metallurgy." This small collection consists of employee newsletters and ephemeral publications from KEMET Electronics dating from the 1970s through the 2000s, with some related materials, including a small group of annual reports from Union Carbide from the 1950s.

Abstract:

This collection contains papers from Louis F. Moose from his early days as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, to his retirement from Bell Laboratories, Allentown, Pennsylvania, as an electrical engineer and department head. They date from 1928 with the bulk of the documents from 1942 to 1982 covering his work and activities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bell Laboratories.

Throughout his career, Mr. Moose was involved with the early research and development of magnetrons/microwave tubes used in radar for military use and for Bell Systems applications.

Abstract:

Founded in 1831 as the Elkinton Company and later renamed, Philadelphia Quartz Company became an important innovator during World War I by discovering that silica gels could be used as a base to manufacture catalysts for cracking crude oil molecules to make high-octane gasoline and developing potassium silicate which was adopted for use in cathode ray tubes. The company's records includes business records and the personal papers of the company's founding family.

Scope and Content:

The documents in the Philip M. Heyman papers describe the development with Thomson Consumer Electronics of a picture tube named Eagle, which was intended to prevent noise from vibrations in tubes used for generating audio/visual sound and display. Scientists named the noise microphonics. In addition, the papers explain the work of Heyman and his team to develop flat screen televisions, as well as describe the complexity of flat screen TV.

Seventeen of Heyman's lab notebooks (1963-1982) can be found in Record group 26.

Scope and Contents: Products series is divided into eleven subseries: Aeronautical Systems; Air armament; Aircraft sights and turrets; Army Fire Control (AFC), Bomber Navigation Systems (BNS); Marine systems; Microwave and electronic equipment; Navy Fire Control (NFC) and Navy systems; Radio and electronics; Surface armament; and Searchlights.Throughout the subseries many folders are titled with “AN/” followed by a series of letters and numbers. The United States military use letter combinations to designate electronic and communications equipment. This designation system is called the "Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System" or “AN” for short (Army-Navy). All designations have the “AN/” prefix followed by three letters, a number, and potentially followed by another single letter and a version. The letters in different positions signify the installation, equipment type, and purpose. See the Wikipedia entry for Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System for the full explanation of the letters in the system. Aeronautical systems subseries are images of parts and components for aircraft related to autopilots, gyros, and navigation. There are many folders containing images of products from various Sperry departments. Departments were assigned numbers, however, there is no key within the collection that explains what the numbers mean or what the name of the department was. The images date from 1912 to 1918 and from 1926 to 1964. The films in this subseries are primarily of flight tests, there are a few films not produced by Sperry that show old versus new methods of manufacturing or installing different parts, and there is a three part series about weighted guidelines.Air Armament subseries are images of components primarily related to radar. There are also images of parts, components and the production of aircraft bombers Hustler B-58 and Tempo I, and the air-to-air guided missile, the Sparrow. The images date from 1948 to 1962. There is one film showing various tests of targeting by air.Aircraft sights and turrets subseries contains images of bombsights, gunsights and turrets. The images date from 1916 to 1947. There are many films showing tests of gunsights, particularly the Airborne Gunlaying System (AGL). There are also films showing various turret experiments, specifically with the Central Station...

Scope and Content:

The Randy E. McCoy papers consist primarily of reports, meeting minutes, and test results from the David Sarnoff Research Center's support of display tube manufacturing at RCA (later GE and Thomson) facilities in Lancaster, Marion, and Scranton.

Two of McCoy's lab notebooks (1979-1989) can be found in Record group 26.

Abstract:

RCA’s plant in Harrison, New Jersey was (originally founded in 1882) was acquired by RCA in 1930 and was the company's primary producer of receiving tubes for consumer, industrial, and defense electronics until the plant closed in 1976. The records consist primarily of the papers of engineers Ralph R. Fichtl (1918-2014) and Otto H. Schade, Sr. (1903-1981) on television and receiving tube development. Files include reports, ephemera, photographs, patents, and correspondence on their work and RCA Harrison in general.

Abstract:

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA)’s Picture Tube Division, later known as the Video Component and Display Division, was headquartered at a research and production facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1987, the French firm Thomson Consumer Electronics acquired RCA’s consumer electronics business, including the Lancaster plant, and operated the facility until Thomson shut down its consumer electronics operations in 2005. Materials in the collection document a diverse array of activities at the RCA/Thomson Lancaster plant between the facility’s early days of operation and its closure. Corporate memoranda, correspondence, product technical data, photographs, and audiovisual materials trace the development of RCA/Thomson’s picture tube product line. Corporate publications chronicle major moments in company history.

Abstract:

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 predecessor organizations to the Sperry Corporation, including the Remington Typewriter Company, the Rand Kardex Company, and the Sperry Gyroscope Company; the formation of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation; the development of the UNIVAC brand under Remington Rand, Inc.; Philadelphia and St. Paul branches of the UNIVAC division; the UNIVAC manufacturing plant in Bristol, Tennessee; and Sperry divisions outside of UNIVAC, including Sperry Gyroscope Flight and Defense Systems, and Remington Rand office equipment.

Abstract:

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. The records describe the development and marketing of the marine and airplane stabilizer, the high-intensity searchlight, fire control systems, the gyrocompass, airplane automatic pilot, bombsights, and the aerial torpedo. They trace the evolving relationship between Sperry and the military and the impact of World Wars I and II.

Abstract:

Thomas Peter Brody (1920-2011) was a theoretical physicist whose work in tunnel diodes and semiconductor device theory resulted in numerous electronic uses for thin film technology, eventually leading to his invention of active matrix flat panel display technology, or liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. The collection describes Dr. Brody's education, personal and professional character, scientific achievements, business successes and disappointments, as well as personal praise. Included are lecture notes, private and professional correspondence, research studies, patents, contracts, business records, and other documents related to Dr. Brody's career and the development of LCD technology.

Scope and Contents:

The Tubes series is organized into two subseries: Harrison and Tubes. The Harrison materials document the facilities, equipment, and machinery of manufacturing tubes. There are some images of tubes. These images date from 1934 to 1946. The Tubes subseries is images of tubes, most tubes are identified by number type. These materials date from 1933 to 1976.

Scope and Content:

The collection includes Dr. Vladimir K. Zworykin's records he created shortly after joining the research division of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1929 through his formal retirement in 1954 as a vice president of RCA Laboratories, and from there through his active post-retirement career. While Zworykin is best known for his work on television during the 1920s and 1930s, the larger part of the collection consists of material documenting Zworykin’s work in medical electronics research and chairmanship of the International Institute for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering.

Zworykin’s papers are composed of his publications, lectures, and other writings; patents and awards conferred; correspondence with domestic and international colleagues related to the span of his research from television to medical technologies; and research materials.

Photographs document Zworykin's career at RCA including work on kinescopes, the electron microscope, television, and other equipment. Audio and video materials contain a documentary of Zworykin's life and interviews about Zworykin with other RCA employees.

Ten of Zworykin's patent disclosure books (1930-1943) can be found in Record group 26.