MINDmodern inventors documentation

program

The Lemelson Centerfor the Study of Invention & Innovation

An Inventor’s Guide to the Preservation, Protection, andDonation of Personal Papers

MINDmodern inventors documentationprogram

An Inventor’s Guide to thePreservation, Protection, andDonation of Personal Papers

Send information on the following topics:

Understanding the donation processArtifactsPreservation of materialsLocating an appropriate repositoryLocating an appraiserFinancial and tax implicationsCopyright/intellectual property rights

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE ZIP

PRESERVING CREATIVITY,

INVENTION, AND INNOVATION

MINDTo ensure that the records of invention arepreserved for the future, the LemelsonCenter and the National Museum of AmericanHistory Archives Center established theModern Inventors Documentation (MIND)Program. Working directly with inventors, theMIND Program promotes the advancementand diffusion of knowledge about Americaninventors; acts as a clearinghouse for inven-tors seeking to preserve and donate theirhistorical materials; identifies and preservesthe papers and other historical materials ofliving inventors; promotes access to and useof this documentary record by scholars, students, and the public; and identifiesinventors whose papers and artifacts haveparticular significance to the research andeducational goals of the National Museum of American History.

The papers and artifacts of modern inventionoften are at risk. Geographic mobility, limitedstorage space, lack of knowledge aboutpotential repositories, and busy schedulesall make it easy to postpone dealing withnon-current documents and files.

This guide describes the types of materialsinventors may have, discusses why they areimportant, and explains how they can bepreserved for future generations.

Victor L. Ochoa (ca. 1850—1945) with a prototype of his “Ochoaplane,” ca.1908—11. He designed his plane with an automobile in mind, and it includedcollapsible wings so that it could behoused in a garage or barn. Ochoa alsoinvented and patented a reversible motor, magnetic brake, rail magnetic brake,windmill, and wrench.

Courtesy Victor L. Ochoa Papers, Archives Center, NMAH

Cover: Terms of Intellect by Linda Helton

Victor L. Ochoa

Behind every

invention, there's

a story.

MINDThe history of invention is in your hands.Whether you are an independent inventor or working in a corporate or academic laboratory, you can help save the records ofyour life’s work. The papers, artifacts, andelectronic media that you have generatedattest to the creative spirit of Americaninvention. By making sure these materials arepreserved, the achievements of individualslike you, who have made significant contributions to American life, will be recognized by many groups.

The records of invention help students,scholars, and the general public understandmore fully the creative process and provideperspective on how invention and innovationaffect our daily lives. Historians and curatorsrely on these materials for exhibitions and research projects. Without your help,this rich resource will not exist to servefuture generations.

In December 1943, Grace Murray Hopper(1906—1992) joined the navy. Her firstassignment was working with computers atHarvard University, developing codes intolanguages that could be read by the Mark Icomputer. In the late 1950s, she helpeddevelop COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language). Her other contributionsto the computing field include work forEckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation(UNIVAC I), Remington Rand, and the DigitalEquipment Corporation. They earned herthe nickname of “Amazing Grace.”

Hopper, who eventually became a rearadmiral, retired in 1986. She donated herpapers documenting her affiliation with the Harvard Computation Laboratory(1944—49) to the Smithsonian Institution’sNational Museum of American History inthe late 1960s.

Behind every

invention, there's

a story.

Amazing GraceLt. Hopper and Spec. Whiteexamining sequence mechanismat Harvard ComputationLaboratory, August 8,1944

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Courtesy Grace Murray Hopper Papers, Archives Center, NMAH

Andy

But

ler

In 1990, 34-year-old Andy Butler and otherSilicon Valley engineers patented a newlevel dependent on high-tech electronics toshow digitally the precise angle of the surface being checked.The SmartLevel founda market among users of traditional levelswho needed precise degree measurements.Butler and his colleagues were young,entrepreneurial visionaries who combinedadvanced engineering know-how with ahumanistic approach to public interests andneeds. Although SmartLevel never becameone of Silicon Valley’s giants, it demonstratesthat a small group of individuals can successfully field-test, manufacture,assemble, market, and sell a new product.

The SmartLevel materials were donated tothe Smithsonian Institution by Andy Butler,inventor; Kevin Reeder, designer; and BrianBayley, general manager of SmartToolTechnologies. In addition to the archivalrecords, the National Museum of AmericanHistory acquired two SmartLevels in 1992for its hand-tool collection.

Utility sketchbook/designnotebook of inventor Andy Butler and designerKevin Reeder, 1988

Courtesy SmartLevel Collection,Archives Center, NMAH

MINDThe MIND Program staff is ready to aidinventors, their families, and their colleaguesin handling the papers, records, and artifactscreated during the inventive process. We canguide you in determining what should bepreserved and why, and provide preservationadvice. We can give information on locating anappraiser, on the financial and tax implicationsof donating your papers and artifacts, andon copyright and other intellectual propertyissues. We will help you locate an appropriaterepository for your materials and explain thedonation process and your role as a donor.Finally, information on your materials willbecome part of our growing national databaseon collections documenting the history ofinvention in the United States.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Behind every

invention, there's

a story.

MINDTo assist inventors and their families in preserving the historical resources of invention,this checklist may be used as preparation formore detailed discussions with an archivalrepository. We urge you to act now while thematerials are still intact.

What types of materials do you have?

Are your materials in good physical condition?

Are your materials organized?

Do you have an inventory list?

What is the approximate time span of thematerials?

What is the approximate size of your collection?

Where and how are the materials stored?

Harold E. Edgerton (1903—1990), an electricalengineer at the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT), was interested in what happened when sudden change, like thesurge caused by lightning striking power lines,reached an electric motor. By 1931, Edgertonhad turned his experiments with motors andmercury-arc tubes into a commercial productthat he called the stroboscope. It couldmeasure the speed of machinery in motionand detect irregularities in a mechanism’soperation. Fortunately, his career is amplydocumented in laboratory notebooks, correspondence, oral-history interviews,artifacts, and more in the collections at MIT.

This incredibly rich resource exists primarilybecause of Edgerton’s own efforts. Planningwith the museum and archives professionals atMIT, he made regular donations of materials.After his death, his family established a foundation that sponsored the full cataloging of Edgerton’s archival collectionand turned over additional materials toboth the museum and archives.

Behind every

invention, there's

a story.

Stroboscope

Edgerton in his MIT laboratory The Harold E. Edgerton 1992 Trust, courtesy MIT Museum

THINKING ABOUT YOURHISTORICAL RESOURCES

Artifacts/Objects— Grant Applicationsmodels, parts of Instructional Materialsinventions,prototypes, Laboratory Notebookstools LogbooksCompany Records Patents/Patent Computer Disks ApplicationsCorrespondence— Photographsbusiness, legal,personal Publications/Catalogs,Course Notes ReportsDiaries Sound RecordingsDrawings Videotapes/FilmsFinancial Records

Tupp

er S

eal

In 1937, Earl Silas Tupper (1907—1983), anaspiring Massachusetts inventor, took a jobwith Viscoloid, DuPont’s plastics division inLeominster, Massachusetts. He left in justa year to start his own plastics business,which prospered through World War II.After the war, Tupper experimented withpolyethylene—a new material produced byDuPont—for use in injection molding. Healso patented the airtight “Tupper Seal” forfood containers. Together, these innovationslaid the foundation for the success ofTupperware.

Earl Tupper’s children donated his papersto the Smithsonian Institution in 1992. Hisnotebooks and diaries, correspondence,advertising material, and other records of hiswork on Tupperware attest to his ingenuityof a man who once referred to himself asa “ham inventor and Yankee trader.” TheTupper family also made a generous gift to assist in the care and preservation ofthe collection.

The Lemelson Centerfor the Study of Invention & Innovation

Tupper patent for salad bowl, December 17, 1957Courtesy Earl S. Tupper Papers, Archives Center, NMAH

The Lemelson Center was established atthe National Museum of American Historyin 1995 through a generous gift from TheLemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy,and named for its benefactors—Jerome andDorothy Lemelson. Jerome Lemelson (1923—1997) earned more than 550 patents for arange of inventions, from toys to robotics,and his work was used in products such asthe camcorder and cordless telephone.

The Center’s mission is to document,interpret, and disseminate informationabout invention and innovation, to encourage inventive creativity in youngpeople, and to foster an appreciation ofthe central role invention and innovationplay in the history of the United States.

For more information on the LemelsonCenter and the Modern InventorsDocumentation Program, contact:

The Lemelson CenterMIND ProgramSmithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of American History MRC 604, P.O. Box 37012Washington, DC 20013-7012

P 202.633.3726F 202.357.4517E lemcen@si.eduinvention.smithsonian.org

© 2006 Smithsonian Institution

MIN

D Program

MRC 604, P.O

. Box 37012W

ashington, DC 20013-7012

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Behind every

invention, there's

a story.