Guide to the Karl R. Spangenberg Papers SC0851

University Archives staff and students

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

January 2012, May 2023

Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford 94305-6064

specialcollections@stanford.edu

URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc

Language of Material: Undetermined

Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Title: Karl R. Spangenberg papers

Identifier/Call Number: SC0851

Physical Description: 14.25 Linear Feet

Date (inclusive): 1935-1960

Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.

Access to Collection

The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Biographical / Historical

Karl Spangenberg (1910-1964) served as a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He was a member of the American Physical Society and became an IRE (now IEEE) Associate in 1934, Senior Member in 1945, and Fellow in 1949. He was an adviser of numerous scientists at Stanford University, including Willis Harman, Robert Helliwell, and Chih-Tang Sah. During the later years of World War II, 1944-1945, Spangenberg served as a technical consultant for the United States Office of Scientific Research and Development. After being awarded a Medal of Freedom from President Truman, he headed the Electronics Division of the Office of Naval Research from 1948-1949. In 1952 to 1954, he and his family lived in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he worked as Head of the Electronic Engineering Department of the Instituto Technologica de Aeronautica, the Brazilian Air Force Institute/Academy. In the early 1960s, Spangenberg was a consultant on engineering management and education to various companies, primarily in the San Francisco Bay area. During his life, he published two books on the subject of electrical engineering, Vacuum Tubes(1948) and Fundamentals of Electron Devices. Spangenberg's last book, Electromagnetics in Space: Antenna Considerations as Related to Space Communications(1965), he edited was published posthumously.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Karl R. Spangenberg Papers (SC0851). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Processing Information

Some material required conservation interventions and was remediated in Spring 2023.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains correspondence, teaching materials, subject files, and research notes of Karl R. Spangenberg relating to his work as an electircal engineer specilizing in vacuum tubes at Stanford.

Publication Rights

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Papers, 2006-297 ARCH-2006-297

Box 1

Eisenhower letter (copy)

Box 1

partial list publications and edit

Box 1

Your Solar House and 2 charts by KRS

Box 1

Solar File

Box 1

patent records

Box 1

3 page proofs, vacuum tubes

Box 1

dust copy vacuum tubes

Box 1A

Education binder

Box 1A

McGraw Hill Fundamental Electronics Devices

Box 1A

Vacuum Tubes (Japanese Edit)

Box 1A

Stanford Contracts

Box 1A

Japan Trip Correspondence

Box 2

Vacuum tube designs [photocopies for research use] undated

Box 2A

Vacuum tube designs [photocopies for research use] undated

Box 2B

Vacuum tube original designs [restricted access due to condition] undated

Box 3

Solar Shadow Graphs, originals and copies, sales and advertising info

Box 3

research and patent records

Box 3

multiple copies of KRS articles

Box 5

Misc. subject folders

Box 5

Abstracts from 1956 Europe Trip

Box 5

Resume

Box 5a

Articles (some author annotated)

Box 6

Misc. technical literature (by subject)

Box 7

Fundamentals of Electronics (Japanese Edit)

Box 7

Misc. technical papers (by subject) w/ associated notes and correspondence

Box 8

Misc. subject folders (w/ notes and correspondence)

Box 9

Commercial product information: files contain reprints, articles, conference papers, technical reports, product catalogs, etc.

Box 9

Magnetrons [includes student paper by John L. Putz 1948] 1948-60

Box 9

Photoelectric tubes 1935-53

Box 9

Photo effects 1951-57

Box 9

Equivalent circuits of tubes and transistors 1953-59 [includes some original notes]

Box 9

Small signal amplifiers 1953-56

Box 9

Small signal non linear effects 1955

Box 9

Large signal effects 1952

Box 9

Hi Vacuum Practice 1950-59

Box 9

Metal-Ceramic tubes and seals 1956

Box 9

Microwaves [includes note from J. G. Linhart accompanying articles] 1954-56

Box 9

Miniature tubes 1947-50

Box 9

Storage tubes 1947-53

Box 9

MIT Tube Laboratory Manual 1951

Box 9

Tube laboratory materials

Box 9

High vacuum materials 1948-51

Box 9

Vacuum Equipment [includes photos of equipment] 1948-54

Box 9

Electron microscope papers [includes 1 photo of a virus] 1940-44

Box 9

Special tubes [includes several photos]

Box 9

Microwave Filter Design. Report No. 5224.1069. Sperry Gyroscope Company September 25, 1946

Box 9

Assorted articles and 1 product brochure

Box 9

The Sylvania Technologist 1948-55

Box 9

American Journal of Physics Sept. 1958

Box 9

GT&E Research & Development Journal Vol. 1, Number 1, Jan. 1961

Box 9

[several items were removed for conservation treatment 4/16/2010]

Box 11

Misc. subject folders (w/ notes and correspondence)

Addenda, 2011-176 ARCH-2011-176

Addenda, 2012-027 ARCH-2012-027

Box 1, folder 1

Correspondence with Terman re Appointment 1937-1938

Box 1, folder 2

Appointment Letter 1937 Apr 23

Box 1, folder 3

Recommendation-Skilling 1939

Box 1, folder 4

Leave and Absence 1944

Box 1, folder 5

Professional Activities 1943-1949

Box 1, folder 6

Appointment-Director of Electronics Lab 1949 Feb 3

Box 1, folder 7

Executive Committee, School of Engineering 1949 May 17

Box 1, folder 8

Mechanical Engineering Courses 1949 Apr

Box 1, folder 9

Radio & Electronics in Brazil 1951

Box 1, folder 10

Leave-Brazil 1952-1954

Box 1, folder 11

Professional Activities 1950-1959

Box 1, folder 12

Resignation 1958

Box 1, folder 13

Photo 1960

Box 1, folder 14

Photo-Case Western

Box 1, folder 15

Photos-Bill Hewlett & Bob Sink 1938

Box 1, folder 16

Photo-Accepting Award

Addenda, 2012-081 ARCH-2012-081

Box 1

Poster - "Recent Developments of Electron Devices in USA/Recent Developments of Microwave Vacuum Tubes in USA" (Japanese language)

Box 1

Poster - "CBC" (Japanese language)

Addenda, 2022-074 ARCH-2022-074

Box 14, Folder 1

Norton Radio Wave Propogation 1935

Box 14, Folder 2

Annales de Radioelecticite + Notes 1947

Box 14, Folder 3

Preliminary Report on Backward Wave Interaction 1952

Box 14, Folder 4

Vacuum Tube Proofs

Box 14, Folder 5

Molecular Beams 1958

Box 14, Folder 6

Some Hypotheses Relative to Project Chloe Naval Research 1958

Box 14, Folder 7

Contractors: Get Hep to the Age of Space 1958

Box 14, Folder 8

Upper Atmosphere 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 9

Proposals

Box 14, Folder 10

VIDYA 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 11

ITEK and VIDYA Finances 1959

Box 14, Folder 12

VIDYA Financial Statements and Purchase Agreements 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 13

VIDYA Financial 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 14

VIDYA - Correspondence 1958

Box 14, Folder 15

Organization 1958

Box 14, Folder 16

Personnel 1958

Box 14, Folder 17

Technical 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 18

Stanford related Materials 1958-1959

Box 14, Folder 19

Recruiting and Personnel