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Guide to the Software History Center records
X3408.2006
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Table of contents
Title: Software History Center records
Identifier/Call Number: X3408.2006
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5.0 Linear feet,
4 record cartons
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1997-2005
Date (inclusive): 1967-2007
Abstract: The Software History Center was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on the business history of software companies;
initial focus was on mainframe software companies, but extended to minicomputer software companies and personal computer software
companies. The organization was independent from 2000 until 2005, when it became associated with the Computer History Museum.
During this period, it received funding from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation to initiate the IT Corporate Histories Project.
This collection includes records about the development and operation of the organization, documentation of its major projects,
and historical texts collected by its founders, Luanne Johnson and Burton Grad.
The collection is open for research.
The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying
any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the
Computer History Museum’s collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer
History Museum.
[Identification of Item], [Date], Software History Center records, Lot X3408.2006, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer
History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Software History Center, 2005.
The Software History Center was founded by Luanne Johnson and Burt Grad in 2000. Both Johnson and Grad worked in the software
industry during its early development. Johnson founded Argonaut Information Systems, a company that produced payroll and personnel
software, in 1971. She ran this company for 15 years, before taking a position in 1986 as executive director at the Association
of Data Processing Service Organizations (ADAPSO). She later served as the president of this organization, which was renamed
as the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). Grad worked at both General Electric and IBM during his early
career, where he was involved with programming and software development for mainframe computers, primarily focused on automation
for businesses. While at IBM, Grad was involved in the Unbundling Task Force which announced the development of separately
priced software in 1969. He went on to start his own consulting firm in 1978, Burton Grad Associates, Inc., providing a variety
of services to software companies.
Both Johnson and Grad had a special interest in preserving the history of the software industry they had been a part of, particularly
the pre-PC software industry in which hundreds of software companies thrived prior to the advent of the personal computer.
They felt that this history, often overlooked, was at risk and deserved lasting recognition. Johnson and Grad created a 401c(3)
non-profit, obtained seed money from a number of private individuals and foundations, and established clear goals and strategies
to accomplish the core mission of the organization. This mission was to preserve “information about the companies, people,
products, and events that shaped the evolution of the industry.” This effort was focused on business history, or how companies
identified markets and created successful business models to succeed in those markets, in addition to the history of software
technology that was already the focus of other history preservation efforts.
All sectors of the software and services industry were included in the scope, including batch and remote processing companies,
software products companies, software professional services companies, and systems integrators/VARS. Primarily an education
and outreach organization, the Software History Center sought to 1) identify, preserve, and provide access to existing documentation
of early software industry history, 2) create, preserve, and provide access to new documentation capturing knowledge of people
with industry experience and perspective, and 3) encourage use of these materials by researchers.
With these goals in mind, the Software History Center completed several projects supported by funders and collaborators including
(but not limited to) the Smithsonian Institution, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Charles Babbage Institute. These
projects included: • “One for the History Books” Workshop - In September 2000, in conjunction with the Charles Babbage Institute
Conference on Unbundling, The Software History Center held a workshop titled “One for the History Books” in which 30 conference
participants provided interviews. These interviews were transcribed and made into a booklet for distribution. • ADAPSO Reunion.
The Software History Center organized an ADAPSO reunion in 2002. At this reunion, fifteen people provided interviews that
were transcribed. • IEEE Annals Special Issue. The Software History Center organized the contribution of articles for a special
issue of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (Volume 24 Number 1 January-March 2002). This issue was focused on the
start of the software products industry in the 1960s. • Software History Center Website and Information Technology Corporate
Histories Project. The Software History Center initially built a website containing information about early software companies.
Building on this effort, in 2004, the Software History Center collaborated with the Charles Babbage Institute and Computer
History Museum to start and manage the Information Technology Corporate Histories Project (ITCHP), focused on enhancing the
use of the Internet as a leading source for valuable historic information about selected companies in the information technology
field.
In 2005, the Software History Center became associated with the Computer History Museum and formed the Software Business History
Committee, later called the Software Industry Special Interest Group (SI SIG), which continues to serve the original mission
of the Software History Center today.
Scope and Content of the Collection
This collection contains documentation of the Software History Center from its origins to its ending as an independent non-profit
organization. Dates span from 1967-2007, with most materials created between 1997-2005. Administrative records include documentation
of the legal formation and dissolution of the organization, operational income, expense, and tax records, records pertaining
to the visioning and planning of the organization, communication with funders and collaborators, and professionally produced
promotional materials about the purpose and accomplishments of the center. The collection also includes records from the implementation
of several of the Software History Center’s major projects. These include manuscripts of articles that were published in a
special issue of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, transcripts of oral history interviews of software industry
experts, and significant materials regarding the planning and implementation of an ADAPSO reunion that the Software History
Center hosted in 2002. Many historical texts are also included in the collection, the bulk of which are publications of ADAPSO
and IBM.
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Series 1, Administrative records, 1969-2007, bulk 1997-2005
Series 2, Projects, 1997-2004
Series 3, Historic texts, 1945-1997, bulk 1985-1992
The Software History Center was very involved with obtaining oral histories and organizing pioneer meetings to obtain information
for the Charles Babbage Institute and the Computer History Museum. Please search “Software History Center” in the Oral History
section of the Museum’s online catalog.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
ADAPSO Reunion (2002: Washington, D.C.)
Computer Software Industry--United States--History
Software History Center