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Guide to the Thomas J. O'Rourke collection
X3105.2005
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Title: Thomas J. O'Rourke collection
Identifier/Call Number: X3105.2005
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.13 Linear feet,
1 record carton, 1 manuscript box, 1 half manuscript box, 2 periodicals boxes, 3 volumes, 1 oversize folder
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1960-1990
Date (inclusive): 1950-1997
Abstract: The Thomas J. O’Rourke collection includes business records pertaining to O’Rourke’s work at Tymshare, a corporation he co-founded,
the General Electric Company (GE), and to the computer services industry as a whole. There is an emphasis on internal company
communications such as memoranda, employee newsletters, employee reunion documentation, and stock value information. Most
materials pertain to Tymshare. Materials span the years 1950 to 1997.
creator:
O'Rourke, Thomas J.
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], Thomas J. O’Rourke collection, Lot X3105.2005, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer
History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Thomas J. O’Rourke’s son,Tim O’Rourke, 2005.
Doug Jerger of the Software History Center inventoried this collection in April of 2004 as part of the donation process. His
inventory included descriptive notes and identified material of special value within the collection. Many of his notes were
included in the description field in the catalog entries for the folders.
Thomas J. O’Rourke was the founder, President and CEO of Tymshare (founded in 1964 and sold in1984), a time-sharing company
in Cupertino, California. Prior to founding Tymshare, he worked at General Electric (GE). O’Rourke received a degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of Washington in 1948. He was a venture capitalist for Hambrecht & Quist Venture Partners
from 1985 to 1990. O’Rourke was married to Marge O’Rourke and a father of six children. He and his family resided in Mountain
View, California from 1964 until he passed away in 2002.
O’Rourke started at GE in the welding department. When the company phased that department out, he became the district manager
for the GE computer department in Los Angeles. In this role, he worked on the development of the Electronic Recording Method
of Accounting (ERMA), a banking accounting system that GE was building for Bank of America. Later he moved to a sales position
in Phoenix, Arizona, followed by a regional manager position in San Francisco. After being fired from this position due to
a personality conflict with a manager, O’Rourke declined an offer to relocate and stay with GE and instead started his own
business.
The business, at first called O’Rourke Enterprises and later renamed to Tymshare, was based on an idea for time-sharing computer
systems. O’Rourke had been exposed to the idea of time-sharing at GE when a Dartmouth University project team had approached
GE for donations of computers with which to test this innovative idea. O’Rourke was intrigued by the concept and felt that
it was a promising business idea. Tymshare was incorporated in 1966.
Tymshare worked on ways of improving data transfer, and formed a division called Tymnet. Tymnet was likely the first commercial
application of a new packet technology that increased the capacity of phone lines to handle larger quantities of data being
transferred.
Tymshare became a public company in 1970, going on the New York Stock Exchange in 1974. The business, originally targeting
the engineering market, developed new markets including software, financial services, and communications. As the company grew,
first domestically and then internationally, it acquired other companies along the way. Tymshare became active in the industry
trade group Association of Data Processing Service Organizations (ADAPSO). In 1984 Tymshare was acquired by McDonnell Douglas
Automation.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Thomas J. O’Rourke collection includes records that Thomas J. O’Rourke collected as the founder of Tymshare and former
employee of General Electric (GE), as well as thirteen books related to the computer industry. Over half of the materials
pertain to Tymshare.
The collection spans 1950 to1997, with the bulk of the material dated between 1960 and 1990. Highlights of the collection
include speeches that Tom O’Rourke gave to employees and at conferences, Tymnet diagrams and other product literature, and
New York Stock Exchange information and photographs. Also included is quite a bit of content regarding employee reunions at
both companies. There is an emphasis on Tymshare stock value and industry trends from a business perspective.
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Series 1, Tymshare, 1965-1988
Series 2, General Electric, 1950-1997
Series 3, Books, 1955-1985
Physical objects were separated from the main collection. To view catalog records for separated material search the CHM catalog
at
http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/.
O’Rourke, Tom (Thomas J.) oral history, Lot X3778.2007, catalog number 102657984.
Tymes, LaRoy oral history, Lot X3800.2007, catalog number 102657988.
Schmidt, Dave oral history, Lot X3802.2007, catalog number 102657990.
Sanden, Lynn oral history, Lot X3801.2007, catalog number 102657989.
Timesharing and Remote Processing Services meeting session #1 : technology : the early years, Lot X5386.2009, catalog number
102702883.
Gary Morgenthaler collection, Lot X3708.2007, catalog number 102733952.
SRI ARC/NIC records, Lot X3578.2006, catalog number 102706170.
Related Collections at Other Repositories
Douglas C. Engelbart Papers. M0638. Dept of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/ft3n39n626/.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Computer service industry - United States
General Electric Company. Computer Department
Time-sharing computer systems
Tymshare, Inc.