William H. Meek collection, 1944-1983

Summary

Creators:

Meek, William H., 1917-2005

Abstract:

The William H. Meek collection contains manuals, publications, promotional material, correspondence, and programming projects from 1944 through 1983 that document Meek's interests in computers, mechanical engineering, and the interlocking six-piece Burr puzzle. Meek was an instrumentation specialist at Dow Chemical Company into the mid-1960s, but he spent most of his life researching, evaluating, and acquiring early computer systems. He was greatly interested in analyzing the mechanics behind Burr puzzles and wrote his own computer programs to aid in his analysis. This collection is made up largely of manuals and technical information regarding the IBM System/3, and programming source code and tests in various early programming languages.

Extent:

5.34 Linear feet 1 record carton, 1 manuscript box, 2 oversize boxes, 2 small boxes

Language:

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], [Date], William H. Meek collection, Lot X4708.2008, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History Museum.

Background

Scope and content:

The William H. Meek collection contains IBM manuals, publications, promotional materials from various computing companies, and Meek's correspondence and programming projects. The collection spans 1944 through 1983 with the bulk of the collection being from 1960 to 1978 during Meek's final years working for Dow Chemical Company and his early years of retirement. Of particular interest is a folder of correspondence and reports documenting one of Meek's projects at Dow for the establishment of a central computer at Dow's office in Midland, Michigan. This project involved a selection process requiring significant research and consulting with early computer manufacturers, mainly IBM, General Electric, and Scientific Data Systems. The collection includes a significant amount of manuals and technical information regarding the IBM System/3 and programming source code and tests in various early programming languages.

Biographical / historical:

William H. Meek was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, on June 2, 1917. He received his BA from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a master's degree from the University of Michigan. Meek first worked as a paint chemist for Ditzler Paints in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During World War II he joined the United States Navy and worked as a radar technician on the USS Newcomb from 1941 through 1945. After the war, Meek began a long career at Dow Chemical Company as an instrumentation specialist — designing, building, and repairing equipment for testing products sold by the company. He worked in the Technical Service & Development (TS&D) department at Dow's office in Midland, Michigan, for over 25 years, retiring in the mid 1960s.

Meek's main interests included computers, mechanical engineering, and puzzles. He was especially interested in the mathematics and design behind six-piece Burr puzzles, interlocking structures made up of six notched sticks that combined to make three-dimensional shapes. In order to analyze the mechanics of all of the different combinations and assemblies of these puzzles, Meek wrote his own programs in Fortran, BASIC, and various IBM programming languages and used early computing technologies to run these programs — including the computer used for payroll at Dow. After retiring, Meek collected and used other computers. He bought one of the initial models of Radio Shack's TRS-80 Micro Computer Systems, a series of IBM and IBM-compatible micro-computers, and when he received word from his old colleagues at Dow that the company was retiring its IBM System/3 computers, he arranged to acquire those as well. Meek passed away on June 10, 2005.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Phyllis Meek, 2008.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Series 1, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) manuals, 1965-1982

Series 2, Non-IBM publications and promotional materials, 1944-1983

Series 3, Personal papers, ca. 1958-1983

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

The Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection at Indiana University has a collection of Burr puzzles and related books and documents.

Separated material:

Physical objects, including various computing devices, were separated from the main collection. Separated machines from this donation include an IBM 5213-3 printer, a hand-built computer in a plywood box, a 1959 Ultra-Matic calculator made by Friden Calculating Machine Company, and a universal potentiometer used to measure voltages. To view catalog records for the separated items please search CHM's online catalog at http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Burr puzzles
Computer programming
IBM System/3 (Computer)
IBM System/3 (Computer)--Programming
International Business Machines Corporation
Puzzles--Data processing

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], [Date], William H. Meek collection, Lot X4708.2008, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History Museum.

Location of this collection:

Computer History Museum

1401 Shoreline Blvd.

Mountain View, CA 94043, US

Contact:

(650) 810-1010

research@computerhistory.org

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