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Table of contents
Title: Community Memory records
Identifier/Call Number: X3090.2005
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
32.59 Linear feet,
21 record cartons, 3 manuscript boxes, and 5 custom boxes of varying sizes
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1974-1991
Date (inclusive): 1974-2000
Abstract: The Community Memory records are made up of material from 1974 to 2000, with the bulk from 1974 to 1991, that document the
development and implementation of the first computer-based public bulletin board, Community Memory (CM), which was created
and operated by a cooperative nonprofit entity called the Community Memory Project, based in Berkeley, California. CM-specific
material includes administrative records, promotional material, discussion board printouts, usage statistics, designs and
specifications, manuals, and training records. Also included are materials collected, but not created, by CM, including reports
and essays, computing manuals, books, conference and workshop material, and articles and newsletters. The majority of the
non-CM material reflects the sociopolitical ethos of CM, focusing on social issues and technology.
Collection processed by Bo Doub and Kim Hayden, June 2015.
Materials in boxes 6, 9, and 12 contain social security numbers. Researchers must use redacted photocopies of this restricted
material for research. All other material 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 as owner of the material.
[Identification of Item], [Date], Community Memory records, Lot X3090.2005, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History
Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Lee Felsenstein, 2003.
Community Memory (CM) was the first computer-based public bulletin board, operating from 1973 through 1992 with most terminals
located in public spaces in Berkeley, California, such as libraries, senior centers, co-ops, and laundromats. Born out of
the Free Speech and countercultural movements of the 1960s, CM's purpose was to provide a free community-based space that
linked people together through the unmediated sharing of ideas and knowledge, collective planning, and classified ads via
messages and discussion forums.
Working as a nonprofit called Resource One Inc., which was dedicated to making computers available to the counterculture,
Lee Felsenstein, Efrem Lipkin, Ken Colstad, and other developers created CM using a donated mainframe computer. The terminals,
which consisted of a computer display and keyboard that was originally housed in a cardboard box, then later in a wooden one,
were networked and messages were indexed, making all content available and searchable on any CM machine at any location. While
messages were free to read, adding a message cost 25 cents. Posting could be anonymous or signed, and registration was not
required.
The first terminals operated from 1973 to 1974 at Leopold's Records, a communal house, and Whole Earth Access Store in Berkeley;
Vocations for Social Change in Oakland; and the San Francisco Public Library's Mission branch. Although it was popular, the
group temporarily shut down the project because they could not easily replicate the equipment and languages being used, and
the computer that acted as the central hub in the network was not sufficient to support expansion of the project.
The three men regrouped and in 1977 created a collectively run nonprofit entity called the Community Memory Project to support
CM (this group was interchangeably referred to as the Community Memory Project and Community Memory). They developed their
own software, a database called Sequitur, and a communications package called X.dot, and began placing terminals with the
overhauled system throughout Berkeley. That pilot program ran from 1984 to 1988, after which they made adjustments based on
research and evaluations, then released new terminals in 1989 in Berkeley and licensed their software for similar systems
to be set up in places like San Francisco State University and Los Angeles' Electronic Cafe. Due to a shortage of funding
and inconsistent marketing and outreach, Community Memory shutdown in 1992.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Community Memory records contain material authored and collected by members of the Community Memory Project. The collection
spans 1974 to 2000, with the bulk of the material being from 19694 to 1991. Parts of the collection that were created by employees
and users of CM include administrative records, promotional material, discussion board printouts, usage statistics, designs
and specifications, and manuals and training records. CM's administrative records document a wide variety of activities devoted
to running the nonprofit, including material related to planning and research, finance, funding, legal issues, and personnel.
There is also a small amount of unprocessed audiovisual material.
The promotional parts of the collection are mostly composed of overviews summarizing CM's mission and functions and articles
and clippings featuring CM. Also included in the collection are printouts of messages and dialogue written at CM terminals
by users, along with directories and indices that were made to collate posts about certain topics together. Related to these
discussion board printouts are the usage statistics that were also printed by CM members documenting how people used the terminals
and what kind of searches and messages they wrote to browse and interact with other users. Material that reveals how the terminals
were set up and operated are contained in the "designs and specifications" series and records relating to the training of
CM users, volunteers, and employees are contained in the "manuals and training records."
The parts of this collection that were collected, but not created, by the CM community are made up of reports and essays,
computing manuals, books, conference and workshop material, and articles and newsletters. The majority of the non-CM essays,
books, and articles reflect the sociopolitical ethos of CM in that they focus on social issues in computing, including works
on gender, economics, power, and community and how those topics intersect with technology. The computing manuals of this collection
are primarily related to Plexus systems, Unix, and the C programming language.
The collection is arranged into 12 series:
Series 1, Administrative records, 1974-2000, bulk 1977-1991
Series 2, Promotional material, outreach, and press, 1974-1991
Series 3, Discussion board printouts, 1974-1991
Series 4, Usage information and statistics, 1985-1991
Series 5, Designs and specifications, 1977-1991
Series 6, Manuals and training records, 1981-1992
Series 7, Non-CM reports and essays, 1964-1991
Series 8, Non-CM manuals, 1974-1990
Series 9, Non-CM books, 1967-1991
Series 10, Non-CM conference and workshop material, 1976-1991
Series 11, Non-CM articles and newsletters, 1971-1993
Series 12, Unprocessed AV material, ca. 1990-1996
Physical objects were separated from the main collection, including two Community Memory public input terminals, and a time
capsule in a large plastic water-cooler bottle, as well as software, posters, and signs. To view catalog records for separated
material search the CHM catalog at
http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/ .
Lee Felsenstein Collection, Lot X6014.2011.
Related Collections at Other Repositories
Lee Felsenstein papers, ca. 1975-1995, Stanford University,
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5716481 .
Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Political Movements, Community Memory ephemeral materials, 1981-, University of Kansas,
http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/collections/kansas-collection/wilcox .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Community Memory Project.
Felsenstein, Lee
Resource One, Inc.
Berkeley (Calif.)
Bulletin boards
Community Memory Project
Computer networks
Cooperatives (business enterprises)
Intellectual freedom
Nonprofit organization
Resource One, Inc.