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Title: The Computer Museum records
Identifier/Call Number: X8339.2018
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.15 Gigabytes
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1975-1998
Date (inclusive): 1971-2015
Abstract: The Computer Museum (TCM) records contain the remaining records of TCM from its inception in the early 1970s through the various
stages of its life in Maynard, Massachusetts, Marlborough, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, and Moffett Field, and Mountain
View, California in the 1990s. The records are maintained in the form of The Computer Museum website
http://tcm.computerhistory.org/ . Types of records include annual and other public reports, correspondence, marketing material, and videotaped recordings
of lectures. Representations of the exhibitions were not retained, but descriptions and files related to the planning and
design of the exhibitions are included. The TCM website was constructed by Gordon Bell in 2015 to be a virtual representation
of TCM’s physical space, and is maintained by the Computer History Museum.
creator:
Computer History Museum.
All records at
http://tcm.computerhistory.org are available for research. Files in Series 7 “File archives” are restricted to onsite use and special arrangements must
be made with CHM to access the files. Please contact research@computerhistory.org to request access to restricted files.
Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the Computer History Museum’s collection
must be from the Computer History Museum.
[Identification of Item], [Date], The Computer Museum records, Lot X8339.2018, Series [title], [URL], [Date accessed], Computer
History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Gordon Bell, 2017.
The Computer Museum website was built by Gordon Bell with the help of Victoria Rozycki in 2015. Material was scanned from
Bell’s personal collection of TCM material as well as the institutional archives held by CHM. This guide follows the arrangement
established in the TCM website by Bell.
The Computer Museum was founded by Ken Olsen and Gordon and Gwen Bell in 1975 as the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Museum
Project. The first exhibit was in a converted closet at DEC’s building in Maynard, Massachusetts. In 1979 it officially became
the Digital Computer Museum (DCM), an exhibition site funded and operated by DEC out of its Marlborough headquarter building’s
lobby. In 1982 it received non-profit charitable foundation status from the IRS and changed its name to The Computer Museum,
and in 1984 it opened to the wider public with a move to downtown Boston where it was co-located with the Children’s Museum
on Museum Wharf. In 1996, approximately half of the Museum’s collection was relocated to Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain
View, California as The Computer Museum History Center (TCMHC). In 1999 TCM officially closed, the corporation was dissolved,
and the remainder of the collection was moved to TCMHC. In 2000 TCMCH incorporated as a California non-profit, and changed
its name to the Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California with additional buildings in Milpitas and Fremont.
From the first Annual Report, 1980, “Several unrelated events and decisions all worked in the direction of Digital Equipment
Corporation developing the Digital Computer Museum. Ken Olsen took it upon himself to preserve and store Whirlwind, TX-0 and
early DEC equipment … Gordon began a collection of early calculators and logic devices and wanted to continue and expand his
interest in the taxonomy of computers … Ken and Gordon went to other computer exhibits and were extraordinarily disappointed
that the Smithsonian was not making an effort to appropriately classify and organize its material; fascinated by the IBM wall
(now in a warehouse) but considered that its emphasis on the interaction of social events and computing was not the story
to be told … These events led to both Ken and Gordon to conclude that a Digital Computer Museum was needed. Ken's goal, to
create a place to preserve machines so that computer scientists, engineers, and programmers can see the antiques that they
had worked on as little as ten years ago, and Gordon's goal, to create an understandable taxonomy of all computers and related
computing devices, are complementary. The role of the Museum is to make sure that significant artifacts are kept ...”
The Computer Museum's mission was three-fold: (1) To educate and inspire all ages and levels of the public through dynamic
exhibitions and programs on the technology, applications, and impact of computers. (2) To preserve and celebrate the history,
and promote the understanding of computers worldwide. (3) To be an international resource for research into the history of
computing.
At the DCM’s opening at Marlborough, Massachusetts on September 24, 1979, where Maurice V. Wilkes spoke, nearly all of the
features and functions of the current Computer History Museum were established: artifact and archive collection and storage;
lecture series to collect and chronicle the important computing inventions (e.g. the first 20 pioneers from Atanasoff to Zuse);
key artifact exhibits; outreach marketing material and archival publications; an intern program; development of ephemera for
sale in the museum store; a stellar board of directors, and an active program to attract visitors and members.
By 1982 a board of eighteen directors was installed that included Charlie Bachman, inventor of the first database; Pat McGovern,
publisher of ComputerWorld; Les Hogan, president of Motorola semiconductor; Robert Noyce, inventor of the Integrated Circuit
and Intel co-founder; Brian Randell, Computer Science professor and historian, and Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Computer Museum records are comprised of material created by the Museum between 1971 and 2015, with the bulk of the material
being from 1975 through 1998, when the Museum was located in Marlborough and Boston, Massachusetts. The records were compiled
and digitized as the TCM website by Gordon Bell in 2015
http://tcm.computerhistory.org/ . The website represents nearly all of the existing records that were retained by the Museum prior to 1998 and contains over
700 files representing over 7000 individual pages and 50 video recordings. There are annual reports, marketing brochures,
posters, gift shop catalogs, video recordings of lectures, and working files of the Museum such as board meeting minutes and
correspondence. Not included in the records are digital representations of the Museum’s physical exhibitions. However, descriptions
of their content, and correspondence and design notes related to each exhibition, are included. Also included are a timeline
of key TCM events and a timeline of the 300+ pioneering computer systems that informed the TCM artifact collection.
The collection is arranged into 8 series:
Series 1, Computer Museum reports, 1975-1998; bulk 1982-1998
Series 2, Videos, 1976-1996; bulk 1979-1996
Series 3, Exhibitions, 1975-1998
Series 4, The Computer Bowl, 1988-1998
Series 5, Marketing, 1975-2001, bulk 1980-1998
Series 6, Pioneer Computer Collection, 2015
Series 7, File archives, 1971-1998
Series 8, Digital Computer Museum, 1972-1999
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bell, C. Gordon
Computer Bowl
Computer Clubhouse
Computer Museum (Boston, Mass.)
Computer Museum (Marlborough, Mass.)
Computer Museum History Center
Computer museums--Exhibitions
Computer pioneers
Digital Computer Museum (Marlborough, Mass.)