Guide to the Fortran Standardization records

Finding aid prepared by Pennington Ahlstrand, July 2020 and Elena Colón-Marrero, August 2020
Processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from the National Archives’ National Historical Publications & Records Commission: Access to Historical Records grant.
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
August, 2020


Title: Fortran Standardization records
Identifier/Call Number: X7859.2017.X7860.2017.X7861.2017
Contributing Institution: Computer History Museum
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 17.5 Linear feet 14 record cartons
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1966-1999
Date (inclusive): 1957-2015
Abstract: The Fortran Standardization records are primarily made up of the documents used by groups creating and proposing standards for the Fortran computer programming language as used in the United States (ANSI) and internationally (ISO). This collection also includes Fortran publications such as a near-complete run of the newsletter Fortran Forum, and textbooks and other monographs about Fortran. These records are from Loren P. Meissner, Jeanne Martin, and Van Snyder.
creator: Martin, Jeanne
creator: Meissner, Loren P.
creator: Snyder, W. Van

Processing Information

Collection processed by Pennington Ahlstrand, July 2020

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

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], Fortran Standardization records, Lots [#], Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History Museum.
Note: For this collection, the lot number citation will either be X7859.2017, X7860.2017, or X7861.2017

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of Loren Meissner, Jeanne Martin, and Van Snyder, 2016.

Biographical/Historical Note

Fortran Standardization: By the early 1960s, many computer vendors had implemented a Fortran (from FORmula TRANSlation) compiler which included special features not found in the original IBM compiler. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) began a project of standardizing many aspects of data processing, including standardizing programming languages, so a committee was formed to develop a standard for Fortran. The first standard was adopted in 1966. The language continued to develop after 1966, along with general knowledge in the areas of programming, language design, and computer design. A new version-- Fortran 77-- was adopted in 1978 by ANSI. The International Standards Organization (ISO) began to mature in the computing language area and subsequently adopted Fortran 77 as an international standard. The next revision, Fortran 90, was an ISO standard first, and then adopted, word for word, as an ANSI standard. Fortran 95 is a minor revision to Fortran 90. Jeanne Martin was Convenor of ISO WG5 from 1982 until 1994, and she performed a leading role in the inclusion of International concerns during Fortran language development. Loren P. Meissner served for more than 20 years as a U.S. delegate to the international committee for Fortran language standardization. Meissner produced Fortran community newsletters from 1975 to 2015. Van Snyder has served as a delegate to and officer of the ANSI and ISO Fortran committees since 1997.

Scope and Content of the Collection

The Fortran Standardization records consist of meeting documents, agendas and minutes. Three collections have been aggregated together as Martin, Meissner and Snyder gave their collected materials to CHM to document the ANSI/ ISO standardization process for Fortran. Some material had originally been collected by Frank Engel and John Reid.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into three series: Series 1, Loren P. Meissner papers, 1961-2015 Series 2, Jeane Martin papers, 1957-2003 Series 3, Van Snyder papers, 1978-1991
This collection has been maintained in its original order. Unless otherwise noted, dates are inclusive.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

American National Standards Institute
FORTRAN (Computer program language)
International Organization for Standardization

 

Loren P. Meissner papers, Series 1, 1961-2015

Series Arrangement

This series consists of material from Loren Meissner and is organized into two subseries: Subseries 1.1 Fortran newsletters and SIGPLan award Subseries 1.2 Published books and reports
 

Fortran newsletters, Subseries 1.1, 1975-2016

Subseries Scope and Content

This subseries consists of Meissner’s For_Word (1975 - 1981), Fortec Forum (1982 – 1984), and Fortran Forum (1984 – 2015) newsletters. Also included is an award Meissner received for his work as editor for the newsletters.
 

102797899 History and summary of Fortran standardization development for the American Standards Association (reprint) 1964

 

102797900 USA standard Fortran 1966

 

102797904 Fortran materials 1974 - 1975

 

102797905 FOR_WORD 1975 - 1981

 

102797906 FORTEC FORUM 1982 - 1984

 

102797907 FORTRAN FORUM 1984 - 2015

 

102797908 ACM SIGPLan Distinguished Service Award 1999

 

102797902 Fortran Array and Pointer Techniques: Objects, Data Structures, and Algorithms 2010

 

102797901 Fortran Story Retold: selected reprints 1968-2011, The 2016

 

Published books and reports, Subseries 1.2, 1961-2011

Subseries Scope and Content

This subseries consists of 30 textbooks, proceedings and reports related to Fortran and Fortran standardization.
 

102797903 Fortran books 1961-2011

 

Jeanne Martin papers, Series 2, 1957-2003

Series Arrangement

This series consists of material from Jeanne Martin and is organized into two subseries. Subseries 2.1 Standards meetings materials Subseries 2.2 Published books
 

Standards meetings materials Subseries 2.1, 1962-2003

Subseries Scope and Content

This subseries consists of J3 ANSI (American) and ISO (international) meetings.
 

102797449 J3 meetings 8-12: minutes 1962-1969

 

102797450 J3 meetings 14-18: minutes 1969 - 1970

 

102797451 J3 meetings 19-25: minutes 1970-09 - 1971-09

 

102797736 J3 meetings 60-63: minutes 1977-07 - 1978-05

 

102797452 J3 meetings 26-29: minutes 1971 - 1972

 

102797453 J3 meetings 30-36: minutes 1972 - 1973

 

102797460 J3 meetings 37-44: minutes 1973 - 1974

 

102797461 J3 meetings 45-55: minutes 1975 - 1976

 

102797462 J3 meetings 56-59: minutes 1976 - 1977

 

102797861 Introduction to ISO Working Group 5 1977 - 1982

 

102797737 J3 meetings 64-67: minutes 1978-08 - 1979-03

 

102797738 J3 meetings 68-69: minutes 1979-05 - 1979-08

 

102797739 J3 meetings 70: part I, pre-meeting distribution 1979-10

 

102797740 J3 meetings 70: part II, minutes and supplement 1979-10

 

102797741 J3 meetings 71: part I, pre-meeting distribution 1980-01

 

102797742 J3 meetings 71: part II, minutes and supplement 1980-01

 

102797743 J3 meetings 72: part I, pre-meeting distribution 1980-03

 

102797744 J3 meetings 72: part II, minutes and supplement 1980-03

 

102797745 J3 meetings 73: part I, pre-meeting distribution 1980-05

 

102797746 J3 meetings 73: part II, minutes and supplement 1980-05

 

102797747 J3 meetings 74: part I, pre-J3 meeting distribution and draft minutes 1980-08

 

102797748 J3 meetings 74: part II, minutes and supplement 1980-08

 

102797749 J3 meetings 75: part I, agenda and pre-J3 meeting distribution 1980-10

 

102797750 J3 meetings 75: part II, minutes and supplement 1980-10

 

102797751 J3 meetings 76: part I, pre-J3 meeting distribution 1981-01

 

102797752 J3 meetings 76: part II, minutes 1981-01

 

102797753 J3 meetings 76: part III, supplement 1981-01

 

102797754 J3 meetings 77: minutes and supplement 1981-03

 

102797755 J3 meetings 78: minutes and supplement 1981-05

 

102797756 J3 meetings 79: minutes and supplement 1981-08

 

102797757 J3 meetings 80: minutes and supplement 1981-11

 

102797758 J3 meetings 81: minutes and supplement 1982-02

 

102797759 J3 meetings 82: minutes and supplement 1982-05

 

102797760 J3 meetings 83: minutes and supplement 1982-08

 

102797761 J3 meetings 84: minutes and supplement 1982-11

 

102797762 J3 meetings 85: minutes and supplement 1983-02

 

102797763 J3 meetings 86: minutes and supplement 1983-05

 

102797764 J3 meetings 87: minutes and supplement 1983-08

 

102797765 J3 meetings 88: minutes and supplement 1983-11

 

102797766 J3 meetings 89: minutes and supplement 1984-02

 

102797862 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland 1984-04

 

102797767 J3 meetings 90: minutes and supplement 1984-05

 

102797768 J3 meetings 91: minutes and supplement 1984-08

 

102797769 J3 meetings 92: minutes and supplement 1984-11

 

102797770 J3 meetings 93: minutes and supplement 1985-02

 

102797771 J3 meetings 94: minutes and supplement 1985-05

 

102797863 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Bonn, Germany 1985-07

 

102797772 J3 meetings 95: minutes and supplement 1985-07

 

102797773 J3 meetings 96: minutes and supplement 1985-09

 

102797774 J3 meetings 97: minutes and supplement 1985-11

 

102797775 J3 meetings 98: minutes and supplement 1986-01

 

102797776 J3 meetings 99: minutes and supplement 1986-04

 

102797777 F8x Fortran 90 draft 1, J3 member response 1986-05

 

102797778 J3 meeting 100: minutes and supplement part I 1986-06

 

102797779 J3 meeting 100: supplement part II 1986-06

 

102797864 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 1986-08

 

102797780 J3 meeting 101: minutes and supplement 1986-08

 

102797781 J3 meeting 102: minutes and supplement 1986-11

 

102797782 F8x Fortran 90 draft 2, J3 member response 1987-01

 

102797783 J3 meeting 103: minutes and supplement 1987-02

 

102797784 F8x Fortran 90 draft 3, ballot response 1987-05

 

102797785 J3 meeting 104: minutes and supplement 1987-05

 

102797786 J3 meeting 105: minutes and supplement 1987-08

 

102797865 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Liverpool, United Kingdom 1987-08

 

102797787 J3 meeting 106: minutes and supplement part I 1987-11

 

102797788 J3 meeting 106: supplement part II 1987-11

 

102797789 J3 meeting 106: supplement part III 1987-11

 

102797790 J3 meeting 107: minutes and supplement 1988-02

 

102797791 J3 meeting 108: minutes and supplement 1988-05

 

102797792 J3 meeting 109: minutes and supplement 1988-08

 

102797866 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Paris, France 1988-09

 

102797793 J3 meeting 110: minutes and supplement part I 1988-11

 

102797794 J3 meeting 110: supplement part II 1988-11

 

102797795 J3 meeting 111: minutes and supplement part I 1989-02

 

102797796 J3 meeting 111: supplement part II 1989-02

 

102797797 J3 meeting 112: minutes and supplement part I 1989-05

 

102797798 J3 meeting 112: supplement part II 1989-05

 

102797799 J3 meeting 112: supplement part III 1989-05

 

102797867 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Ispra, Italy 1989-07

 

102797800 J3 meeting 113: minutes and supplement 1989-07

 

102797868 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands 1990

 

102797801 J3 meeting 114: minutes and supplement part I 1990-01

 

102797802 J3 meeting 114: supplement part II 1990-01

 

102797803 J3 meeting 114: supplement part III 1990-01

 

102797805 J3 meeting 115: minutes and supplement II 1990-04

 

102797804 J3 meeting 115: supplement I (pre-meeting) 1990-04

 

102797807 J3 meeting 116: minutes and supplement II 1990-08

 

102797806 J3 meeting 116: supplement I (pre-meeting) 1990-08

 

102797808 J3 meeting 117: minutes and supplement 1990-12

 

102797869 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in London, United Kingdom and Lund, Sweden 1991

 

102797809 J3 meeting 118: minutes and supplement 1991-04

 

102797810 J3 meeting 119: minutes and supplement 1991-08

 

102797812 J3 meeting 120: minutes and supplement part II 1991-11

 

102797811 J3 meeting 120: supplement part I (pre-meeting) 1991-11

 

102797870 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Victoria, Canada 1992

 

102797814 J3 meeting 121: minutes and supplement part II 1992-05

 

102797813 J3 meeting 121: supplement part I (pre-meeting) 1992-05

 

102797815 J3 meeting 122: minutes and supplement 1992-08

 

102797816 J3 meeting 123: minutes and supplement part I 1992-11

 

102797817 J3 meeting 123: supplement part II 1992-11

 

102797818 J3 meeting 124: minutes and supplement part I 1993-02

 

102797819 J3 meeting 124: supplement part II 1993-02

 

102797820 J3 meeting 125: minutes and supplement 1993-05

 

102797871 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Berchtesgarden, Germany 1993-07

 

102797821 J3 meeting 126: minutes and supplement 1993-07

 

102797822 J3 meeting 127: minutes and supplement 1993-11

 

102797823 J3 meeting 128: minutes and supplement 1994-02

 

102797824 J3 meeting 129: minutes and supplement part I 1994-05

 

102797825 J3 meeting 129: supplement part II 1994-05

 

102797872 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom 1994-08

 

102797826 J3 meeting 130: minutes and supplement 1994-08

 

102797827 J3 meeting 131: minutes and supplement 1994-11

 

102797873 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Tokyo, Japan and San Diego, California, USA 1995

 

102797828 J3 meeting 132: minutes and supplement 1995-01

 

102797829 J3 meeting 133: minutes and supplement 1995-04

 

102797830 J3 meeting 134: minutes and supplement 1995-08

 

102797831 J3 meeting 135: minutes and supplement 1995-11

 

102797832 J3 meeting 136: minutes and supplement 1996-02

 

102797833 J3 meeting 137: minutes and papers 1996-05

 

102797874 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Dresden, Germany 1996-07

 

102797834 J3 meeting 138: papers and minutes 1996-08

 

102797835 J3 meeting 139: papers and minutes 1996-11

 

102797875 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 1997-02

 

102797836 J3 meeting 140: papers and minutes 1997-02

 

102797837 J3 meeting 141: papers and minutes 1997-05

 

102797876 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Vienna, Austria 1997-07

 

102797838 J3 meeting 142: papers and minutes 1997-08

 

102797839 J3 meeting 143: papers and minutes 1997-11

 

102797840 J3 meeting 144: papers and minutes 1998-02

 

102797841 J3 meeting 145: papers and minutes 1998-05

 

102797877 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Trollhattan, Sweden 1998-06

 

102797842 J3 meeting 146: papers and minutes 1998-08

 

102797843 J3 meeting 147: papers and minutes 1998-11

 

102797844 J3 meeting 148: papers and minutes 1999-03

 

102797845 J3 meeting 149: papers and minutes 1999-06

 

102797878 ISO Working Group 5 meeting in Cadrache, France 1999-07

 

102797846 J3 meeting 150: papers and minutes 1999-08

 

102797847 J3 meeting 151: papers and minutes 1999-12

 

102797848 J3 meeting 152: papers and minutes 2000-03

 

102797849 J3 meeting 153: papers and minutes 2000-06

 

102797850 J3 meeting 154: papers and minutes 2000-09

 

102797851 J3 meeting 155; papers and minutes 2000-12

 

102797852 J3 meeting 156; papers and minutes 2001-03

 

102797853 J3 meeting 157; papers and minutes 2001-06

 

102797854 J3 meeting 158; papers and minutes 2001-08

 

102797855 J3 meeting 159; papers and minutes 2001-12

 

102797856 J3 meeting 160; papers and minutes 2002-03

 

102797857 J3 meeting 161; papers and minutes 2002-05

 

102797858 J3 meeting 162; papers and minutes 2002-08

 

102797859 J3 meeting 163; papers and minutes 2002-11

 

102797860 J3 meeting 164; papers and minutes 2003-04

 

Published books, Subseries 2.2, 1957-1997

Subseries Scope and Content

This subseries consists of 16 published books (14 by IBM).
 

102797879 Fortran books 1957 - 1988

 

Van Snyder papers, Series 3, 1978-1991

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of material from Van Snyder and is reports that document the “crisis” during transition from Fortran 77 to Fortran 90 with the “August 1988 Compromise,” and includes copies of the official Fortran 77 and Fortran 90 standards.
 

102797889 ANSI X3.9 and ISO 1539 1978

 

102797893 Fortran 8x draft version 99 1986-04

 

102797894 Fortran 8x draft version 102 1986-11

 

102797891 Summary of changes to Fortran 8x draft, versions 104 to 112 1987 - 1989

 

102797895 Fortran 8x draft version 103 1987-02

 

102797890 Summary of Paris ISO WG4 meeting and X3J3 meeting 1988-11

 

102797896 Fortran 8x draft version 111 1989-03

 

102797897 Fortran 8x draft version 114 1990-01

 

102797898 Fortran 8x draft version 115 1990-06

 

102797892 Fortran 90: proposed US standard (ANSI 118) and international standard (ISO 692) 1991-05