Description
The Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) records
comprise DEC's corporate archives, with material dating from 1947 to 2002. The bulk
of the collection was collected and created during the company's years of operation
from 1957 to 1998. DEC, founded by engineers Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson, was one
of the largest and most successful computer companies in the industry's history.
Widely recognized for its PDP and VAX minicomputer product lines, by 1988 DEC was
second only to IBM as the world's largest computer company. This collection holds
the papers of DEC's executives, engineers, and personnel -- including the personal
collections of founders Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson. Also included are DEC's
administrative records and material relating to product development and engineering,
with committee meeting minutes, correspondence, internal newsletters, product
proposals, and engineering drawings. Most of DEC's publications, such as manuals,
promotional and sales material, and technical reports, are represented in this
collection as well. Lastly, DEC's large corporate photo library and archive remains
intact as a part of this collection, holding tens of thousands of original product
photographs, portraits of DEC personnel, images showing client applications of DEC
products, brochures, and historical files with visual documentation of the company's
beginnings and milestones. In 1998, DEC was acquired by Compaq, ending its run as a
company, though many of its groundbreaking technologies went on to sell under
different branding and influence subsequent directions of computing and its
industries.
Background
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was one of the largest and most profitable
computer companies in the world, initially known for its modules, then for its PDP
and VAX families of computers, and finally for the Alpha microprocessor.
Extent
1,239 Linear feet,611 record cartons, 357 manuscript
boxes, 56 newspaper boxes, 169 periodical boxes, and 150 other box
types
Restrictions
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.