Kryter (Karl D.) papers, 1933-2015, bulk 1940s-1980s

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Karl D. Kryter papers
Dates:
1933-2015, bulk 1940s-1980s
Creators:
Kryter, Karl D.
Abstract:
This collection comprises the papers of Karl D. Kryter (1914-2013), and consists primarily of materials generated in the course of Kryter's work in the fields of psychoacoustics, audition, and engineering psychology at the Harvard Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, the United States Air Force Operational Applications Laboratory, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., the Stanford Research Institute, and San Diego State University.
Extent:
1.67 Linear Feet (4 document boxes, 1 audiocassette)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Karl D. Kryter papers, Mss 390. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists primarily of materials generated in the course of Kryter's work in the fields of psychoacoustics, audition, and engineering psychology at the Harvard Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, the United States Air Force Operational Applications Laboratory, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., the Stanford Research Institute, and San Diego State University. It contains photographs, professional correspondence, work-related papers, reprints of articles in professional journals, government reports on sonic boom noise disturbance, conference proceedings, clippings, transcripts of speeches, and letters of patent. Kryter was an important figure in the field of psycho-acoustics, and these materials document his pioneering research.

The collection also contains a small number of personal records and certificates, one audiocassette recording, as well as incoming correspondence from Kryter's close friend and colleague J.C.R. Licklider, and materials related to the article by B.F. Skinner "Baby in a Box" in the Ladies Home Journal (October, 1945).

Biographical / historical:

Karl D. Kryter (1914-2013), a major contributor in the field of psychoacoustics (the study of how humans perceive sound) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He received his bachelor's degree from Butler University in Indiana in 1939, and his doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York in 1943. He was a Research Fellow in Harvard University's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Harvard, Kryter worked with American psychologist B.F. Skinner, as well as J.C.R. Licklider, one of the most prominent figures in computing history, with whom he would maintain a close personal relationship for the rest of his career.

During World War II Kryter worked for the War Manpower Commission in communications research and development. He was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University from 1945 to 1948 and from 1948 to 1957, Director of the Operational Applications Laboratory at the United States Air Force Air Research and Development Command in Washington D.C.

Kryter worked for Bolt, Beranek and Newman in Massachusetts as Head of the Department of Psychoacoustics, and from 1965 until his retirement as Director of the Sensory Sciences Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California.

Kryter's publications include two books The Effects of Noise on Man (1950) and Physiological, Psychological, and Social Effect of Noise (1984), in addition to many publications in professional scientific journals. He worked on numerous noise issues including aircraft noise and the sonic boom. Kryter mainained a position as Associate Professor at the San Diego State University in California until his death in 2013.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Kathy Rendon, 2024.
Arrangement:

These papers have been arranged into the following series: Professional, Professional and Personal, Articles, Reports, Audiovisual.

Physical location:
Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Zachary Liebhaber, 2024.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-01-12 13:51:22 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Karl D. Kryter papers, Mss 390. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
Website