Guide to the Cuthbert C. Hurd papers
X2772.2004
Finding aid prepared by Bo Doub, Kim Hayden, and Sara Chabino Lott.
Processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered
through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant.
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
2015
Title:
Cuthbert C. Hurd papers
Identifier/Call Number: X2772.2004
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.84 Linear feet
3 record cartons and 1 oversize box
Date (inclusive): 1947-1995
Abstract: The Cuthbert C. Hurd papers consist of materials related to the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), primarily
from 1949 through 1962, and Hurd's role in steering the company to develop its first electronic stored program computers during
that time. The collection includes IBM reports and memoranda, personal correspondence, research on computing history, articles
from publications, and testimony transcripts and legal documents from the IBM anti-trust case: United States v. International
Business Machines Corp. (1979).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Bo Doub and Kim Hayden, 2015.
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], Cuthbert C. Hurd Papers, Lot X2772.2004, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog [#], Computer History
Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Elizabeth R. Nowicki and William Nowicki, 2004.
Biographical/Historical Note
Cuthbert C. Hurd was born April 5, 1911, in Estherville, Iowa. He received his BA in mathematics from Drake University in
1932, his MS in mathematics from Iowa State College in 1934, and his PhD in mathematics from the University of Illinois in
1936.
After receiving his Ph.D, Hurd joined the faculty of Michigan State University from 1936 to 1942 as a mathematics instructor
and assistant professor. For the duration of World War II, Hurd taught at the US Coast Guard Academy, and in 1945 he joined
Allegheny College as the dean. Between 1947 and 1949, Hurd was the technical research Head for Union Carbide at the United
States Atomic Energy Commission facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Hurd remained a consultant for Union Carbide from 1949 to
1959 even after joining IBM in 1949. Hurd stayed with IBM until 1962.
While at IBM, Hurd held many positions including director of applied science, director of electronic data processing machines,
director of automation research, director of control systems, and finally special assistant to the vice president of research.
Hurd encouraged IBM’s upper management to enter the nascent computer field, convincing them in the early 1950s that a market
for scientific computers existed. While the move away from traditional punched card accounting machines was difficult for
IBM, it proved successful. Hurd sold 10 IBM 701 computers, IBM's first commercial electronic stored program scientific computer.
Soon after, Hurd became manager of the IBM team that invented and developed the FORTRAN programming language under team leader
John Backus. Hurd remained a consultant for IBM until 1966 and served as an expert witness for IBM in antitrust cases.
From 1962 to 1974, Hurd was chairman of the board for Computer Usage Corporation. Between 1978 and 1986, Hurd served as chairman
for Picodyne Incorporated, which he co-founded. In 1983, Hurd co-founded Quintus Computer Systems and was president and chairman
until Quintus was sold in 1989. Throughout his career, Hurd served as a consultant and lecturer to higher education and industry.
Hurd died on May 22, 1996, in Portola Valley, California.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Cuthbert C. Hurd papers consist of materials related to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and its development
of electronic data processing machines during Hurd's time at the company from 1949 to 1962. Included in the collection are
reports, articles, manuals, and other research and industry-related documents from 1947 to 1991; Hurd's professional and personal
correspondence and papers from 1948 to 1995; and legal documents from the antitrust trial United States v. International Business
Machines Corp. (1979). Of note in this collection are technical reports, specifications, and sales data relating to iconic
IBM computers of this era; correspondence between Hurd and IBM president Thomas Watson, Jr.; photographs of IBM machines;
and transcripts of Hurd's month-long testimony at the antitrust trial, which provides a history of the computer industry with
particular regard to IBM's role in it.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Series 1, Printed, 1947-1991, bulk 1948-1962
Series 2, Correspondence and personal papers, 1949-1995
Series 3, United States v. International Business Machines Corp. (1979) records, 1979
Related Collections at CHM
Computer development at IBM. Lecture by Cuthbert C. Hurd at the Los Alamos History of Computing Conference, Lot X3863.2007,
Catalog number 102695526
Computer development at IBM. Lecture by Cuthbert C. Hurd at the Los Alamos History of Computing Conference, Lot X5953.2011,
Catalog number 102695402
J. Pres Eckert papers, Lot X3115.2005, Catalog number 102660306
Fortran: 25th Anniversary, Lot X2843.2005, Catalog number 102651569
Harwood G. Kolsky papers, Lot X3021.2005, Catalog numbers 102679715, 102679765, and 102679763
Cuthbert C. Hurd, ed., IBM 701 - Thirtieth Anniversary 1953 - 1983, Annals of the History of Computing - Special Issue, volume
5, Number 2, April 1983, Lot X3682.2007, Catalog number 102628191
See How They Ran: Sixty Years of Computers on Film, From the Computer Museum Collection, Catalog number 102651589
Related Collections at Other Repositories
Computer Oral History Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Computer Science at Stanford: The Impact of the First Ten Years (V0045). Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Cuthbert C. Hurd Papers (CBI 95), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin, 1911-. (1981). Oral history interview with Cuthbert Corwin Hurd. Charles Babbage Institute. University
of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.
http://purl.umn.edu/107368
Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin, 1911-. (1994). Oral history interview with Cuthbert Corwin Hurd. Charles Babbage Institute. University
of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.
http://purl.umn.edu/107370
Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin, 1911-. (1995). Oral history interview with Cuthbert Corwin Hurd. Charles Babbage Institute. University
of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.
http://purl.umn.edu/107371
John Von Neumann Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin, 1911-1996
Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957
Watson, Thomas J., 1914-1993
Antitrust Law
Computer Industry
IBM 650 (Computer)
IBM 701 (Computer)
IBM 7030 (Computer)
International Business Machines Corporation
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Monte Carlo method Computer programs
Printed Series 1,
Bulk, 1948-1962
1947-1991
Language of Material:
English
Series Scope and Contents
This series contains materials that document the rise of electronic computing and the development of IBM's electronic data
processing machines while Hurd worked there from 1949 to 1962. A large portion of the collection consists of newspaper clippings,
photocopies of articles, conference proceedings, and reports that cover the advances being made in computing at the time,
with a focus on the development and release of some of IBM's most notable early computers, including the 701, 650, and 1620.
Other materials include histories, specifications, manuals, customer sales sheets, promotional materials, transcriptions,
and conference presentations. There is also material about John von Neumann, the celebrated mathematician and a friend of
Hurd's, consisting mostly of newspaper clippings and publications written after his death. A small portion of material documents
the IBM antitrust trial for which Hurd was a witness in 1979. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
102733981
Annals of the Computation Laboratory of Harvard University
1948
102733995
Annals of the history of computing
1982-1997
102733985
Articles about computing
1951-1988
102734017
Articles about IBM
1949-1991; bulk 1953
102733978
Articles about or by Hurd
1953-1981
102733986
Articles about or by John von Neumann
1949-1991; bulk 1957
102733987
Articles about Thomas Watson
1955-1986
102733988
Articles by W. J. Eckert
1947-1963
102733991
Bibliography on Electronic Computing, additions to the third edition
1953-07
102733989
Communications of the ACM
1972-07
102733982
Computation seminar : proceedings
1949-12
102733984
Computation seminar : proceedings
1951-08
102733997
Conference proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery
1952
102733998
Conference proceedings of the Electronic Computer Symposium
1952
102733999
Conference proceedings of the Joint AIEE-IRE Computer Conference, Review of Electronic Digital
Computers
1951
102734000
Conference proceedings of the Western Computer Conference and the Institute of Radio
Engineers
1953-1955
102734001
Hurd presentations
1961-1966
102733990
IBM 1620 (CADET) reports and specifications
1958-1959
102733979
IBM appendices
1961
102734002
IBM Applied Science Division Technical Newsletter
1956
102734023
IBM data processing machine photographs
1949-1955
102734003
IBM data processing machines customer documents
1952-1962
102734004
IBM industrial process automation study
ca. 1957
102734006
IBM industrial process control program reports
1960
102733993
IBM manuals
1953-1960
102734005
IBM news publications
1950-1982
102734007
IBM Personal Automatic Computing (PAC) report
1955-01-28
102734008
IBM press releases and letters
1952-1961; bulk 1953-1955
102733983
Industrial computation seminar : proceedings
1950-09
102734022
International Research Conference on the History of Computing records
1976-06
102734009
John von Neumann biographies and remembrances
1958-1987
102734010
John von Neumann symposia papers
1987-1988
102734011
Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
1951-12-14
102734012
Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computing
1948-1954
102734013
Promotional materials
1961-1962
102734014
SHARE documents
1958-1972
102734015
Survey of Automatic Digital Computers, Office of Naval Research, 1954
1954
102734016
Technical reports and specifications
1948-1974
Correspondence and personal papers Series 2,
1949-1995
Series Scope and Contents
This series contains letters, memoranda, research, personal photographs, and notebooks collected and/or authored by Hurd.
The correspondence in this series covers a wide variety of topics, from personal thank you notes and congratulations to discussions
on artificial intelligence and John von Neumann's legacy. Most of the correspondence is interfiled with Hurd's research on
computing history, particularly IBM's history, since these research materials were often enclosed within letters from past
colleagues or friends. These enclosed research materials could include copies of old IBM memoranda on new data processing
machines, lists of people involved with certain initiatives, or summaries of past collaborations with Hurd. Relevant articles
from publications were also enclosed in many of Hurd's correspondence. This series also includes a collection of Hurd's personal
photographs. Of particular interest is a photograph of Hurd with John von Neumann, and another photograph of Hurd demonstrating
the IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer at Expo 58 (Brussels World's Fair, 1958). Also of interest in this series is a collection
of letters between Hurd and Thomas Watson, Jr. This series is arranged chronologically.
102733973
Seminars, education, and training at IBM and MIT
1949-1978
102733974
Monte Carlo method correspondence and research
1949-1984
102733976
Personal photographs
ca. 1950-1980
102733980
IBM 7030 ("Stretch") computer project and Los Alamos National Laboratory correspondence and
research
1951-1962
102733992
Cuthbert C. Hurd correspondence with Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
1955-1992
102733994
Correspondence and research regarding John von Neumann
1957-1993
102734024
1960 calendar
1959
102734025
Research and Engineering Planning Conference
1961
102734027
"Push-Down, Push-Up Accumulators" correspondence and research
1961-12-07-1962-02-27
102734026
Travel correspondence
1961-1962
102734028
Computer Usage Company (CUC) and International Business Machines (IBM) World Trade Corporation
correspondence and research
1961-1967
102734029
Telex Corporation v. International Business Machines Corporation trial and computer history
projects
1971-1978
102734030
Oral histories
1972-1995
102734031
Research regarding International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) history and personal
correspondence
1982-1989
102734032
Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering and history of computing correspondence
and research
1991-1995
102734033
Memoirs
1992-1995
United States v. International Business Machines Corp. (1979) records Series 3,
1979
Series Scope and Contents
This series contains transcriptions and exhibit documents from United States v. International Business Machines Corp. (1979),
for which Hurd was an expert witness. The majority of the series consists of transcriptions of Hurd's testimony, which took
place from January 3 to February 1, 1979. Also included are plaintiff's exhibits comprising photocopies of IBM-related reports,
memos, correspondence, and meeting transcripts. Hurd's testimony and the exhibit documents provide a history of IBM's computer
development and the early computer industry. This series is arranged chronologically.
102733977
Plaintiff's exhibit documents
1979
102733975
Hurd testimony transcripts
1979-01-03-1979-02-01
