Sperry Corporation Aerospace Division photographs 2001.202
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 26, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Sperry Corporation Aerospace Division photographs 2001.202
Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Historical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 5 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5
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Summary Information
Repository: Audiovisual Collections Creator: Sperry Rand (Corporation). Aerospace Division Title: Sperry Corporation Aerospace Division photographs ID: 2001.202 Date [inclusive]: 1955-1965 Physical Description: 19 item(s) General Physical 19 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. Description: Physical Location: GL Box 1. Language of the English . Material: Abstract: The Sperry Corporation's Aerospace Division traces its origins to Engineering Research Associates (ERA), a St. Paul, Minnesota firm founded by William Norris (1911-2006) and Howard Engstrom (1902-1962). In 1952 ERA merged with Remington Rand, Inc., where it became part of its Eckert-Mauchly Division. In 1960, five years after the Sperry-Remington Rand merger, it was renamed the Military Division, and in 1975 it became Sperry Rand's Aerospace Division. These photographs show details of identified laboratory testing of computer components.
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Historical Note
The Sperry Corporation's Aerospace Division traces its origins to Engineering Research Associates (ERA), a St. Paul, Minnesota firm founded by William Norris (1911-2006) and Howard Engstrom (1902-1962). During World War II the original ERA group had worked for the Navy in an attempt to develop a computer for use in the classified cryptographic program. After the war, Norris and Engstrom left the Navy to establish their own company; in 1948 they signed a contract with the Navy to develop a computer system. This classified project was given the code name Project Goldberg and resulted in the development of the Atlas computer, the first computer with stored-memory capability. Much of ERA's work was directed at solving the problem of magnetic storage which was to prove central to computer development over the next twenty years.
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In 1952 ERA merged with Remington Rand, Inc., where it became part of its Eckert-Mauchly Division. Norris, Engstrom and the ERA engineers, however, never found this relationship to be satisfactory, and in 1957 many of them left Remington Rand to found the Control Data Corporation. The ERA staff that remained with Remington Rand were then given a good deal more autonomy when the company established its Research Division led by Sidney Reubens. This division was primarily dedicated to the development of computer systems for military projects. Its staff worked closely with the NASA on many of the guided missile projects of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It also played a key role in the space program. In 1960, five years after the Sperry-Remington Rand merger, it was renamed the Military Division, and in 1975 it became Sperry Rand's Aerospace Division.
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Scope and Content
These photographs show details of identified laboratory testing of computer components (printed circuits?) and include some photomicrographs of metallurgical analysis.
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Administrative Information
Publication Statement Audiovisual Collections
PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library
Access Restrictions Access restricted; please contact staff in advance of research visit at [email protected] for instructions on how to apply for access to material.
Use Restrictions Reproduction rights retained by depositor.
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Related Materials
Related Materials Sperry Gyroscope Company Division records (Accession 1915), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.
Sperry Corporation, Records (Accession 1910), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.
Sperry Corporation, UNIVAC Division photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1985.261), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.
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Controlled Access Headings
• Computer industry • Electronic circuits • Testing laboratories
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