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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Accession 19-221

National Museum of American History. Division of Work and Industry

Exhibition Records, 1950, 1959-1988, 1996, 2004, 2006

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:National Museum of American History. Division of Work and Industry
Title:Exhibition Records
Dates:1950, 1959-1988, 1996, 2004, 2006
Quantity:2.09 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (1 16x20 box) (3 oversize folders)
Collection:Accession 19-221
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This accession consists of records that document planning, development and production activities for the exhibitions "A Material World," "Loose the Mighty Power: Impressions of the Steam Engine in America," "Abandoned Mine Scenes," "On Time," "Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There," as well as the halls of Nuclear Energy, Mining, Agriculture, Petroleum, Iron and Steel, Farming Machinery, and Forest Products at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), which, prior to 1980, was known as the National Museum of History and Technology and the Museum of History and Technology, respectively. A few records also predate the creation of NMAH, when the museum was part of the United States National Museum. The original working title for the exhibition "Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There," which opened at the National Air and Space Museum and was produced in partnership with NMAH, was "Finding Time and Place: From Chronometers to GPS." Earlier records date back to when the Division of Work and Industry was known as the Division of the History of Technology, the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Division of Extractive Industries, the Division of Manufacturing, the Division of Agriculture and Mining, the Division of Agriculture and Forest Products, the Division of Industrial Cooperation, and there are some records from the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering and the Division of Transportation. Staff represented in these records include curators Robert C. Post, William L. Withuhn, Philip W. Bishop, John T. Schlebecker, Robert M. Vogel, and John H. White; associate curator John Nathan Hoffman; and exhibit coordinator Claudine Klose. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, and notes; proposals; budget summaries; design information; production schedules; scripts; press releases; floor plans; drawings; object lists; loan information; catalogs, pamphlets, brochures, and clippings; photographs and negatives; and reports. Some materials are in electronic format.

Descriptive Entry

This accession consists of records that document planning, development and production activities for the exhibitions A Material World, Loose the Mighty Power: Impressions of the Steam Engine in America, Abandoned Mine Scenes, On Time, Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There, as well as the halls of Nuclear Energy, Mining, Agriculture, Petroleum, Iron and Steel, Farming Machinery, and Forest Products at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), which, prior to 1980, was known as the National Museum of History and Technology and the Museum of History and Technology, respectively. A few records also predate the creation of NMAH, when the museum was part of the United States National Museum. The original working title for the exhibition Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There, which opened at the National Air and Space Museum and was produced in partnership with NMAH, was Finding Time and Place: From Chronometers to GPS. Earlier records date back to when the Division of Work and Industry was known as the Division of the History of Technology, the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Division of Extractive Industries, the Division of Manufacturing, the Division of Agriculture and Mining, the Division of Agriculture and Forest Products, the Division of Industrial Cooperation, and there are some records from the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering and the Division of Transportation.

Staff represented in these records include curators Robert C. Post, William L. Withuhn, Philip W. Bishop, John T. Schlebecker, Robert M. Vogel, and John H. White; associate curator John Nathan Hoffman; and exhibit coordinator Claudine Klose.

Materials include correspondence, memoranda, and notes; proposals; budget summaries; design information; production schedules; scripts; press releases; floor plans; drawings; object lists; loan information; catalogs, pamphlets, brochures, and clippings; photographs and negatives; and reports. Some materials are in electronic format.

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Use Restriction

Restricted for 15 years. until Jan-01-2022; Transferring office; 2/1/2011 memorandum, Johnstone to Jones; Contact reference staff for details.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 19-221, National Museum of American History. Division of Work and Industry, Exhibition Records

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Container List

Box 1

A Material World

Correspondence, 1986-1988 (2 folders)

Box 1 of 2

Budget Summaries, 1985-1987

Box 1 of 2

Production Schedules, 1986-1987

Box 1 of 2

Press Releases, 1986-1988

Box 1 of 2

Brochures and Pamphlets, 1988

Box 1 of 2

Object Lists, 1986-1988

Box 1 of 2

Installation Photographs, 1988

Box 1 of 2

Interactive Videos, 1986-1987

Box 1 of 2

Design and Floor Plan

Box 1 of 2

Loans, 1987-1988

Box 1 of 2

Loose the Mighty Power: Impressions of the Steam Engine in America

Proposal, 1977

Box 1 of 2

Correspondence, 1973-1980

Box 1 of 2

Object Lists, 1978-1979

Box 1 of 2

Floor Plans, 1977

Box 1 of 2

Installation Photographs, 1978

Box 1 of 2

Press Releases, 1978-1979

Box 1 of 2

Scripts, 1978-1981 (2 folders)

Box 1 of 2

Catalogue, 1981

Box 1 of 2

Loans, 1978-1981

Box 1 of 2

Abandoned Mine Scenes

Correspondence, 1968-1969, 1973

Box 1 of 2

Press Release, 1969

Box 1 of 2

Scripts, 1969

Box 1 of 2

Other

Dupont Exhibition Photographs, June 1950

Box 1 of 2

Nuclear Energy Hall, 1966

Box 1 of 2

Correspondence (general), 1963, 1970-1975, 1980

Box 1 of 2

Air Pollution Exhibition Proposal, 1968

Box 1 of 2

Stock Exchange Exhibition Proposal, 1970

Box 1 of 2

John N. Hoffman: Mining Hall Script, 1971

Box 1 of 2

Exhibitions for the Bicentennial, 1968-1974

Box 1 of 2

Relocation of Objects in the Agriculture Hall, 1977

Box 1 of 2

Deaccessioned Objects in the Petroleum Hall, 1980-1981

Box 1 of 2

Finding Time and Place: From Chronometers to GPS Exhibition: Brochure, 2004 (electronic records)

Box 1 of 2

Petroleum Hall Flow Charts, 1963

Box 1 of 2

Vandalism in the Hall of Farm Machinery, 1965-1969

Box 1 of 2

Box 2

On Time Exhibition: Concept Brief, 1996

Box 2 of 2

High Energy Rate Forging Machine Panels

Box 2 of 2

First Commercial Hydraulic Pump Installation, 1962

Box 2 of 2

Oil and Gas Production from Deltaic Sands

Box 2 of 2

Finding Time and Place: From Chronometers to GPS Exhibition: Proposal, circa 2006

Box 2 of 2

Finding Time and Place: From Chronometers to GPS Exhibition: Design Concept

Box 2 of 2
Oversize

Folder 1 Mr. Cleveland, Suggested layout of Hall, 1959

Oversize
Detailed Sketch of the Judson Zipper
Outlines of Blast Furnaces, 1963
Layout of Iron and Steel Hall, 1963
Sketch of a Blast Furnace, 1962
Crucible Furnaces, 1963
Bloomery Furnace, 1963
Catalan Furnace, 1964
Simplified Flow of Gasoline Plant, 1962
Pan-American Oil, 1965
Hall of Forest Products Design, 1964
General Manufacturing Floor Plan, 1961
Mezzanine Floor Plan

Folder 2 General Manufacturing Preliminary Floor Plan, 1961

Oversize
Pan-American Hydraulic Fracturing, 1967
Halls of Farming Machinery and Forest Products, 1961
Up and Down Sawmill (Chester, Pennsylvania)
Sawmill, 1963
Ground Floor Plan of Mining Hall
Museum of History and Technology Floor Plan, 1963
Electronic Microscope Panel
Cabinet Housing for Oil Map, circa 1964
Oil Map, 1964-1965 (3 drawings)

Folder 3 Catalytic Polymerization, 1959

Oversize
Hall of Mining Floor Plan, Ceiling Plan, Elevation and Details, 1959 (2 drawings)
Plan of Mining Hall Mezzanine (6 drawings)