William J. Hammer Collection ca. 1874-1935, 1955-1957 #069

(38 cubic ft.; 102 DB; 5 F/O)

INTRODUCTION

The William J. Hammer Collection, c. 1874-1935, 1955-1957, was donated in 1962 to the Division of Electricity by International Business Machines (IBM), through Thomas Watson, a friend of Hammer. Hammer had attempted to sell the collection to the Smithsonian Institution in the 1930s for $15,000, but Secretary Charles G. Abbott had declined.

The collection is open to researchers in the Archives Center, Room C 340, National Museum of American History, between 12th and 14th Streets on Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20560. The Archives center is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Wednesday 12:00 - 5:00). Written and telephone inquiries are welcome (202-633-3270) and researchers are encouraged to contact the Archives Center and make an appointment before their arrival.

This is the second in a series of guides to collections in the Archives Center. The first is the Register of the George H. Clark Collection, c. 1880-1950 by Robert S. Harding, Washington, D.C., 1985. Finding aids to other collections are available. All Archives Center collections are briefly described on SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System), an on-line data base.

The out-of-print Guide to Manuscript Collections in the National Museum of History and Technology, 1978, and an unpublished, updated compilation, available to examine in the Archives Center, contain brief descriptions of archival holdings in the Archives Center and elsewhere in the museum.

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