Marvin Camras papers, 1938-1964

Marvin Camras Papers Acc. No. 1998.053 in IIT Archives/Paul V. Galvin Library/Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago, IL 60616 Finding Guide to Professional Papers (1938-1985) Transcript of Oral History [See Acc. No. 1998.119 for the oral history transcript.] Compiled and edited by Thomas J. Misa, ca. 1985 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This project began at the initiation of Anita Anderson, Special Collections Librarian at IIT's Galvin Library [since retired].... We are indebted to John Kalvelege who completed the formidable task of describing the Camras papers folder by folder, and to Dr. Bayla Singer for conducting background research. We are furthermore indebted to Dr. Mark Clark, then of the University of Delaware, who conducted the oral history with Marvin Camras, and to Rebecca Newton, who efficiently made the typed transcription. All of us are indebted to IIT's Education and Research Initiative Fund, which granted funds to organize and preserve the papers, and to the IEEE Life Member's Fund and History Committee, which granted funds for conducting and transcribing the oral history itself. A copy of this finding guide is deposited with the IEEE History Center located at Rutgers University. INTRODUCTION Marvin Camras (b. 1916 [Camras died in 1995]) is a pioneer in the field of magnetic recording. Beginning in the 1930s with a wire-based system and then switching to magnetic coatings on paper tapes and disks, Camras invented and developed such technologies as multi-track tape recording, magnetic sound for motion pictures, videotape recorders, as well as the technique of high-frequency bias recording; together these innovations presently contribute to a $30 billion industry. For this and related work Camras has collected more than 500 patents and been named a Fellow of the IEEE and AAAS among other professional societies. Topping a long list of professional honors, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985 and awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1990. [See Marvin Camras, "Origins of Magnetic Recording Concepts," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 77 (April 1985): 1314-19; and Kenneth A. Brown, "Marvin Camras," Inventors at Work (Redmond WA: Tempus Books of Microsoft Press, 1988), 69-89.] The Camras archive can support historical research in several areas in addition to magnetic recording per se. During World War II, Camras began his long and prolific career at the Armour Research Foundation, now IIT Research Institute (IITRI). His biography charts the day-to-day activities of a privately-funded research institution - forerunner to today's "research parks" and a distinctive technological institution of the mid-20th century. Moreover, as the inventor of so fundamental a technology, Camras's contacts have ranged from the military services to Hollywood and across industry. Study of his career also promises to illuminate themes of general interest to technological historians, including the nature of inventive creativity and the position of an independent inventor in the 20th century. FINDING GUIDE TO PAPERS The very riches of the Camras materials slowed our progress through these materials. We discovered that the 24 file-cabinet drawers contained extremely detailed materials (personal and professional letters, Laboratory notebooks, editorial Correspondence, patent applications, patent reviews) documenting Camras's lengthy and prolific career as an inventor. Camras spent four productive decades at IITRI; these papers cover that entire time. We are convinced that these materials - 950 folders in 87 Hollinger boxes - form a valuable and permanent archive of significant historical interest. The organization of the papers has not been changed from that existing when Camras donated his papers to the Special Collections division of Galvin Library. He filed materials by subject, correspondent, and date. The materials have been simply removed from manila folders and placed into sequentially numbered acid-free folders. The finding guide appended here was sorted first by subject and then by year to show prospective users where materials of a similar nature are physically located in the collection. For the most part, the papers are physically in good shape. A small, second batch of papers was very recently given to the library; this finding guide does not describe this addition. Anita Anderson has prepared a list of United States patents (1944-1986) held by Camras as well as a second finding guide sorted by folder number. TRANSCRIPTION OF ORAL HISTORY