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Lemelson Center Travel to Collections Awards



Lemelson Center
Travel to Collections Awards Program

The Lemelson Center was established at the National Museum of American History in 1995 through a generous gift from Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson.  Jerome Lemelson held more than 500 patents for a range of inventions relating to robotics and machine vision to the VCR, camcorder, fax machine, and cordless telephone. The Center's mission is to document, interpret, and disseminate information about American invention and innovation.  The Lemelson Center's website is at: http://www.si.edu/lemelson

The Travel to Collections Awards Program is designed to support research on the history of invention and innovation based on the extensive holdings of the Museum's Archives Center and curatorial divisions.  The Archives Center is a manuscripts and special collections repository with more than 10,000 feet of holdings which are particularly strong in personal papers and business records documenting the history of American enterprise and technology.  It is open for research on weekdays but researchers must schedule an appointment.  

Since 1995 the Museum's Lemelson Center has supported oral and video documentation of contemporary inventors and inventions such as the SmartLevel, a high-tech electronic level, the Gerber Cutter, a computer controlled fabric cutter invented by H. Joseph Gerber, the Sendzimir "Z" Mill for cold rolling steel invented by Tadeusz Sendzimir, and the windsurfer invented by S. Newman Darby.

Other invention-related materials include: George H. Clark Radioana Collection, William J. Hammer Collection (electric light and central power stations), Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Parke, Davis and Co. Research Laboratory Records, the United Shoe Machinery Records,  and the Allen B. Du Mont Collection (television).  Individual inventors are documented in the Leo H. Baekeland Papers (Bakelite) and the Earl S. Tupper Papers (Tupperware).  More information  about the holdings is found at: http://www.si.edu/nmah/archives/ac-i.htm

To encourage use of its invention-related collections, the Lemelson Center, in conjunction with the Archives Center, offers travel awards to cover transportation costs and daily expenses up to $75 a day for a maximum of 21 days.  Scholars, graduate students, and independent researchers not residing or attending school within commuting distance of the National Museum of American History may apply for this program.  Awards may not be used to extend other Smithsonian appointments.  Only one award can be offered to a visitor within a twelve-month period.  Decisions are made on the basis of recommendation and review by the Smithsonian staff.

The application deadline is April 16, 2001 and October 15, 2001.  Awards will be announced within two weeks of the deadlines.  Applicants should submit a completed application, a current curriculum vitae, and a statement of purpose of the visit.  To request an application or for more information, contact: Alison L. Oswald, Archivist, Archives Center, NMAH, Room C340, Washington, DC 20560-0601; telephone: 202.357.3780; fax 202.786.2453; email OSWALDA@NMAH.SI.EDU.

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