Inventor Name
Unknown
Repository
Hagley Museum and Library
PO Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
110 linear ft.
Summary
The Sperry Corporation’s Aerospace Division traces its origins to Engineering Research Associates (ERA) - a firm based in St. Paul, Minn. and founded by William Norris and Howard Engstrom. During World War II this 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, and 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 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. In 1952 ERA merged with Remington Rand, Inc., where it became part of the 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 National Aeronautics and Space Administration on many of the guided missile projects of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. 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. Sperry Corporation’s Aerospace Division records consist largely of technical papers, research reports, and research and development related correspondence documenting the work of the division and its predecessors from 1948 to 1975. Most of these files appear to have been generated by the office of Sidney Rubens who headed the division from 1957 to 1975. The collection includes substantial materials documenting the work done by Engineering Research Associates on the development of the magnetic storage drum and magnetic core memory. There are several files describing the 1949 contract negotiated between ERA and IBM to explore aspects of magnetic storage. During the late 1950s and 1960s the division was involved with Project Lighting - a Bureau of Ships project to develop a Tactical Data System for use in space exploration and satellite control. The records include progress reports, project correspondence, and reports on cooperative research programs with RCA and IBM. There are also division quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports, as well as reports from the Marketing and Defense Planning Departments. The records describe Sperry’s involvement in the Mercury, Apollo, and Gemini space programs. It includes copies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Space technology files.
