ACM History Committee

Revised — Nov 15, 2020 –Kim Tracy (compiled Feb 26, 2009 — Tom Misa)

ACM Research Materials

Table of Contents

Online research materials:

  • ACM Turing Award winners
  • ACM Oral History interviews with officers and award winners
  • ACM SIG history
  • ACM History Committee: public documents
  • ACM organizational documents [in ACM Digital Library]
  • AFIPS Joint Computer Conferences 1951-84 [in ACM Digital Library]

Paper-based archival materials:

  • Cornell University Archives
  • Stanford University Archives
  • University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library
  • Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives
  • Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
  • Charles Babbage Institute

Cornell University Archives

    Gerard Salton Papers [editor-in-chief, Association for Computing Machinery Communications]
    Correspondence
    ACM – Association for Computing Machinery, 1970-1972
    Feb. 1976 ACM letter
    June 1976 ACM membership letter
    June 28, 1976 ACM newsletter responses
    ACM Council – Jim Adams, 1972-1977
    ACM Council Letter, 5-21-76 RE: JAM
    ACM Council – Chapter Correspondence, 1972-1976
    Oct. 1976 ACM Meeting letters and responses
    ACM Letter – Feb. 1977 meeting
    1977 ACM Computer Science Conference
    ACM letter, June 1977
    ACM letter, Nov. 1977
    Dorethy, Barry C. – ACM ed. Staff, 1970-1971
    Sammet, Jean – ACM, 1972-1976
    Professional Papers
    ACM Queries – Syntax Analysis, 1988
    Dynamic Document Processing- Communications of the ACM, 1972
    Proposal for a New ACM Publication- Transactions on Information Storage & Retrieval (TISR),1995
    ACM Reports, 1995
    BCS- ACM Symposium, Cambridge-1980- Research & Development in Information Retrieval

    Stanford University Archives

    Kurt Akeley Papers, 1982-2000 [co-founded Silicon Graphics in 1982; 1995 recipient of the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award.] http://www.oac.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/oac/stanford/uarc/sc0628/
    ACM Fellow and award winner

    Douglas C. Engelbart Papers, 1953-1998 www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/ft3n39n626
    1997 ACM Turing Award winner

    George and Alexandra Forsythe Papers, 1938-1979 www.oac.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/oac/stanford/uarc/sc0098/
    ACM materials include council, curriculum, education board, goals, newsletters, personal, SICCSE and SIGNUM. (9 folders)

    Jef Raskin Papers, 1975-1997 www.oac.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/oac/stanford/mss/m1147/
    ACM member

    Mark D. Weiser Papers, 1969-1999 www.oac.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/oac/stanford/m1069/
    1999 recipient of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGmobile award

    University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library

    Bernard A. Galler Papers
    Professional and Other Activities; ACM
    Awards Committee, 1977-1978
    Committee on the Dissemination of Information, 1966-1967
    Committee on International Activities, 1973-1976
    Committee on Member Attitudes to Non-Technical Activities, 1978-79
    Committee on Taxonomy of Computer Science and Engineering, 1976-1981
    Correspondence, 1964-1981
    Council, 1966-1967
    Fortieth Anniversary Program, 1985-1986
    Government Organization Committee, 1972-1975
    National Conference, 1964-1967
    Nominating Committee, 1971-1973
    Programming Languages Committee, 1965 and 1968
    Turing Award Committee, 1971-1979, 1988-1989, 1990-1992

    Hagley Museum and Library
    Manuscripts and Archives

    Simon E. Gluck Collection of Early Computer Documents, 1944-1976 (bulk, 1948-1958).
    (unpublished finding aid available on site; Accession Number 1987)

    Radio Corporation of America records.
    Skillman, Sherwood. Notes on the 1956 and 1959 ACM conferences.

    Archives Center, National Museum of American History
    Smithsonian Institution

    Computer Standards Collection, 1958-1978
    Correspondence, reports, publications, meeting minutes, and bulletins of standards committees relating to ALGOL, COBOL, and the International Standards Organization (ISO) subcommittee on character sets (ANSI X3L2). The ALGOL records include correspondence to the ALGOL Maintenance Subcommittee (Association for Computing Machinery) and information about the International Algebraic Language, XTRAN source language for FORTRAN, and the SHARE ALGOL 60 translator. The COBOL records (1960-1969) include material from CODASYL, the European Computer Manufacturer’s Association, SHARE, and the American Standards Association. The ISO records (1959-1978) relate exclusively to the standards for data formats and codes and includes material from other standards organizations.

    Paul Armer Collection, 1949-1970
    The collection includes minutes of meetings, correspondence (of Armer and others) and memoranda relating to computer organizations (including the Association for Computing Machinery) and their committees. Published papers and rough drafts of articles on a wide range of subject related to computer uses and applications are also included. Reports and summaries of meetings and symposia cover a variety of issues relating to computers and information processing.

    Association for Computing Machinery (Washington, D.C. Chapter) Collection, 1958-1978
    Microfiche copies of the records of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, including council minutes, chapter financial records, and the chapter’s newsletters, entitled COMPUTOPICS, covering the years 1960-1978.

    United States. National Bureau of Standards. Computer Literature Collection, 1945-1961.
    Continued by National Bureau of Standards Computer Literature Collection, 1956-1978 held at CBI.

    Charles Babbage Institute

    Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Headquarters Records [in processing]
    Preliminary Scope and Content Note — Lora Bloom, ACM Project Archivist 16 February 2009 (records will be fully processed and open for research during 2009. Please contact Lora Bloom for more information at bloom191@umn.edu.)
    The Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota has received approximately 75 cubic feet of records of the Association for Computing Machinery. They were received from the headquarters office of the ACM (New York) and so consist of organization records documenting the governance of the ACM from the viewpoint of the central office. These include presidential correspondence, meeting minutes of the executive committee and of the council, activity files of boards and committees and election files. There are also records of the headquarters staff including files of executive directors, offices of administration, membership, publications and SIG services. The majority of these organizational governance records are from the time period from the 1970s through the 1990s, with a few materials from as early as the 1960s and as late as 2006. Materials consist mainly of correspondence, memos, reports, policies, budgets and notes. Also of note are marketing samples from 1990s-2000s, ACM press monographs from 1980s-1990s, and photographs of ACM meetings and speakers.

    Ada Programming Language Materials [CBI 157]
    Association for Computing Machinery SIGAda, 1986-1989 (Box 3, folders 2-3)

    Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Publications [CBI 110]
    Collection contains published annual reports, directories, newsletters, and other miscellaneous publications of the ACM, its regions, and chapters, from 1971-1985.

    Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Graphics (SIGGRAPH), Conference Publication, 1981-1996 [CBI 85]

    Association for Computing Machinery Los Angeles Chapter, Special Interest Group on Programming Languages, Working Group 4 PL/I Bulletins [CBI 35]

    Association for Women in Computing Records [CBI 49]
    ACM 1983 conference. (Box 3, folder 48)

    History of Programming Languages Conference Records [CBI 19]
    ACM Guidelines for ACM SIG/SIC and Regional Conferences, 1972, 1976-1977. (Box
    1, folder 1)
    ACM Technical Meeting Request Form, 1976-1977. (Box 1, folder 2)

    Personal Papers

    Charles W. Bachman Papers [CBI 125] [1973 Turing Award]
    ACM 1973 Conference Pamphlets, 1973. (Box 17, folder 34)
    ACM Sigplan/Sigops Interface Meeting, April 9-12, 1973. (Box 17, folder 33)
    Turing Award Correspondence, 1973-1974. (Box 17, folder 35)
    “The Programmer as Navigator,” presented at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Turing Award Recipient Lecture, Atlanta, GA [presentation text and copies of transparencies], August 28, 1973. (Box 16, folder 32)
    ACM-SIGFIDET Workshop. “Conference Debate: Network (database set approach) vs. Relational Approach,” Chicago, IL [CWB notes, copies of transparencies, correspondence, attendees, and agenda], May 1-3, 1974. (Box 17, folder 36-38)
    Establishment of the Michael E. Senko Memorial Award and Trust Fund, 1979. (Box 17, folder 39)
    ACM Turing Award Committee, 1982. (Box 17, folder 40)

    Edmund C. Berkeley Papers [CBI 50]
    ACM social responsibility committee records and correspondence, 1947-1978 (also includes materials for other computer societies)
    ACM Working Group on Socially Desirable Applications of Computers, 1959. (Box 25,
    folders 61-62) [mailing lists, articles and correspondence]
    ACM Computer Assisted Instruction Seminar, 1967-1968. (Box 50, folders 1-5)
    [correspondence, notes, newsletters, C-E-I-R/ACM seminar handouts]
    ACM Working Group for Better Education, 1956-1966. (Box 52, folders 79-96; Box 53,
    folders 1-26) [correspondence, minutes, reports, notes, questionnaire replies, application forms and letters, mailings, materials on ACM Secondary Education Committee, and background materials on education and computers]
    ACM Interview of Berkeley, September 1988. (VHS cassette) (Box 71)

    Herbert S. Bright Papers [CBI 42]
    Association for Computing Machinery, 1959-1984
    ACM 64
    Chronological Files, 1964. (Box 4, folders 8-9)
    “Critique of a Problem Set for Instruction in Digital Computer Programming, 1964. (Box 4,
    folder 10)
    “Lists and Why They Are Useful,” 1964. (Box 4, folder 11)
    Press Kit, 1964. (Box 4, folder 12)
    Program Committee, 1963-1964. (Box 4, folder 13)
    Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Speech, 1963-1964. (Box 4, folder 14)
    Annual Report, 1960. (Box 4, folder 15)
    Committee on Computers and Public Policy, 1980. (Box 4, folder 16)
    Computing Surveys Reviewing, 1980-1982. (Box 4, folder 17)
    Council Meeting material, 1961. (Box 4, folder 18)
    Data-Link (newsletter of Los Angeles chapter), 1961-1964. (Box 4, folder 19)
    Distinguished Service Award, 1978-1981. (Box 4, folder 20)
    Elections, 1966-1982. (Box 4, folder 21)
    Guidelines for ACM SIG/SIC and Regional Conferences, 1976. (Box 4, folder 22) IFIP/ICC Vocabulary of Terms Used in Information Processing, 1964. (Box 4,
    folder 23)
    Miscellaneous, 1959-1983. (Box 4, folder 24)
    “Pathways to System Integrity,” 1980. (Box 4, folder 25)
    Revised ACM Constitution, n.d. (Box 4, folder 26)
    SIGCAPH, 1974-1975. (Box 5, folder 27)
    SIGPAC ACM paper, 1968-1969. (Box 4, folder 28)
    Subject Headings Subcommittee of the Informal Joint ACM-AIEE-IRE Computer
    Terminology Committee Report, 1960. (Box 4, folder 29)
    Report background materials, 1960-1961. (Box 4, folder 30)
    Washington chapter, 1961-1984. (Box 4, folder 31)
    ACM ’74, Forum on Computers and Public Policy (sponsored by SIGCAPH)
    featuring Paul Armer, Herbert S. Bright, Daniel D. McCracken, and others, 1974. [cassette: Bright’s speech, “Liability Professionalism” begins side B of cassette] (Box 6)

    Walter M. Carlson Papers [CBI 114]
    AFIPS Presentation to ACM Executive Committee, 1988. (Box 2, folder 12)

    Bruce Gilchrist Papers [CBI 76]
    Papers contain outgoing correspondence relating to Gilchrist’s duties as an officer of AFIPS and the ACM. Most of the records prior to 1965 concern ACM.

    George Glaser Papers [CBI 23]
    ACM Records, 1967-1978
    Chronological Records, 1973-1979. (Box 1, folders 1-3)
    Council and Executive Committee minutes, 1967-1972. (Box 1, folders 4-5)
    Council and Executive Committee records, 1973. (Box 1, folder 6)
    Council records, 1972-1973. (Box 1, folder 7)
    Data Base, 1969-1971. (Box 1, folder 8)
    Elections, 1972. (Box 1, folder 9)
    Fiscal year, 1972. (Box 1, folder 10)
    Headquarters newsletter, 1971-1973. (Box 1, folder 11)
    Lectureship roster, 1972-1973. (Box 1, folder 12)
    Long range planning committee, 1974. (Box 1, folder 13)
    Membership, 1970-1971. (Box 1, folder 14)
    Membership statistics, 1971-1972. (Box 1, folder 15)
    Minimum Services, ad hoc committee on, 1972. (Box 1, folder 16)
    Nominating committee, 1975-1978. (Box 1, folders 17-18)
    Ombudsman program, 1972-1975. (Box 1, folder 19)
    Organization and management, 1971-1973. (Box 1 , folder 20)
    Personnel policies, 1970-1972. (Box 1, folder 21)
    Press and PR, 1968-1973. (Box 2, folder 1)
    Professional development program, 1968-1973. (Box 2, folder 2)
    Publication board, 1971. (Box 2, folder 3)
    SIG/SIC board (Denning), 1969-1972. (Box 2, folder 4)
    SIGBDP correspondence, 1972-1974. (Box 2, folder 5)

    Carl Hammer Papers [CBI 3]
    Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 1967-1981
    Brochures, 1967-1972. (Box 7, folder 12)
    Brochures, 1973-1978. (Box 7, folder 13)
    Conference (1971), Final Report, 1971. (Box 7, folder 14)
    Conference (1972), List of Programs and Events, 1972. (Box 7, folder 15) Conference (1977), National Conventioneer Reference Book, 1977. (Box 7, folder 16)
    Conference (1979), Distinguished Service Award, 1979-1980. (Box 7, folder 17) Correspondence,
    1979-1981. (Box 7, folder 18)
    Washington D.C. Chapter, Incident Report, 1976-1980. (Box 7, folder 19)
    Program for ACM founder dinner, 1972

    Bryan S. Kocher Papers [CBI 103]
    Papers reflect Kocher’s work in various capacities of the ACM, including:
    Council and Executive Committee Meetings, 1982-1991
    Council and Executive Committee Distributions and Documents, 1981-1991
    Committees, 1983-1989
    Publications, 1980-1991
    Consultants Reports, 1988, 1991
    Internal Reports, 1986-1990
    Manuals, 1982-1988
    Subject Files, 1980-1990

    Daniel D. McCracken Papers [CBI 43]
    ACM Council and Executive Committee
    ACM Council meetings
    ACM Executive Committee meetings
    ACM Correspondence, 1969-1982
    ACM Key Personnel Lists, 1974-1983

    Calvin N. Mooers Papers [CBI 81]
    ACM Copyright protection of articles, 1970 (Box 14, folder 49)
    ACM Correspondence and notes, 1948 (Box 10, folder 9)
    ACM Greater Boston Chapter and American Documentation Institute New England Chapter joint meeting,
    1962 (Box 14, folder 62)
    ACM Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval, 1964 (Box 19, folder 13)
    ACM Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval, 1967 (Box 14, folder 31)
    ACM Standards Committee reports, 1970 (Box 2, folder 7)
    ACM Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation (Washington, D.C.), 1966 (Box 1, folder 14-
    16)
    ACM Working Conference on Pragmatics and Programming Languages (San Dimas, CA), 1965 (Box 1,
    folder 17-19)

    Alan J. Perlis Papers [CBI 64] [1966 Turing Award winner]
    ACM Conference on History of Workstations, 1985 (Box 1, folder 44)
    ACM Correspondence, 1980-1985 (Box 2, folders 11-13)
    “Publication System for the ACM,” ca. 1967 (Box 3, folder 25)
    ACM “Informat,”[VHS cassette tape] n.d. (Box 5)

    Government and Other Papers

    U.S. National Bureau of Standards Computer Literature Collection [CBI 32]
    Association for Computing Machinery. 1970 ACM SICFIDET. Workshop on Data Description &
    Access, 1970. NBS# 70322013. (Box 499, folder 7)
    —–. Graduate Assistantship Directory in the Computer Sciences, 1971 October. NBS# 72165004. (Box
    557, folder 14)
    —–. Graduate Assistantship Directory in the Computer Sciences 1970-1971, 1970. NBS# 70167001.
    (Box 486, folder 4)
    —–. Professional Development Seminar, 1972 ca. NBS# 72362067. (Box 579, folder 1)
    —–. Record of the Project MAC Conference on Concurrent systems and Parallel Computation, 1970
    December. NBS# 71350001. (Box 536, folder 8)
    —–. Standards Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 2, 1969 February. NBS# 69218002. (Box 461, folder 7)
    Association for Computing Machinery. Committee on Professional Activities of the Blind. Blind in
    EDP, 1965. NBS# 6525817. (Box 349, folder 6)
    Association for Computing Machinery. SIGPLAN Technical Committee on APL. APL
    Quote Quad, Volume 7, Issue 4, 1977. NBS# 77146018. (Box 674, folder 8)
    Association for Computing Machinery. Special Interest Group on Simulation. Symposium on the
    Simulation of Computer Systems, 1973. NBS# 77014003. (Box 667, folder 7)
    —–. Symposium on the Simulation of Computer Systems, 1974. NBS# 74178001. (Box 620, folder 11)
    Rubinoff, Morris and White, John F. Description of Cataloging and Indexing System for
    the ACM Repository, 1965 January 25. NBS# 6521857. (Box 320, folder 9)

    U.S. Government Computing Collection [CBI 63]
    Computer Performance Evaluation: Report of the 1973 NBS/ACM Workshop.
    September 1975. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards. (Box 14)
    NBS/ACM Workshop on Controlled Accessibility. December 1972. U.S. Department of
    Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, ACM. (Box 16)
    NBS/ACM Workshop on Performance Evaluation. March 1973. U.S. Department of
    Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, ACM. (Box 16)
    NBS/ACM Workshop on Performance Evaluation Volume II. March 1973. U.S.
    Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, ACM. (Box 16)
    ACM-SIGGRAPH/NBS Workshop on Machine Independent Graphics. April 1974.
    National Bureau of Standards, ACM, SIGGRAPH. (Box 16)

    Uncataloged Serials [CBI 152]
    Bit Droppers: Official Publication of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for
    Computing Machinery: Vol. 28 no. 12 (December 1988); Vol. 29 no. 12 (December 1989)

    Additional ACM materials are in these CBI collections:


    Isaac L. Auerbach Papers [CBI 52]: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 1961-1981. (Box 6, folders 1-3)
    Burroughs Corporation Records [CBI 90]
    Engineering Research Associates and Remington Rand UNIVAC Records [CBI 124]
    Florence R. Anderson Papers [CBI 101]
    Control Data Corporation Records [CBI 80]
    Auerbach Associates Market and Product Reports [CBI 30]
    John K. Swearingen Papers [CBI 46]
    Margaret R. Fox Papers [CBI 45]
    Robert V. Head Papers [CBI 170]
    Data Processing Management Association Records [CBI 88]
    Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals [CBI 116]
    American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) Records [CBI 44]