- unitid
-
{"value"=>"472", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 472", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1898-1975", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1898/1975"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Chester F. Carlson papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"44 linear feet (86 boxes, 13 v.)"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.</span><div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">Stephen A. Schwarzman Building</span> <span class=\"addressline\">Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Chester Floyd Carlson (1906-1968) was an American patent attorney who invented xerography in 1938. Collection consists of correspondence, technical papers, writings, personal and financial papers, photographs, ephemera, and printed matter. General correspondence reflects Carlson's philanthropic interests; technical correspondence, laboratory notebooks, patent files, and other papers relate to his invention of xerography and to its commercial development. Other papers include family correspondence, diaries for 1928 to 1968, financial papers, speeches and other writings, scrapbooks of printed ephemera related to xerography, and photographs of trips to the Soviet Union and India. Also, papers relating to parapsychology and to the economic development of Guyana, 1966-1968."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"Materials in English"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Chester F. Carlson papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Carlson, Chester Floyd, 1906-1968", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Chester F. Carlson 1906-1968, patent attorney and inventor of xerography, was the son of poor Swedish immigrants. Carlson graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1930.</p> <p>One of Carlson's first jobs was with the patent firm of P. R. Mallory. One of the aspects of patents is that multiple copies of patents are often needed. Prior to the 1930s, before xerography, the process was costly and slow. Carlson, therefore, sought to develop a quick and inexpensive copying machine. Through extensive research, with many hours spent at the New York Public Library and with the assistance of a refugee physicist, Otto Kornei, he perfected the process. On October 22 1938, the first image read \"10-22- Astoria\".</p> <p>Carlson's invention did not sell at first, because of a lack of commercial interest. During the year 1944, the Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio agreed to market the process. In January 1947, the Haloid Corporation later the Xerox Co., made a licensing agreement with the Battelle Corporation.</p> <p>The first xerox machine was marketed in 1950; the royalties eventually made Carlson a multi-millionaire. Carlson was also known as a philanthropist.</p> <p>Carlson died in 1968; he was survived by his wife Dorrie Carlson and a daughter, Catherine.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Chester F. Carlson Papers contain the papers of Chester F. Carlson (1906-1968), attorney and inventor of xerography.</p> <p>The papers, by bulk, concern technical and scientific subjects and to a lesser extent family and outside interests. The main series are general correspondence, 1912-1969, technical correspondence, 1938-1963, contribution file, technical papers and subject papers.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Chester F. Carlson papers are arranged in thirteen series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819414'>General Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1912-1969</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>General Correspondence consists of incoming letters to Carlson from scientists, colleagues and individuals involved in Zen meditation, parapsychology and similar beliefs.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819422'>Family Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Family Correspondence contains the papers of Dorie Carlson (Mrs. Chester F. Carlson), 1945-1975; Hawkins family, 1898-1968 and Roy Carlson, 1941-1972.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819426'>Technical Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1938-1963</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Technical Correspondence concerns Carlson's business relationship with the Battelle, Haloid and Xerox corporations. The other technical correspondence is with his associate Otto Kornei, 1934-1967 and also with the Design for Learning Project, 1966-1968.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819439'>Contribution File</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Contribution Files are the organizations that solicited Carlson's funds and also those groups to which he may have contributed. The files contain letters for solicitations with the accompanying literature and Carlson's response. The correspondents include: African National Congress, American Cancer Society Inc., American Civil Liberties Union, Business Executive Move for Vietnam Peace, California Institute of Technology, Care Inc., Epilepsy Foundation, Harlem Education Program, International League for the Rights of Man, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP, National Sharecropper Fund, Planned Parenthood Federation, Ramakrishna-Vivananda Center, Margaret Sanger Research Bureau and Zen Meditation Center.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819450'>Technical Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1935-1960s</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Technical Papers consist of technical papers, notebooks and the patent file. The technical papers, A-Z, alphabetically arranged by author and title, concern the development of physics between 1935-1960s. The Laboratory Notebooks were kept by Carlson during the development of xerography. The notebooks are arranged in two series. Series A. 1921-1963 and Series Ep. 1938-1961. The remaining notebooks relate to general laboratory work, 1951-1956, patent department, 1950-1951, the notebook of Carlson's assistant Otto Kornei, 1938 and a notebook titled \"Air Dynamics Thermo Kinetic Separator Vertical Levitator\". The Battelle Memorial Institute produced the \"Electrophotography Progress Report 1944-1947\" (2 vols.).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819491'>Subject papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Subject Papers are basically non-scientific subjects concerned with Carlson's outside interests; for example, the Center for the Study for Democratic Institutions and the American Society for Psychical Research.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819566'>Diaries</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819571'>Financial Papers</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819579'>Personal Papers</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819584'>Speeches and Writings</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819616'>Ephemera and Printed Material</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819619'>Scrapbooks</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/472#c819633'>Additions</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- altformavail
-
{"value"=>"<p>Entire collection available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-341</p>"}
- date_start
-
1898
- keydate
-
1898
- date_end
-
1975
- date_inclusive_start
-
1898
- date_inclusive_end
-
1975