In honor of National Engineers Week (February 18-24, 2024), we thought it would be fun to explore the week’s theme of “Welcome to the Future” by sharing some of our records that show people from the past building the future.
Lately, you can’t look at the news without coming across a story about artificial intelligence and how it will shape our future. But inventors and engineers have been using creativity and ingenuity for centuries to design the future. In the National Archives, this innovation can be seen in Record Group 241 Records of the Patent and Trademark Office held in theCartographic and Architectural Records Branch. In the series Utility Patent Drawings, 1837-1911, you can find some interesting images demonstrating how applied science has shaped the modern world. Here’s one of our most famous patents for a flying machine:
Later in the 20th Century, Americans flew even farther in space capsules like this one:
Patent Case File No. 3,093,346, Space Capsule, Inventors M.A. Faget, A.J. Meyer, Jr., R.G. Chilton, W.S. Blanchard, Jr., A.B. Kehlet, J.B. Hammock, and C.C. Johnson, Jr., National Archives Identifier 88214368
On a smaller scale, this is the 1904 patent for the Gillette safety razor:
Patent Drawing for K. C. Gillette's Razor, National Archives Identifier 7451921
What is the US Patent and Trademark Office?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the federal agency for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks. Established on July 4th, 1836, The USPTO can trace its beginning to Section 8, Article 1 of the Constitution which states:
The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries
And, before there was artificial intelligence there was artificial light in the form of the incandescent light bulb.
Thomas Edison's Patent Drawing for the Incandescent Electric Lamp, National Archives Identifier 17370155
It’s also engineers who keep the lights on with modern marvels such as hydroelectric dams. The plans below show how Hoover Dam (called Boulder Dam when it was built) generates power.
Project History - Boulder Canyon Project - Boulder Dam, National Archives Identifier 218518046
You can even follow the development of different technologies. Here, Alexander Graham Bell’s original telephone patent is shown alongside a patent for a method of secret communication that is now the basis for modern day WiFi (co-inventor Hedy Kiesler Markey is better known by her stage name, Hedy Lamarr).
Left: Patent Drawing of Telegraphy by Alexander Graham Bell, National Archives Identifier: 6120306; Right: Patent Case File No. 2,292,387, Secret Communication System, Inventors Hedy Kiesler Markey and George Antheil, National Archives Identifier, 167820368
In the Utility Patent Drawings seriesyou can find patents for inventions that changed the world and ones that never caught on, but they all represent an attempt to solve a problem and improve the world through engineering.
Revolutionary War Pension File Transcription Mission
In our last newsletter we launched a new transcription mission featuring the records of African American Patriots. We had an excellent response and more than 400 pages have been transcribed. Here are some of their stories:
Lewis Hinton took the place of his enslaver on board the ship Dragon in 1778 when William Hinton became too ill to serve. Lewis Hinton served between three and four years total in the Sea Service. The DAR's Forgotten Patriots publication identified Lewis Hinton as African American.
Robert Randallspent six months in the hospital after his arm was injured by a musket. Later, while on a 70 Gun Frigate, it was taken by the British and he spent six months detained on the Isle of Wight. The DAR's Forgotten Patriots publication identified Randall as African American.
London Hazard was born a slave and sent to fight as a substitute many times by his enslaver Godfrey Hazard when people in the enslaver's family were drafted. London Hazard was freed from slavery six months after the war ended.
Anthony Gilman, a "man of Colour" enlisted as a fifer, was taken by the British as a prisoner and then sold as a slave. After about 1 1/2 years he was able to escape. He was in the battles of Harlem Heights and Monmouth.
Charles Hood was a "free man of colour" who fought in the Battle of Eutaw Springs and the Siege of Charleston.
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Are you on the hunt for plans? Be sure to visit History Hub for questions relating to all types of plans from patent designs to engineering plans for the Saturn V rocket.
Make History Hub your first stop! You can ask—or answer—questions on History Hub, or see if your question has already been answered! Check out our featured edition for more details, information, and instructions aboutusing History Hub for your research.
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