Guide to the Records of the High Voltage Engineering Corporation, 1933-1969
MC.0153

Summary Information

Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
Creator
High Voltage Engineering Corporation
Title
High Voltage Engineering Corporation records
ID
MC.0153
Date [inclusive]
1933-1969
Extent
6.2 cubic feet in 6 record cartons and 1 folder, oversize drawings
Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Language
English
Abstract
The collection documents the High Voltage Engineering Corporation (HVEC). Manufacturing operations began in 1947 with the development and manufacture of particle accelerators. The records consist of technical notes and drawings left by Robert J. Van de Graaff, chief scientist and one of the company's founders.

Citation

High Voltage Engineering Corporation records, MC 153, box X. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Return to Table of Contents »

Historical note

The High Voltage Engineering Corporation (HVEC) was founded by Robert J. Van de Graaff, Denis M. Robinson, and John G. Trump for the production of particle accelerators. The company develops and manufactures particle accelerator systems, electric power regulators, surface analysis instruments, vehicle monitoring equipment, and modular power connectors. It started manufacturing operations in April 1947 and soon began supplying electrostatic generators used in cancer therapy, radiography, and studies of nuclear structure. By 1967 the corporation included four subsidiaries, Electronized Chemicals Corporation, Glass Grinding Corporation, HVE Europa The Netherlands, and Ion Physics Corporation.

Return to Table of Contents »

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The High Voltage Engineering Corporation collection consists of records, technical notes, and drawings of the company, left by Robert J. Van de Graaff, chief scientist and one of the company's founders, at the time of his death in 1967. The records describe both Van de Graaff's work as a scientist at High Voltage Engineering Corporation between 1947 and 1967, and the development and marketing of research tools during the same period.

Return to Table of Contents »

Arrangement note

The collection is arranged into the following series: 1. Administrative Records, 1947-1969; 2. Technical Reports and Proposals, 1933-1967; 3. Subject Files, 1951-1960.

Return to Table of Contents »

Administrative Information

Access note

The collection is open for research.

Intellectual Property Rights

Access to collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor or creator of the collection.

Return to Table of Contents »

Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

Robert Jemison Van de Graaff papers, MC 45
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections

Return to Table of Contents »

Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • High Voltage Engineering Corporation

Personal Name(s)

  • Robinson, Denis Morrell
  • Van de Graaff, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Subject(s)

  • Accelerators.
  • Electromagnetic devices.
  • Electromagnetism.
  • Neutron sources.
  • Van de Graaff generator.

Return to Table of Contents »

Collection Inventory

 Series 1. Administrative Records 1947-1969 

Scope and contents note

Series 1, Administrative Records, 1947-1969, consists of routine administrative records of company meetings, annual reports, memoranda, and financial records. Correspondence contains information about filing for patents, including the Van de Graaff generator.
Box

Board of Directors meeting minutes and agendas 1947, 1962 to 1966 

 1

Executive Committee meeting minutes and agendas 1962-1966 

 1

Financial and Technical Control Committee meeting minutes and agendas 1964-1967 

 1

Special projects meeting minutes and agendas 1962-1966 

 1

Annual Reports 1962-1966 

 1

Memoranda 1947-1969 

 1

Financial records 1961-1966 

 1

Correspondence 1947-1969 

 2

Publicity, advertising, and newsletters 1954-1968 

 2

Return to Table of Contents »

 Series 2. Technical Reports and Proposals 1933-1967 

Scope and contents note

Series 2, Technical Reports and Proposals, 1933-1967, includes proposals and reports about various projects including the Tandem accelerator (projects 1961, 1962, n.d.), Owl (Projects 1959), and particle accelerators (1960s).

Technical notes contain Van de Graaff's notes and calculations, and rough drafts about specific projects, some of which are not clearly identified. The projects are organized by date. Records of patents and reprints are filed chronologically.
Box

Project proposals and reports 1948-1967 

 2

Technical notes 1946-1967 

 3

Patents 1950-1966 

 3

Reprints, abstracts, and addresses 1933-1967 

 3

Return to Table of Contents »

 Series 3. Subject Files 1951-1960 

Scope and contents note

Series 3, Subject Files, 1951-1960, describes the range of projects worked on at High Voltage Engineering Corporation. Most of the project files contain Van de Graaff's working notes and drawings, as well as detailed meeting notes. The Research and Development Policy Committee notes give a sense of the kind of work done in preparation for discussion of major projects.

The business side of High Voltage Engineering Corporation is discussed as well in Van de Graaff's notes. Concerns for patenting and marketing, as well as development, document Van de Graaff's activities as an administrator and businessman as well as a scientist.

Of particular interest is a series of memoranda to Denis Robinson from Van de Graaff (Tandem Research Lab #2) on the role of the research laboratory at High Voltage Engineering Corporation, and notes recorded by John L. Danforth of his conversations with Van de Graaff in the mid-1960s.
Box

Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., electromagnetic generator project, correspondence 1966-1967 

 4

Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., electromagnetic generator project, technical notes 1966-1967 

 4

Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., electromagnetic generator project, intense neutron generator program, technical notes and correspondence 1967 

 4

Axial magnetic generator, technical notes 1965 

 4

Bonner Prize, letters of nomination 1967 

 4

Boston Museum of Science, Van de Graaff Generator, correspondence and reports regarding installation 1954-1961 

 4

Brookhaven National Laboratory, accelerator project, technical notes and contracts 1964 

 4

Buechner, W. W., correspondence 1966 

 4

Cloud, Robert W., correspondence 1966-1967 

 4

Danforth, John L., correspondence 1966 

 4

Danforth, John L., electromagnetic generator technical notes 1966 

 4

Danforth, John L., electromagnetic generator design notes 1965 

 4

Danforth, John L., engineering notes 1965-1967 

 4

Danforth, John L., M P Model Accelerator Tank, technical notes 1964-1965 

 4

Danforth, John L., notes on conversations with R. J. Van de Graaff 1964-1966 

 4
Map-case

Drawing and diagrams undated, 1946 to 1957 

Drawings, charts, tables, and graphs undated, 1953 to 1966 

Notes to drawings and photographs undated 

Drawings, transparencies 1964-1967 
Box

Dust strippers, project notes 1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, budget 1966-1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, correspondence 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, design notes 1965-1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, development program notes 1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, development program, report 1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, parts list 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, production schedule 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, project proposal 1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, progress reports 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, purchase orders 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, resister evaluation, report 1967 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, scale model, test results 1966 

 4

Electromagnetic generator, technical notes 1965-1967 

 5

Electromagnetic generator, test apparatus, budget 1967 

 5

Electrostatic analyzer, project proposal and technical notes 1966 

 5

Enge, H.A., technical notes undated 

 5

Heavy Ion Laboratory at Burlington (HILAB), correspondence 1968-1969 

 5

Heavy Ion Laboratory at Burlington (HILAB), financial Records 1967 

 5

Heavy Ion Laboratory at Burlington (HILAB), memoranda 1966-1967 

 5

Heavy Ion Laboratory at Burlington (HILAB), publicity 1969 

 5

Heavy Ion Laboratory at Burlington (HILAB), technical notes 1967 

 5

Hydrazine, technical notes 1951 

 5

Insulating Core Generator, technical notes 1965-1966 

 5

Irradiation, reports 1965 

 5

M P Model Accelerator, design notes 1963 

 5

Photographs 1946-1969 

 5

Pittsburgh Injector Project, technical notes 1964 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, dust target, technical notes 1964-1966 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, M P Model Accelerator development, technical notes, proposals, and memoranda 1964-1965 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, large generator, technical notes 1963-1967 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, magnetic generators, design and technical notes 1964-1965 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, T U Accelerator, technical and design notes 1965-1967 

 5

Research and Development Policy Committee, T U tank, technical notes, memoranda, correspondence 1965 

 5

Robinson, Denis M., correspondence 1966 

 6

Rose, P. H., report approximately 1966 

 6

Rose, P. H., technical notes and reports 1963-1964 

 6

Rose, P. H., technical notes 1966 

 6

Tandem Accelerator, design notes 1965-1966 

 6

Tandem Research Laboratory, budgets 1966 

 6

Tandem Research Laboratory, memoranda, correspondence 1967 

 6

Uranium acceleration tests, technical notes and reports 1965-1966 

 6

Uranium program, daily reports 1966 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation design notes 1952-1953 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation correspondence 1955-1967 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation devices, notes and drawings 1960-1967 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation, Insulating Core Transformer, design notes and patent 1956-1957 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation, Type A terminals, design notes 1953 

 6

Van de Graaff, R. J., atomic radiation, Yale University, Nuclear Structure Laboratory, address 1966 

 6

Wegner, Harvey, technical notes 1966 

 6

Return to Table of Contents »