Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
Guide to the Papers of Alfred L. Loomis
MC.0264
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
- Creator
- Loomis, Alfred L. (Alfred Lee), 1887-1975
- Title
- Alfred L. Loomis papers
- ID
- MC.0264
- Date [inclusive]
- 1926-1975
- Extent
- 0.5 cubic feet (1 manuscript box, 1 half manuscript box)
- Location
- Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- The collection contains biographical material about Alfred L. Loomis, a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation from 1931 until his death in 1975. As chief, National Defense Research Committee, Division 14, Radar, in World War II, Loomis was instrumental in establishing the government wartime radar research laboratory, "Rad Lab," on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His own private Loomis Laboratories in Tuxedo Park, New York, conducted independently financed scientific research until 1940, and the bulk of this collection focuses on material from the Loomis Laboratories. Also in the collection are patents for long-range navigational systems and patent correspondence.
Citation
Alfred L. Loomis Papers, MC 264, box X. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Biography
Alfred Lee Loomis, 1887-1975, A.B. in physics, 1909, Yale University; LL.B. 1912, Harvard Law School, was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation from 1931 until his death in 1975. He established Loomis Laboratories in 1926 in Tuxedo Park, New York, to conduct independently financed research on a wide range of scientific topics. As chairman of the Microwave Committee of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), he was influential in establishing the government wartime radar research lab, the Radiation Laboratory, at MIT in 1940. During World War II he was Chief, National Defense Research Committee, Division 14, Radar. He was also a pioneer in the development of the LORAN navigational system. For his wartime achievements, he was awarded the US Medal of Merit and the King's Medal for Service from Great Britain. A lawyer, financier, and physicist, he devoted much of his life to science, serving as an advisor and benefactor to such institutions as MIT and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1940 he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/alphabetical-listing/memoirs-l.html
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection contains biographical material about Alfred L. Loomis, patent correspondence and patents which document his role in the development of long-range navigational systems, a guest book, and a volume of research reprints (1927-1937) from the Loomis Laboratories, his private research laboratory located in Tuxedo Park, New York.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
MIT LibrariesBuilding 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139-4307
617.253.5690
mithistory@mit.edu
Revision Description
2009, 2012
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 of the collection.
Related Materials
Related Archival Materials note
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President, Records of Karl T. Compton and James R. Killian (AC 4) in MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Loomis Laboratories (Tuxedo Park, N.Y.)
Personal Name(s)
- Loomis, Alfred L. (Alfred Lee), 1887-1975
Subject(s)
- Navigation--Research.
Bibliography
"Alfred Lee Loomis," by Luis W. Alvarez. NAS Biographical Memoirs, vol. 51, 1980, pp. 308-341.
"Resolutions of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the Death of Alfred Lee Loomis, Life Member Emeritus," Massachusetts Institute of Technlogy Corporation Minutes, October 3, 1975 (AC 278) in MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Collection Inventory
| Box | ||||
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Report by Loomis, "Tuxedo System of Microwave Monobeam for the Ascertaining of the Direction and Distance of a Moving Object" 1940 June 19 |
1 | |||
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Alfred Loomis biographical file |
1 | |||
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Rand Corporation tribute to Loomis 1975 |
1 | |||
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"A Camping Trip through Industrial America" 1931 |
1 | |||
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Negatives for camping trip photographs |
1 | |||
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Fire extinguisher correspondence and patent 1926-1927 |
1 | |||
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Long Range Navigation System 1944 to 1951, 1972 |
1 | |||
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Microscope centrifuge patent 1931 |
1 | |||
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Patents correspondence 1931-1951 |
1 | |||
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Loomis Laboratory, papers read at conference in honor of James Franck 1928 |
1 | |||
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Volume "Papers from the Loomis Laboratory" 1927-1937 |
1 | |||
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Patent for Long Range Navigation System |
2 | |||
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Guest book of the Loomis Laboratory, Tuxedo Park, New York, 1926-1944 and "The New Testament" of the William F. Loomis Laboratory, 1952-1964 |
2 | |||
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