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F. C. Brown Papers,
1902-1964 |
Extent and Forms of Material: 4.5 cubic feet (17 boxes and
3 oversize folders)
Creator: F. C. Brown
Abstract: Brown was a physicist and inventor who created and
supervised the development of education exhibits, most notably as organizing
director of the New York Museum of Science and Industry (part of the Museums
of the Peaceful Arts), 1926-1931. He was also curator of physics exhibits at
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, 1932-1937. Much of Brown's scientific
research focused on the element selenium. He invented the phonopticon, an improvement
on the optophone (invented by Fournier d'Albe, 1912). Material focuses on Dr.
Brown's professional life: correspondence, photographs, photo albums, scrapbooks,
and ephemera from the positions he held and research he conducted. Very little
personal information is included.
Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. archivescenter@si.edu
202-633-3270
www.americanhistory.si.edu/archives
Collection Number: AC0693
Processing Note: Processed by Jennifer Hecker, intern, August
2000; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
© 2007 by the Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.
 Information for users of
the collection
Conditions Governing Access: The collection
is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected
photographs with gloves.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use: Copyright
held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available
for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees
concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from
Archives Center: fees for commercial use.
Preferred Citation: [Title and date of item],
F.C. Brown Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American
History, box number X, folder number XX, digital file number XXXXXXXX
In-depth information about the collection
- Administrative/biographical history
Scope and content
System of arrangement
Languages
Acquisition information
Access points
Container listing
Fay Cluff (F.C.) Brown (1881-1968) was a physicist and inventor
who created and supervised the development of educational exhibits,
most notably in the Museum of Science and Industry at New York
City’s Museums of the Peaceful Arts. Much of his scientific
research focused on the element selenium. Early in his career,
Brown invented a device using selenium, which translated printed
text into sound.
Brown graduated from Lyons High School in Lyons, Indiana, in
1899. He received an AB degree from Indiana University in 1904
and an AM degree from the University of Illinois in 1906. He taught
high school in Illinois from 1903 to 1904 and then taught physics
at the University of Illinois from 1904 to 1907. From 1907 to
1908, he was a Princeton fellow and in 1908, he obtained a PhD
in physics there. Brown married Dora Davidson in 1908 and subsequently
had four children: Herman, Barbara, Robert, and Annabel. Dr. Brown
was a Jacobus fellow at Princeton from 1908 to 1909, and then
taught at the University of Iowa from 1909 to 1918. From 1918
to 1919, Brown served as a Major in the U. S. Army Ordnance Department.
He was assistant director at the U. S. Bureau of Standards from
1919 to 1926, serving as the acting director in 1923. He then
became organizing director of the New York Museum of Science and
Industry, which was a part of the Museums of the Peaceful Arts.
He remained in that position from 1926 to 1931. From 1931 to 1932,
Dr. Brown served as chief reviewing officer for the U. S. Personnel
Classification Board. From 1932 to 1937, Dr. Brown served as the
director of exhibits for the annual science exhibitions of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1937,
he became the curator of physics exhibits at Chicago’s Museum
of Science and Industry where he remained until 1940. Dr. Brown
worked in the radiation lab at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology until he retired in 1947.
His scientific research focused primarily on the photoconductivity
of selenium and later on bomb ballistics. He published numerous
scientific articles and papers and also wrote many popular science
essays. In the years preceding the First World War, Dr. Brown
invented a device known as the phonopticon, which was an improvement
on the optophone invented by Fournier d’Albe in 1912. The
phonopticon translated text into sounds which one could learn
to decipher with some practice. This generated great interest,
especially among the blind, but when the war broke out, its development
was stalled. There is no evidence that it was ever developed for
the market. Dr. Brown held four patents.
The material in the F. C. Brown Papers focuses primarily on Dr.
Brown’s professional life and includes correspondence, photographs,
photo albums, scrapbooks and ephemera. Very little personal information
is included. The collection is arranged into ten series.
Series 1, Biographical/General, 1905-1940, contains
material which relates to Dr. Brown’s personal life and
research. Scientific publications, which do not relate directly
to the professional positions he held, can be found here. Also
included are some personal financial records and two photographic
portraits of Dr. Brown.
Series 2, Correspondence, 1902-1964, undated,
is arranged chronologically and pertains directly to Dr. Brown’s
career.
Series 3, Inventions, 1904-1942, documents Dr.
Brown’s inventions and include invention notebooks, loose
notes, patent documents, correspondence, and an article announcing
the invention of the phonopticon.
Series 4, U. S. Army Ordnance Department, 1918-1919,
contains materials from Dr. Brown’s tenure at the U. S.
Army Ordnance Department. It includes a panoramic photograph and
various official reports.
Series 5, U. S. Bureau of Standards, 1917-1926,
contains assorted papers from the U. S. Bureau of Standards which
date from 1917 to 1922, and also a few photographs, including
a panoramic portrait of Bureau personnel in 1920.
Series 6, Museum Work, 1927-1940, consists of
materials primarily dealing with Dr. Brown’s work in the
New York Museum of Science and Industry (part of the Museums of
the Peaceful Arts) and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Of note is material relating to the dedication ceremony at which
the airplane Bremen was given to the Museums of the Peaceful
Arts and two scrapbooks which contain clippings, brochures, and
photos showcasing developments and events in science, industry
and the Museums of the Peaceful Arts.
Series 7, Photographs: Museums of the Peaceful Arts,
Museum of Science and Industry, New York City, undated,
is comprised of photographs from the Museums of the Peaceful Arts
including such subjects as events, exhibits, displays, models,
objects, machines, devices, and people. The majority of the photographs
are undated.
Series 8, American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS), 1932-1937, includes two photo albums
and a scrapbook which deal with the planning of the AAAS annual
science exhibitions.
Series 9, Photographs: Other Subjects, 1907-1939,
is comprised of photographs covering subjects such as exhibits,
displays, objects, and people.
Series 10, Miscellaneous, 1910-circa 1945, includes
invitations, programs, brochures, miscellaneous publications and
other writings, notes and calculations, and papers from a series
of radio broadcasts on science. There is also a 1939 textbook,
Experimental Heat, Sound and Light, with accompanying
notes and annotations.
- Series 1: Biographical/General, 1905-1940
- Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-1964, undated
- Series 3: Inventions, 1904-1942
- Subseries 1, Notebook, 1904
Subseries 2, Invention Notebooks, 1910-1942
- Series 4: U. S. Army Ordnance Department,
1918-1921
- Series 5: U. S. Bureau of Standards, 1917-1926
- Subseries 1, Papers, 1917-1922
Subseries 2, Photographs, 1920, 1924, 1926, undated
- Series 6: Museum Work, 1927-1941
Series 7: Photographs: Museums of the
Peaceful Arts, Museum of Science and Industry, New York City,
undated
- Subseries 1, Events, Exhibits and Displays, undated
Subseries 2, Models, Objects, Machines and Devices, undated
Subseries 3, People with Objects, undated
Subseries 4: People, undated
Subseries 5: Photos of Other Materials, undated
- Series 8: American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1932-1937
- Series 9, Photographs: Other Subjects,
1907-1939
- Subseries 1, Exhibits, Displays and Objects, 1931-1939, undated
Subseries 2, People, 1907-1928, undated
Subseries 3, Miscellaneous, circa 1918-1920, undated
- Series 10, Miscellaneous, 1910-circa 1945
Some materials in German.
This collection was donated to the Archives Center, National
Museum of American History by Dr. Brown’s son-in-law, Richard
D. Olson, August 1999.
Subjects/Topical:
Inventions
Inventors
Museums
Phonopticon
Physics
Physicists
Selenium
Subjects/Names:
Museums of the Peaceful Arts
Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (New York, N.Y.)
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago, Ill.)
United States Army. Ordnance Department
United States. Bureau of Standards
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Form/Genre:
Photographs—1900-2000
Scrapbooks—20th century
Correspondence—20th century
Clippings—20th century
| Box |
Folder |
|
| |
|
SERIES
1: BIOGRAPHICAL/GENERAL, 1905-1940 |
| 1 |
1 |
Biographical Information, undated |
| |
2 |
Miscellaneous-Personal, 1924-1934 |
| |
3 |
Personal Financial Records, 1936-1939 |
| 15 |
4 |
Investment Portfolio Statements
and Receipts, 1931-1937 |
| 1 |
4 |
Miscellaneous: Professional, circa
1934-1941 |
| |
5 |
Papers and Publications by F. C.
Brown, 1905-1940 |
| |
|
Scrapbooks, 1907-1911 |
| |
6 |
Scrapbooks-Selenium Articles, 1907-1908 |
| |
|
Scrapbooks-Heat Articles, 1908-1909 |
| |
7 |
Scrapbooks-Selenium Articles, 1911 |
| |
|
Scrapbooks-Selenium Articles, 1911
(some in German) |
| 17 |
1 |
Photographic Portraits of F. CIRCA
Brown |
| |
|
SERIES
2: CORRESPONDENCE, 1902-1964, UNDATED |
| 2 |
1 |
1902-1911 |
| |
2 |
1914-1917 |
| |
3 |
1918 |
| |
4 |
1919 |
| |
5 |
1920-1924 |
| |
6 |
1925-1929 |
| 3 |
1 |
1930 |
| |
2 |
1931 |
| |
3 |
1932-1933 |
| |
4 |
1934-1935 |
| |
5 |
January 1937-November 1937 |
| |
6 |
December 1937 |
| |
7 |
1938 |
| 4 |
1 |
1939 |
| |
2 |
1940 |
| |
3 |
1941 |
| |
4 |
1946-1964, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
3: INVENTIONS, 1904-1942 |
| 12 |
2 |
Subseries 1: Notebook,
1904 |
| |
|
Subseries 2: Invention
Notebooks, 1910-1942 |
| 5 |
1 |
Invention Notebook-Selenium Book
II, Fall 1910 |
| |
2 |
Selenium Book III, 1911 |
| 5 |
1 |
Invention Notebook-Selenium Book
IV, May 1911 |
| |
3 |
Invention Notebook-Selenium Sensitivity,
1912-1914 |
| |
|
Invention Notebook-Selenium, January
1914-May 1915 |
| |
4 |
Phonopticon Articles, undated |
| |
5 |
Phonopticon Correspondence, 1914-1917,
undated |
|
| |
6 |
Ground Speed Meter, circa 1941 |
| |
7 |
Bomb Sight, 1941-1942 |
| |
8 |
Patent Documents, 1917, 1920, 1923 |
| |
|
SERIES
4: U. S. ARMY ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, 1918-1921 |
| |
O/S Folder 1 |
Photograph: Aircraft Armament Section,
Engineering Division, Ordnance Department, Washington, D.
C., January 20, 1919 |
| 6 |
1 |
Research Information Committee,
Italian Bomb Tests, 1918 |
| |
2 |
Assorted Ballistics Reports, 1918-1919 |
| |
3-4 |
Report on Ballistics of American
Bombs, May 7, 1919 |
| |
5 |
Report on the Determination of
the Damping Coefficients of Aircraft Bombs, September 3, 1919 |
| |
6 |
The Application of Motion Picture
Photography to Ballistics and Airplane Performances, undated |
| |
7 |
The Application of Motion Picture
Photography to Ballistics and Airplane Performance: Report
No. II, November 20, 1919 |
| |
8 |
Bomb Sights, undated |
| |
9 |
Reports, undated |
| |
10 |
Figures and Tables, undated |
| |
O/S Folder 2 |
Fort Monroe and Vicinity Map, 1914 |
| |
|
Blueprints, 1917-1921 |
| 6 |
11 |
Miscellaneous, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
5: U. S. BUREAU OF STANDARDS, 1917-1926 |
| |
12 |
Subseries 1: Papers, 1917-1922 |
| |
|
Subseries 2: Photographs,
1920, 1924, 1926, undated |
| |
O/S Folder 1 |
Personnel, Bureau of Standards,
Washington, D.C. November 1920 |
| 6 |
13 |
U. S. Department of Commerce, Sesqui
Centennial Exposition, Bureau of Standards Booth, Philadelphia,
1926 |
| |
14 |
Unidentified Buildings, undated
Safer-Cabinet Laboratory, Marietta, Ohio, 1924 |
| |
15 |
Man in Airplane, undated |
| |
16 |
Bomb Models, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
6: MUSEUM WORK, 1927-1941 |
| |
|
Subseries 1: Museums of
the Peaceful Arts, Museum of Science and Industry-NYC, 1927-1932 |
| 7 |
1 |
Aviation Exhibits, circa 1929-1932 |
| |
2 |
Dedication of the Bremen Airplane,
1929 |
| 17 |
2 |
Machine Age Exhibit Articles, 1930 |
| |
|
Water Basin Exhibit Blueprint,
circa 1930 |
| 13-14 |
|
Scrapbook, 1928-1931 |
| 16 |
|
Scrapbook, 1929-1931 |
| 17 |
5 |
Scrapbook, 1929-1931 (Researcher
Copy) |
| 7 |
3 |
Miscellaneous, circa 1927-1931 |
| |
|
Subseries 2: Museum of
Science and Industry-Chicago, 1937-1941, undated |
| 7 |
4 |
Papers, 1938-1940 |
| |
5 |
Publications, 1937-1940 |
| 17 |
3 |
Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1941 |
| |
O/S Folder 3 |
Floor plans, 1938, undated |
| 7 |
6 |
Other Museum Exhibits, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
7: PHOTOGRAPHS: MUSEUMS OF THE PEACEFUL ARTS, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
AND INDUSTRY, NEW YORK CITY, UNDATED |
| |
|
Subseries 1: Events, Exhibits
and Displays, undated |
| 10 |
1 |
Bremen Airplane Acceptance
and Display, undated |
| |
2 |
Industrial Museum, undated |
| |
3 |
Science Forum |
| |
4 |
Color Exhibit, U. S. Department
of Agriculture, undated |
| |
5 |
Aviation Displays, undated |
| |
6 |
Toward Civilization Window
Display (Brentano's), undated |
| |
|
Various Exhibits, undated |
| |
|
Subseries 2: Models, Objects,
Machines and Devices, undated |
| |
8 |
Daniel Webster Plow, undated |
| |
9 |
Hudson River Bridge Model, undated |
| |
10 |
Eli Whitney's Milling Machine and
Others, undated |
| |
11 |
Parsons Steam Turbine and Others,
undated |
| |
12 |
Locomotive Model, Salamanca, undated |
| |
13 |
Milling Machine, undated |
| |
14 |
Tesla Coil, undated |
| |
15 |
Corliss Engine, undated |
| |
16 |
Early Singer Sewing Machine, undated |
| |
17 |
Blaew (Printing) Press, undated |
| |
18 |
Gases Display, undated |
| |
19 |
Earth Inductor Compass, undated |
| |
20 |
Unidentified Devices, undated |
| |
|
Subseries 3: People with
Objects, undated |
| |
21 |
Lilienthal, August 1, 1897, Hang
Gliding |
| |
22 |
F. C. Brown and Woman Electrified! |
| |
23 |
Children and Exhibits, undated |
| |
24 |
Woman and Switchboard, undated |
| |
25 |
oman and "Father of Typewriters,
1930 |
| |
26 |
Woman, Microscope and Chesterfields,
undated |
| |
27 |
Woman and Camco Robot, undated |
| |
28 |
Woman and Unidentified Device,
undated |
| |
29 |
Nathalia Crane and Potter's Wheel,
undated |
| |
30 |
Man Demonstrates Model for Women,
undated |
| |
31 |
Man and Model of Kill Van Kull
Bridge, undated |
| |
32 |
Man and Lathe, undated |
| |
33 |
Man and Duryea Motor Wagon, undated |
| |
34 |
Men and Devices, undated |
| |
35 |
Man and Spencer Automatic Lathe,
undated |
| |
|
Subseries 4: People, undated |
| |
36 |
Men and Corliss Engine (Stuart
Chase, Ralph Borsodi, Ralph B. Flanders, and F. C. Brown),
undated |
| |
37 |
Ralph Borsodi, Ralph B. Flanders,
Stuart Chase, undated |
| |
38 |
Portrait, Unidentified Man, undated |
| |
39 |
Portrait, Dr. Karl Compton, undated |
| |
40 |
Portrait, Dr. Fred E. Wright, undated |
| |
41 |
Portrait, Unidentified Man, undated |
| |
|
Subseries 5: Photos of
Other Materials, undated |
| |
42 |
Photos of Correspondence, undated |
| |
43 |
Photos of Press Clippings, undated |
| |
44 |
Photos of Negative Strips, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
8: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS),
1932-1937 |
| 7 |
7 |
Annual Exhibition, 1932 |
| 9 |
1 |
Photo Album: Annual Exhibition,
1932 |
| 7 |
8 |
Annual Exhibition, 1933 |
| 15 |
|
Scrapbook: Annual Exhibition, 1934 |
| 9 |
2 |
Photo Album: Annual Exhibition,
1934 |
| 7 |
9 |
Annual Exhibitions, 1935-1937 |
| 11 |
|
SERIES
9: PHOTOGRAPHS: OTHER SUBJECTS, 1907-1939 |
| |
|
Subseries 1: Exhibits,
Displays and Objects, 1931-1939, undated |
| |
1 |
World's Fair Exhibit on Time, 1939 |
| |
2 |
Artist's Representation of Museum
Exhibit on Time, 1931 |
| |
3 |
Cosmic Ray Exhibit and Unidentified
Man, undated |
| |
4 |
American Association for the Advancement
of Science Exhibition, Indianapolis, 1937 (loose photos from
album) |
| |
5 |
People Listening on Headphones
and Onlookers, undated |
| |
6 |
Crowd of People and Statue, undated |
| |
7 |
Electrified Man and Onlooker, undated |
| |
8 |
Men and Machines (Unidentified),
undated |
| |
9 |
Children in Museum, undated |
| |
10 |
Langley Aerodrome Airplane, 1903 |
| |
11 |
Professor Moler and First Dynamo
Built in U. S., undated |
| |
12 |
Edison Storage Battery Display,
undated |
| |
13 |
Man and Quartz Spirals, undated |
| |
14 |
Old Hand Loom, Crompton and Knowles
Loom Works, undated |
| |
15 |
Unidentified Instruments, undated |
| |
|
Subseries 2: People, 1907-1928,
undated |
| |
O/S Folder 1 |
American Physical Society, Washington,
D. C., April 1920 |
| 11 |
16 |
Dr. Fox, Director of Brooklyn Museum
and F.C. Brown, in Paris, August 1928 |
| |
17 |
Children, Washington, D.C., March
18, 1919 |
| |
18 |
General Electric, Edison and Steinmetz,
undated |
| |
19 |
Portrait S. W. Stratton, undated |
| |
20 |
Portrait Unidentified Man, 1907 |
| |
21 |
Portrait and Obituary Lord Rutherford
(1871-1937) |
| |
|
Subseries 3: Miscellaneous,
circa 1918-1920, undated |
| |
22 |
Bomb Testing, circa 1918 |
| |
23 |
Aerial Photos of Town and Clouds,
undated |
| |
24 |
Photos of Science Paintings by
Walter Russell, undated |
| |
25 |
Projectile Camera Film, circa 1920 |
| |
26 |
Smokestack Demolition in South
Philadelphia, PA, 1932 |
| |
27 |
Unidentified, undated |
| |
|
SERIES
10: MISCELLANEOUS, 1910-CIRCA 1945, UNDATED |
| |
O/S Folder 2 |
General Motors Graph, 1939 |
| |
O/S Folder 3 |
Electronics Supplements,
1930, 1934 |
| 7 |
10 |
Executive Orders, 1934 (National
Recovery Administration) |
| |
11 |
Invitations, Programs and Brochures,
1926-1931, undated |
| |
12 |
Miscellaneous: Publications, 1919-circa
1945, undated |
| 8 |
1 |
Miscellaneous: Writings, undated |
| |
2 |
National Research Council Reports
and Minutes, 1930-1932 |
| |
3 |
Notes and Calculations, undated |
| |
4 |
Prints: Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, undated |
| |
5 |
Radio Broadcasts on Science, 1929-1930 |
| |
6 |
Radio Broadcasts on Science, 1931,
undated |
| |
O/S Folder 3 |
Science Service Articles,
1937 |
| 8 |
7 |
Scientific Papers and Publications,
1910-1940 |
| |
8 |
Sun God and Isostacy Papers and
Notes, circa 1930s |
| 12 |
1 |
Textbook: Experimental Heat,
Sound and Light: An Analytical College Text, 1939 |
| 17 |
4 |
"When Wind and Water Strike
At Man" Article, 1937 |
|
