John Bardeen:

An Inventory of the John Bardeen Papers at the University of Illinois Archives.

Biographical or Historical Notes

Bardeen's Research Areas included electrical conduction in semiconductors and metals; surface properties of semiconductors; theory of superconductivity; and diffusion of atoms in solids

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Papers of John Bardeen (1908-91), Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics (1951-91), include publications (1930-91), dissertations and theses by Bardeen students (1952-85), correspondence (1945-70, 1972-91) and reports, preprints, reprints, drafts, speeches, notes, photographs, slides, tape recorded interviews, & motion pictures (1910-91) concerning theoretical physics, solid state physics, development of the transistor, xerography, development of the theory of superconductivity with J. R. Schrieffer & Leon Cooper, Bardeen's 1956 and 1972 Nobel prizes and lectures, the applications of transistors & superconductivity, many body theory, Russian & Chinese physics research, American Physical Society, Army Research Office, Bell Laboratories & the transistor (1936-68), Center for Advanced Study, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, Naval Ordnance Laboratory, Navy Research Office, Sony Corporation, Supertex, Inc., White House Science Council (1979-83), Xerox Corporation, electrolytic transistor invention patents (1910-60), consulting work, and the Physics Department. Correspondents include Walter H. Brattain, P. W. Bridgman, Leon Cooper, Harry G. Drickamer, H. Frohlich, Nick Holonyak, Jr. (BS '50, MS '51, PhD '54), Charles Kittel, J. R. Schrieffer (MS '54, PhD '57), Karlheinz Seeger, Frederick Seitz, William B. Shockley, & J. H. Van Vleck. Tape recorded interviews contain comments on theoretical physicists, experimental physics, thoery of superconductivity, many body theory, scientific publication, education, Dr. Charles Bardeen, solid state physics, considerations in coming to Illinois, recruitment of new faculty, scientific understanding & communication between & education of non-scientists & scientists. Motion pictures include a May, 1972 interview with Bardeen, and a December, 1972 Swedish film on the contributions of Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer to the theory of superconductivity.

Arrangement

by type of material and chronologically thereunder

Restrictions

Access and Use Considerations

The chronological listing of Bardeen's correspondence currently provides only a summary indication of the breadth of his correspondence with other physicists, with scientists employed in government and industry, with his students, and with the general public. Bardeen's files, especially those in the Subject File often contain documents of several different types (e.g. preprints and reprints of other scientists, correspondence with colleagues, and drafts for his own scientific publications and speeches). In addition, dates for documents within folders can vary widely. As Maynard Brichford mentioned in a February 14, 1994 processing note, Bardeen's "files contain documents of different dates that have little relation to other contents, especially in [folders for] meetings and trips." While descriptive folder titles can capture types and subjects of most documents in individual folders, these folder titles do not provide the subject access points that many research projects may require. Exploiting the full scope and significance of the Bardeen papers for the history of science and technology will thus be a cooperative venture of researchers and archivists in examining questions in detail beyond what appears on the folder title.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

John Bardeen Papers, University of Illinois Archives, 11/10/20

Acquisition Information

The University Archives received six accessions of John Bardeen's papers on the following dates: December 12, 1964; February 8, 1965; February 19, 1974; September 10, 1991; December 20, 1991; and May 19, 1992. Materials accessioned prior to 1991 were processed on receipt. The September 10, 1991 and May 19, 1992 accessions were processed January-June, 1996 when the other processed materials were integrated into the collection, and a new finding aid was prepared. Another accession was received September 27, 2002, from Professor Lillian Hoddeson who had held this additional material in an office in Engineering Sciences Building since the main body of Bardeen materials had been moved out of his office in 1991-92. The 2002 addition was processed upon receipt and added to the end of the existing collection, and modifications were made to the existing finding aid. On May 14, 2003 material donated to the Spurlock Museum by the estate of John Bardeen was accessioned.

Processing Information

Materials accessioned prior to 1991 were processed on receipt. The September 10, 1991 and May 19, 1992 accessions were processed January-June, 1996 when the other processed materials were integrated into the collection, and a new finding aid was prepared.

Initial Subject File Processing: Working at the Physics Department under the direction of University Archivist Maynard Brichford, Tonya Lillie refoldered the material into acid-free folders, retaining the original arrangement of the folders and transcribing the original folder titles. Folders were assigned individual two-part sequential numbers, keyed to the number or letter of the original file cabinet drawers or boxes in which they were stored and to the number of the folder within that drawer or box. The Physics Department then prepared a "Master Index," providing a drawer-by-drawer inventory of Bardeen's file folders in their original order, and listing drawer number, folder-title, date and, in some cases, brief comments on folder contents.

On September 10, 1991, 48 cubic feet of Prof. Bardeen's papers were transferred to the University Archives and processing was conducted intermittently from October, 1991 through June, 1994. By June 1994, Brichford had identified four major groupings of files within the Bardeen Papers: publications, dissertations, correspondence, and subjects. He arranged chronologically the publications, dissertations, correspondence, and approximately one-quarter of the subject files. He had also begun to supply more descriptive folder titles and to assign more precise dates to folders in the subject files. Brichford and graduate assistant Ellen Swain produced a folder listing in WordPerfect format for drawers 1-9 this segment, sorted both by folder number (original order) and chronologically.

Subject File processing (January-June, 1996)Under the direction of William Maher and Wanda Finney, graduate assistants Karen Hansen and Thomas Kmetz began processing the remainder of the subject files in January, 1996. Original folder numbers were retained. Descriptive folder titles, inclusive dates, and the date of the earliest document in each folder were assigned. The original short folder titles assigned by the Physics Department were retained on the folders, but more descriptive folder titles assigned by the University Archives were written in brackets on folders. Any unfoldered material was assigned folder numbers keyed to its original box or drawer location. These folder numbers appear in brackets on folders. (In addition, groups of folders, which, in the original Physics Department numbering scheme, were assigned only one inclusive number (for example, D-1) have been assigned their own separate sequential numbers (such as D-1-1 through D-1-13).) Earliest dates, descriptive folder titles with inclusive dates, and folder numbers were entered into a WordPerfect merge file. Dates for Subject File folders processed by Brichford were reviewed and amended as necessary to list the date of the earliest document in each folder and provide the inclusive dates of all documents in those folders. The edited text of Brichford's list for drawers 1-9 was converted to a WordPerfect merge file and combined with the first merge file.

Folders in the Subject File which contained correspondence or dissertations were separated and placed chronologically in the Correspondence or Dissertation File respectively. Folders in the Subject File with no dates or with only approximate dates were assigned an earliest date of zero. The merge file was sorted by the earliest dated document (in the format year-month-day) and by folder number thereunder. Folders in the Subject File were then arranged chronologically by date of the earliest document in each folder. Subject File material separated from material processed prior to 1991 has been coded as coming from box "Z". The subject file portion of the papers is listed on the finding aid with the three fields used in sorting the subject file: earliest date, folder number, and folder title.

Subject File Processing (October 2002)On September 27, 2002, 2.3 cubic feet of material was received from the office of Lillian Hoddeson. According to her, after the transfer of Bardeen files to archives in 1992, the secretary of the physics department informed her that papers remained in the secretary's office. These were transferred to Lillian Hoddeson's office. She subsequently deposited them in archives. These files were re-organized by existing groupings, arranged chronologically, and added to the end of the existing series as boxes 124-130. A modified finding aid was then prepared.

Subject File Processing (September 2003) On May 14, 2003, material was received from the Spurlock Museum. This material was arranged chronologically by topic and added to the end of the existing series as boxes 131-132. A modified finding aid was then prepared.

Duplicates and original folders: Duplicates (1.3 cubic feet) were separated from the papers and are being held unprocessed by the University Archives. File folders were replaced with acid-neutral folders during processing, and original folders have been retained by the Archives.

Detailed Description/Box and Folder Listing

BIOGRAPHICAL . Box 1 - 4

PUBLICATIONS . Box 5 - 8

DISSERTATIONS (produced by Bardeen students) . Box 9 - 13

CORRESPONDENCE . Box 14 - 29

SUBJECT FILE . Box 30 - 123

MATERIALS FROM LILLIAN HODDESON. Box 124 - 127

CERTIFICATES, CITATIONS, AWARDS, AND HONORARY DEGREES. Box 131 - 132