dvk@mi-cec.UUCP (06/04/84)
The following is an un-paid, apolitical announcement: The Computer Museum, newly relocated to The Wharf in Boston, is non-profit museum dedicated to computers and their forebears. Those of you that have had an opportunity to visit it in its previous site in Marlboro, MA know that it is a fascinating place, filled with antique calculators, Napiers bones, parts of computational history (bits of the Mark-1, Illiac, etc.), an Apollo flight computer (that's NASA's Apollo), and all sorts of wonderful relics, including a fully functional TX-0 (which has been operational since 1955!), and the MIT Tinkertoy computer. The Computer Museum is currently undergoing a major fund raising drive. For $250, an individual can become a "founder" ($2500 for a "corporate founder"). The following is a quote from "The Computer Museum Report": On March 14, 1982, The Computer Museum was given provisional status until June 24, 1984 by the IRS as a public, non-profit charitable foundation. During this time, the Museum has to prove that it is indeed a widely supported public institution. This is a unique opportunity to help establish the only inter- national museum devoted exclusively to computers and the history of information processing. I would strongly urge all of you to become members of The Computer Museum, and if you can afford it, to become Founders. Membership rates are $25/year if you don't want to be a Founder. The Museum is really a fascinating place, and is filling a too long empty void in the world of computers. We are at a stage in our development such that our history is still visible, and we are still able to see how what we do now will effect the future of computation. The Computer Museum is a way for all of us to see, experience, and contribute to our ever growing historical record. The Computer Museum is located at 300 Congress Street, Boston, MA, 02210. The official re-opening date is November 14, 1984. For further information, you can call The Museum at 617/426-2800. -Dan Klein, on leave from Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh