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Charles A. Phillips Papers, 1959-1985. Finding Aid.

Summary Information
Title: Charles A. Phillips papers.
Dates: 1959-1985
Creator: Phillips, Charles A., 1906-1985
Extent: 1 box (0.75 cubic feet)
Language: English
Collection Number: CBI 39
Abstract:
Collection contains minutes, publication, speeches, proceedings, correspondence and photographs related to Charles Phillips work in standardization with the Conference on Data Systems Languages and the American National Standards Institute's X3 Committee (Computers and information processing), which Phillips chaired, and his employment at the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Repository: University of Minnesota Libraries. Charles Babbage Institute.

Access and Use
Acquisition Information:

The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association in 1986.

Access Restrictions:

Access to the collection is unrestricted.

Copyright:

CBI holds the copyright to all materials in the collection, except for items covered by a prior copyright (such as published materials). Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred Citation:

Charles A. Phillips Papers (CBI 39), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.


Arrangement

The materials in this collection are arranged into the following groups:

  • American National Standards Institute Files, 1969-1972
  • Business Equipment Manufacturers Association Files, 1963-1972
  • COBOL History, 1959-1962
  • CODASYL Files, 1959-1979
  • Conferences, 1968-`984
  • Photographs
  • Presentations, 1962-1972
  • Publications, 1954-1962

Biographical Note

Charles A. Phillips began working with computers at the Treasury, and later at the State Department after World War II. In the 1950s, he transferred to the Defense Department where he became a data systems languages expert. Phillips left government service in 1962 to become the first leader of the Data Processing Group of the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association from 1962 to 1972. In 1972 he joined the accounting firm of Lybrand, Ross Borthers, and Montgomery as director of management consulting services. In 1976 he returned to the Computer and Business Equipment Association as a consultant to write a history of the computer industry.

Phillips was active in the standardization of the computing industry, especially programming languages. He was the first chairman of the executive committee of the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL), which initiated the development of COBOL.


Collection Scope and Content Note

The collection contains minutes, publications, speeches, proceedings, correspondence and photographs related to Charles Phillips work in standardization with CODASYL and the American National Standards Institute's X.3 Committee (Computers and Information Processing) which Phillips chaired, and his employment at the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association. The majority of the collection reflects Phillips' interest in COBOL standards including a collection of articles, presentations, and reports on COBOL development that Phillips assembled.

Subject Terms
Index Terms
  • This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
  • Phillips, Charles A., 1906-1985
  • American National Standards Institute.
  • Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (U.S.)
  • Conference on Data Systems Languages.
  • COBOL (Computer program language)--Standards.
  • Electronic data processing consultants.
  • Computer industry--United States--History--Sources.
Box and Folder List
 Location  Title
 
American National Standards Institute Files, 1969-1972 
Note This series contains minutes, reports, manuals and memoranda related to Phillips' work with the X.3 Committee.
Box 1
Revision of COBOL, 1972. Box 1, Folder 1
 
X3 Committee, 1969-1971. Box 1, Folder 2
 
X3 Forty-third Meeting report, 1972. Box 1, Folder 3
 
Interface Standards: Center for Computer Sciences and Technology, National Bureau of Standards, "Means of achieving interchangeability of computer peripherals," 1972. Box 1, Folder 4
 
Optical Character Recognition Standards: J. Rabinow, "Sense and nonsense: or, Pride and prejudice in the design of characters for optical character recognition," circa 1969. Box 1, Folder 5
 
Business Equipment Manufacturers Association Files, 1963-1972 
Note This series includes speeches given by Phillips, reports and manuals.
Box 1
General, 1970, undated. Box 1, Folder 6
 
Phillips' Evaluation of National Academy of Sciences report on the export of computers and calculators, 1972. Box 1, Folder 7
 
Speeches, 1963 Box 1, Folder 8
Note SEE ALSO: Presentations, 1962-1972.
 
COBOL History, 1959-1962 
Note This series contains reports, correspondence, and articles which Phillips collected including a speech by Phillips at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on COBOL and Jean E. Sammet's The Early History of COBOL.
Box 1
COBOL Historical Material, 1959-1979. Box 1, Folder 17-19
 
"COBOL Talk," 1962. Box 1, Folder 20
 
Jean E. Sammet, "The early history of COBOL," 1962. Box 1, Folder 21
 
CODASYL Files, 1959-1979 
Note This series contains minutes and documents from the COBOL and Executive Committee, miscellaneous reports, and documents from the twentieth anniversary meeting of the organization.
Box 1
COBOL Committee, 1979. Box 1, Folder 9
 
COBOL Journal of Development, 1968. Box 1, Folder 10
 
Executive Committee, 1972-1979. Box 1, Folder 11
 
General, 1959-1979. Box 1, Folder 12
 
20th Anniversary Meeting, 1979. Box 1, Folder 13
 
Conferences, 1968-1984 
Note This series contains information on several professional meetings on computers in which Phillips participated.
Box 1
Communications about computers meeting, 1971. Box 1, Folder 14
 
DOD/Industry Symposium on Computer-Aided and Computer-Aided Manufacturing, 1968-1969. Box 1, Folder 15
 
National Computer Conference Pioneer Day, 1979-1984. Box 1, Folder 16
 
Photographs, undated. 
Note These items are photographs of Phillips and some of his colleagues, most of which are undated and mostly unidentified.
Box 1
Photographs, undated. Box 1, Folder 22
 
Presentations, 1962-1972 
Box 1
Presentations, 1962-1972. Box 1, Folder 23
Note SEE ALSO: Speeches file in Business Equipment Manufacturers Association
 
Publications, 1954-1962 
Box 1
The Federal Accountant, 1954, 1961-1962. Box 1, Folder 26
Box 1
Institute in Electronic Data Processing: Selected Reprints from Presentations, 1962. Box 1, Folder 24
 
The Journal of Industrial Engineering (Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of AIIE), 1958. Box 1, Folder 25