Call Number:

B305

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

1 linear feet (1 box)

Preferred Citation:

Walter J. Hamer Collection Archives, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..

Date:

1920-1985 (inclusive)

Form:

Archival materials

Abstract:

Walter J. Hamer was born in Altoona, PA on November 5, 1907. He attended Juniata College and Yale University from which he received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1932. He specialized in all aspects of battery technology and was a past president of the Electrochemical Society. He spent the majority of his career at the National Bureau of Standards, but during World War II worked with the Office of Scientific Research and Development and was involved in the Manhattan Project. He retired from the Bureau in 1972 and died in Gaithersburg, MD on June 29 2004. He wrote extensively on the history and development of the storage battery and was a active collector of both instrumentation and documents relating to the field.

This is a research collection, meant to accompany Hamer's own collection of objects. There are reprints of articles by Hamer and others handwritten notes and advertising materials. Among the highlights of the collection are a file of materials relating to the AD-X2 Duble Power battery additive and Hamer's exposure of that product as fraud, and a wealth of notes on histories topics such as battery-operated trains and the elevators inside of the Washington Monument.