WPI's Manuscript holdings include the collections of eminent professors and alumni whose developments changed the world, such as “Father of Modern Rocketry” Robert H. Goddard, noted John Deere engineer and designer Theo Brown, and NASA engineer Richard Whitcomb, among others. Related to the WPI curriculum, the Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) collections feature the papers of Duane D. Pearsall (developer of the home smoke detector), David Lucht (noted fire safety expert), and Howard W. Emmons (Harvard professor and “Father of Modern Fire Safety”). The Interactive Media Archive, a more recent addition, comprises computer and video game consoles and peripherals that chronicle the history and development of interactive media and gaming. This collection evolved in partnership with WPI's Interactive Media and Game Development program.
Our manuscript collections also focus on nineteenth and early twentieth century manufacturing and industry, such as with Worcester-based and family-owned companies like The Morgan Construction Company, Woodbury Company, and Crompton Knowles Loom Works. These businesses contributed to Worcester’s development as a leading industrial city; many of the people who founded them were prominent leaders in Worcester County and instrumental in the development of WPI.
Perhaps of most note, WPI has four distinguished collections on Charles Dickens. Among these are rare items such as the Guild of Literature and Art Council attendance book (featuring the signatures of many notable nineteenth century British authors), original illustrations for many of Charles Dickens's works, ample audiovisual materials of several Dickens adaptations and other popular culture objects, personal correspondence, and more. See below for access to the full inventory and visit our online digital repository to explore select digitized and born-digital materials, Theo Brown's diaries and items from our Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) collections.
