This collection (1983-2003) contains correspondence and news clippings regarding John Vincent Atanasoff and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) collected by Wallace C. Caldwell. Most of the correspondence is related to Caldwell's efforts to have Atanasoff, along with graduate student Clifford Berry, recognized as the inventor of the digital electronic computer. Of note is correspondence with producers from WGBH in Boston regarding the series "The Machine that Changed the World" which aired in 1991 on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The television show chronicled the history of the computer, but omitted Atanasoff and the ABC.



Caldwell was also instrumental in having the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognize the efforts of Atanasoff and Berry by naming the ABC a national Electrical Engineering Milestone. A bronze plaque hangs in Physics Hall on the Iowa State campus commemorating this achievement. Photographs showing Caldwell presenting a framed photograph of the plaque to Atanasoff are in the collection.



The collection also contains materials regarding celebrations of the ABC and Atanasoff sponsored by Iowa State, correspondence of others regarding proper recognition of the ABC, and news clippings and writings about the ABC and its controversial status as the first digital electronic computer.