Introduction

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

Descriptive Entry

These papers document Hindle's teaching career; his tenure as an academic dean, historian, and professor of science and technology at New York University; his service as president of SHOT; and, to a lesser extent, his years as director of the NMHT.

Papers consist of correspondence and memoranda with historical, scientific, and technological institutes and societies concerning research; correspondence and memoranda with prominent historians of science and technology, particularly Carl Bridenbaugh, Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., and A. Hunter Dupree; historical research proposals, manuscripts, publications, index cards, and related material; biographical information; slides and photographs of scientific illustrations and portraits of historic American figures; files concerning his presidency of SHOT and as a member of various visiting committees to review academic programs in the history of science and technology; and copies of course materials prepared during his teaching career at New York University.

Historical Note

Brooke Hindle (1918-2001), historian, was born in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1936-1938, but completed his A.B., magna cum laude, at Brown University in 1940. Hindle received an M.A. (1942) and Ph.D. (1949) from the University of Pennsylvania and was a fellow at the Institute of Early American History and Culture, College of William and Mary, 1948-1950. In 1950, Hindle joined the history faculty at New York University as associate professor and in 1961 became a professor in the department. He was also chairman of the history department, 1965-1967; dean of the College of Arts and Science, 1967-1969; and head of the history department, 1970-1974. In 1974, Hindle succeeded Daniel J. Boorstin as director of the National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT). He served until 1978, when he became senior historian. Hindle retired in 1985, but remained at the Smithsonian as historian emeritus.

Hindle belonged to numerous professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the History of Science Society, and the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), which he served as president, 1981-1982.

Hindle wrote and edited many articles and books on the history of science and technology in colonial America, including The Pursuit of Science in Revolutionary America (1956), The Scientific Writings of David Rittenhouse (1980), and Emulation and Invention (1981).