Humboldt State University

Robert A. Paselk Scientific Instrument Museum

Scientific Instruments and Apparatus at Humboldt State University: the Humboldt State Teachers and Junior College Period, 1921 - 1935

In researching the use of scientific apparatus at Humboldt I have been fortunate in that the Property Office at HSU has what appears to be the original property inventory book from Humboldt S-T-C. I have transcribed in the table below every item from this inventory which was obviously "scientific" or labeled for use in science education, and which would have had a Humboldt S-T-C tag. Unfortunately no dates appear in this book associated with the original acquisition of any of the items. Nor is the book labeled as to the college name during the inventory period. Internal evidence in the book (handwriting styles, inks used, later notations and dates, consistency of the order of acquisition numbers with known instruments) does lead me to affirm that it is the original book. Observation of extant apparatus with Humboldt S-T-C tags (555 and 4932 at the extremes) and notations in the book that an electric pen was used starting at item 5000 leads to the assumption that the items listed (214 - 4975) were all tagged with Humboldt S-T-C identification. Use of the electric pen for identification with the transition to Humboldt State College is confirmed by observations of "engraved" extant items (e.g HSC 5036, HSC 5374, HSC 5887).

What about the dating of the instruments on this inventory? We are fortunate in having, as one of the first items in the inventory, an instrument with an established manufacturer's date: the K&E transit serial number of 45650 corresponds to a date of 1923.¹ It would appear probable that the earliest scientific equipment at Humboldt was acquired in 1923 or later. The later date for these instruments would seem obvious, since there was a name change of the college in 1935. However, two facts make me suspicious. First, the transition from HSTC to HSC, 4999 to 5000, is too neat. It seems likely that a frugal property officer decided to use up the stock of brass Humboldt S-T-C tags on hand before going to the electric pencil. Second, one of the last items with a brass Humboldt S-T-C tag, 4932, is an A O Spencer spectrometer, and American Optical did not take over Spencer until 1935, making 1935 the earliest possible, but unlikely, date for this instrument. What would be the latest date for a Humboldt S-T-C tagged instrument? Some early instruments (HSTC 1900) are listed in the 1982 University computerized inventory as purchased in 1938. A look at the original inventory reveals the notation (in a later hand) "PA 1938." These instruments are also inscribed with electric pencil, for example, HSC 1900 etc.² It would appear that a bookkeeping transfer was made between Humboldt State Teachers College and Humboldt State College in 1938. From this evidence I am taking 1938 as the latest date for any Humboldt S-T-C tagged instrument. I conclude that all of the instruments in the table below were obtained between 1923 and 1938, with more likely dates of 1925 - 1937.³

¹ This date was provided by Bud Uzes who stated "I was given a typed list of K&E instrument serial numbers corresponding to year of manufacture about 20 years ago by Cecil Hanson. Cecil...is now deceased, but at the time he had one of the larger collections of antique surveying instruments in the country. He regularly sought out information of this sort.... At the time K&E was still in business and I expect he got it from the company. I have since given the list out to other collectors and dealers over the years and it now seems to be the authoritative document for this information."

² Why don't these early instruments have Humboldt S-T-C tags, and thus require inscription via electric pen? From the evidence of items 555 and 557 it appears that many instruments had the tags affixed to their cases, leaving the instrument unmarked. Later (c. 1938) it was apparently decided to mark the instruments themselves, using the then current abbreviation for the college, HSC.

³ College catalog evidence makes it seem likely that Humboldt began teaching science with laboratories in around 1925.

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HSTC Instrument Inventory

HSTC (1921-34)<

HSC (1935-1953)

HSC (1954-1973)

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© R. Paselk

Last modified 3 September 2010