[SIGCIS-Members] Fwd: How to find Chicago Police Dept. IT retirees?

[Janet Abbate]

I'm forwarding this for a colleague; please reply to her directly. They seem to be look both for spare parts for an IBM 1440 and for people who used it at the Chicago Police Dept.

The Center for Technology & Innovation (http://ctandi.org/history.html) sounds like an interesting emerging site for computer history (among other things).

Janet

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Susan Sherwood <director at ctandi.org>
> Date: June 2, 2013 10:32:33 AM EDT
> To: abbate at computer.org
> Subject: How to find Chicago Police Dept. IT retirees?
> 
> Janet
> 
> Amy Slaton suggested you might have a lead for finding computer groups,
> whose members might have worked for the Chicago Police Department IT
> department in the 1960s and 70s.
> 
> The Chicago Police Department had a large installation of IBM 1440
> mainframes (issued 1962 using early SMS card technology).  We are
> restoring a 1440 system to operation and are in search of some missing
> pieces.  In particular, we need an selectric typing element, known as an H-Ball for the 1447 console that operators used to control the 1441 CPU. The H-Ball has an unusual layout of programming characters.  We're also interested in any spare parts that might have been either taken as
> souvenirs or surplussed when the department upgraded to more modern
> equipment.
> 
> Any suggestions you have for tracking down parts, manuals, people with
> memories of the CPD operation, will be appreciated.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Susan Sherwood
> Executive Director
> Center for Technology & Innovation
> 321 Water Street, Binghamton, NY 13901
> Future home of TechWorks!
> 
> Office  607-723-8600
> Mobile  607-624-1090
> 
> www.ctandi.org
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 10:40:31 +0000
> From: Slaton,Amy <slatonae at drexel.edu>
> To: Slaton, Deborah <DSlaton at wje.com>, Susan Sherwood <director at ctandi.org>
> CC: Bill Green <wgreen at stny.rr.com>, "FPETR at aol.com" <FPETR at aol.com>
> 
> Hi Susan:
> Sorry, I can't think of anyone either, but  there are probably a lot of
> employee/union newsletters through which you might reach someone who
> knows someone who was in IT there.
> 
> Also, if mainframes were not widely found at that point (and challenging
> to use), might the CPD's operators have been active in one of the
> computing organizations? Maybe you can use their mailing lists or
> newsletters. For names of those orgs, you could try my friend Janet
> Abbate [she is abbate at va.tech] or Paul Ceruzzi at the Smithsonian, perhaps.
> 
> ....Good luck, sounds like a fabulous project!
> Amy
> 
> Amy E. Slaton, PhD
> Professor
> Department of History and Politics
> Drexel University
> Philadelphia PA 19104
> 215-895-2463/610-660-8299 (v)
> 215-895-6614 (f)
> slatonae at drexel.edu
> http://STEMequity.com
> ________________________________________
> From: Slaton, Deborah [DSlaton at wje.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 10:23 PM
> To: Susan Sherwood
> Cc: Slaton,Amy; Bill Green; FPETR at aol.com
> Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
> 
> Hi Susan,
> I am sorry but I don't know of any contacts within the CPD.
> Does the CPD have a historian?
> I hope you can obtain the missing part!
> Deborah
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Sherwood [mailto:director at ctandi.org]
> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 7:15 AM
> To: Slaton, Deborah; slatonae at drexel.edu
> Cc: Bill Green; FPETR at aol.com
> Subject: Re: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
> 
> Deb and Amy:
> 
> Any chance the WJE IT/IS team or Slaton family friends might have
> contacts with the Chicago Police Dept IT folks?  Apparently, CPD had one
> of the largest arrays of IBM 1440 mainframes, which is the device we
> have working (mostly) here in Binghamton.  We're looking for spare
> parts, in particular an H Ball typing element from the 1447 Console
> Unit.  We're hoping someone might have saved it as a souvenir when the
> system was updated.
> 
> Any contact information or leads to potential retired Chicago Police
> computer guys will be most appreciated.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Susan
> 
> On 5/30/2013 8:29 PM, Slaton, Deborah wrote:
>> Susan,
>> 
>> Please see the e-mail below from Dave Felleti. He was able to retrieve the printer and it is Annex I, one of the buildings on our Northbrook campus.
>> 
>> Please let us know when you are able to arrange to have it picked up and Dave will be able to direct the mover to the correct location. You can reach any of us by e-mail or at our general office number (847-272-7400).
>> 
>> Many thanks to Dave for this effort!
>> 
>> Deborah
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Felleti, David
>> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:27 PM
>> To: Slaton, Deborah
>> Cc: Scheffler, Michael
>> Subject: Re: Aloha! - updated
>> 
>> Mission accomplished. The printer is in Annex I.
>> Dave
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>