[SIGCIS-Members] Looking for info on Bell Labs "Special Systems" team

[Pierre Mounier-Kuhn]

HI. 
A lateral question: had this Bell Labs "Special Systems" team any connexion with the Aiken-inspired computer, built at the Bell Telephone Belgian subsidiary in Antverp in the 1950s? 
A reference: Sandra Mols et Marie d’Udekem-Gevers, « Disseminating electronics: Bell Telephone and the emergence of electronic computing expertise in post-war Belgium, c.1945–c1960 », IEEE History of Telecommunications Conference , Paris, Sept. 2008. 

Although the answer of the archivist at Nokia Bell Labs does not sound very promising… And the archives of the Belgian Bell Telephone have either disappeared, or moved to the US. 
Best, 
Pierre Mounier-Kuhn 


De: "Cassius Adair via Members" <members at lists.sigcis.org> 
À: "members" <members at sigcis.org> 
Envoyé: Mercredi 30 Avril 2025 22:00:44 
Objet: [SIGCIS-Members] Looking for info on Bell Labs "Special Systems" team 

Hi all, 

I'm looking for any additional information about a team at Bell Labs called "Special Systems Exploratory Development" or sometimes just "Special Systems Development." Team was definitely in operation in the mid-1950s, but maybe lasted into the 1970s. I have a few documents from the Bell Laboratories Record that mention it, but I can't work out what its actual scope / mission is, and the archivist at Nokia Bell Labs said they "don't have more to add." 

Anyone heard of this team, or teams with titles like this from this era? Any clue if this mystery indicates important Cold War secrecy or just boring corporate vagueness? 

Cheers, 
Cass Adair 
-- 
Cassius Adair 
Assistant Professor of Media Studies 
The New School 

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