. . . and for the rest of you reading Jeff's note, the corporate records are so comprehensive that when I was starting to do research on the history of information technology companies, I seriously considered writing a history of Burroughs, because not only was the firm important, but all its papers were in one place. Doesn't get any better than that for an historian. I was working for IBM at the time and chose instead to write histories of IBM. Burroughs Corporation remains a huge opportunity for an historian. If I was younger and lived in Minneapolis I would be all over this topic. Models of how to write such corporate histories are all over the place. Jim On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM Jeffrey Yost via Members < members@lists.sigcis.org> wrote:
Hi Bernard,
Interesting sounding project, having the Burroughs Collection here, and having read William S. Burroughs' books, including *Junkie *to *Naked Lunch, *while I was in college, I often wondered about him and his corporate family. Yes, Burroughs Corporation was quite active in South Africa. CBI has the Burroughs Corporate Records Collection which details a tremendous number of aspects of the company, a really extensive corporate collection, from the 1880s American Arithmometer days in St. Louis, to the move of HQ to Detroit and renaming as Burrough Adding Machine and later Burroughs Corporation (and expanding around the world including South Africa and elsewhere in Global South as well as Europe...). The collection is over 600 boxes, spans all functional areas, and is divided into 111 Series or Sub Collections. There are collections on International, on Plants, etc. The general statement on the collection and links to the 111 Sub Collections is below. We had a digitization project a quarter century ago and did detailed cataloguing of 500 select Burroughs images and put them online on University Libraries UMedia of UMN, but I don't think there are any of Burroughs' South Africa among those 500, actually I think it came to 520. UMedia is Univ. of Minnesota wide, the 520 Burroughs images (by keyword searching the combo of Burrough and Still Images) are here UMedia Burroughs Corporation photos <https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?facets%5Btypes%5D%5B%5D=Still+Image&q=burroughs>
We have many, many thousands of additional Burroughs photos so we might have some in the sub series that are relevant in either print or negatives. While not digitized, the Finding Aid for each sub series is processed down to the folder level, so it should list if photos exist based on subject area. There are also many illustrations of corporate facilities, line drawings on letterhead and other material.
One thing regarding potential cultural influences you might find interesting is Burroughs Farms, which was a large recreation wooded area with lakes West of Detroit, hundreds of acres of land where the corporation rewarded workers and their families--swimming, hiking, horseback riding....probably archery as well (all in corporate paternalistic fashion). I've wondered if William S. Burroughs spent any time there? (William S. Burroughs killed his wife Joan Vollner in Mexico City in 1951 in an archery "accident.")
Collection: Burroughs Corporation records | University of Minnesota Archival Finding Aids <https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/3/resources/222>
Also, feel free to contact the CBI Archivist and Curator Amanda Wick if wanting additional info on anything. Amanda's email is abwick@umn.edu
Best, Jeff
** * * * * ** *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * *Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture* *Research Professor, University of Minnesota*
*Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press out in Nov. 2025 co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) <https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code> * *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>* *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press <https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture> *Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz) *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com>* (crit. inq. essays & resources)* (Founder/Leader)
*Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)
On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 12:58 PM Bernard Geoghegan via Members < members@lists.sigcis.org> wrote:
Hey colleagues,
A shot in the dark: Does anyone have a handy reference or link or reproduction to visual illustrations related to Burroughs Corporation activities in South Africa, Morocco (a very long shot indeed), or Africa more generally? (Apparently they were quite active in South Africa.) I’m working on something related to writer William S. Burroughs’ indirect links to high tech via the family biz, esp in the Global South. There’s great visuals of Burroughs Corporation around North American activity, like SAGE and NORAD, I haven’t seen much that is from the wider world. Bonus points for visuals with great design or architectural components.
Best wishes, Bernard _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
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