Inventor Name
Baekeland, Leo
Repository
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Center
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 601/Room 1100
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-3270
http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives
Physical Description
15.38 cu. ft.
Summary
Baekeland came to the U.S. in 1890 from Belgium. His first major invention was "Velox" photographic paper. He started the Nepera Chemical Co. in 1893, and in 1899 sold it to Eastman Kodak. He is best known for inventing the first commercial synthetic resin, to which he applied the trademark "Baeklite." In 1910 the General Bakelite Company, later the Bakelite Corporation, was organized to manufacture and distribute the raw materials for making phenolic parts. These papers include student notebooks; private laboratory notebooks and journals; commercial laboratory notes; diaries; patents; technical papers; biographies; newspaper clippings; maps; graphs; blueprints; account books; batch books; formula books; order books; photographs; and correspondence to, from, and regarding Baekeland, 1887-1943. The photographs include photoprints, as well as original glass plate and film negatives; subject matter includes personal and family documentation, and pictures taken on family travels in the United States and Europe.
Finding Aid
http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/AC0005.pdf
