COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM

COLLECTIONS AND RESEARCH:CHM STEWARDS THE WORLD'S FOREMOST COLLECTION OF COMPUTING ARTIFACTS AND ORAL HISTORIES TO GENERATE PROFOUND INSIGHTS GROUNDED IN HISTORY. WE ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE AND THE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS THROUGH FOCUSED RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP.SEE SCHEDULE OCHM'S COLLECTING SCOPE SPANS CALCULATORS TO ROBOTS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PROVIDES UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES INTO THE ONLINE WORLD, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND SOFTWARE. CHM'S COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF OVER A MILLION ARTIFACTS, DOCUMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, MOVING IMAGES, DIGITAL OBJECTS, AND ORAL HISTORIES LIES AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO. THE COLLECTION COVERS A VAST ARRAY OF ICONIC COMPUTERS AND COMPANIES, FROM AN APPLE 1 COMPUTER TO THE LATEST TRILLION-TRANSISTOR AI COMPUTER-ON-A-CHIP. THE MUSEUM'S EVER-EXPANDING COLLECTION OF 1,399 ORAL HISTORIES WITH 1,849 PARTICIPANTS AND ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS BRING CRITICAL HISTORIES AND PERSONAL STORIES TO LIGHT. IN FY2025, 31 NEW INTERVIEWS SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WERE RECORDED.AT THE CORE OF CHM'S PRESERVATION AND EFFORTS IS THE SHUSTEK RESEARCH ARCHIVES, THE MUSEUM'S 25,000-SQUARE-FOOT RESEARCH AND STORAGE FACILITY. ESTABLISHED IN 2015 AND NAMED FOR MUSEUM FOUNDER LEN SHUSTEK, THE SHUSTEK RESEARCH ARCHIVES HOUSES THE MUSEUM'S ACQUISITIONS, ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS, SOFTWARE PRESERVATION, AND RESEARCH OPERATIONS. THE FACILITY PROMOTES ACCESS TO AND PRESERVATION OF CHM'S WORLD-CLASS COLLECTIONS WITH ACQUISITIONS RECEIVING, DIGITIZATION WORKSTATIONS, AND STUDY SPACE FOR VISITING SCHOLARS. IN FY2025, ARCHIVAL STAFF FULFILLED 349 RESEARCH QUERIES, 109 OF WHICH ORIGINATED FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, AND 41 OF WHICH INVOLVED A RESEARCHER VISITING THE SHUSTEK ARCHIVES IN PERSON. CHM'S CENTERS OF EXPERTISE ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY THROUGH RESEARCH, PUBLISHING, AND PROGRAMMING EFFORTS THAT BUILD COMMUNITY, DISSEMINATE KNOWLEDGE, AND OFFER UNIQUE INSIGHTS. CHM'S CENTERS AMPLIFY EXISTING WORK AND PROVIDE NEW LENSES INTO TECHNOLOGY THAT CONNECT THE PAST WITH A VISION OF THE FUTURE. THE SOFTWARE HISTORY CENTER, ESTABLISHED IN 2016 COLLECTS AND PRESERVES HISTORICAL SOFTWARE, ARCHIVES, AND ORAL HISTORIES. THE CENTER EXPLORES PEOPLE-CENTERED STORIES, DOCUMENTS SOFTWARE-IN-ACTION, AND LEVERAGES THE MUSEUM'S RICH COLLECTIONS TO TELL THE STORY OF SOFTWARE. A POPULAR INITIATIVE WORKS TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL SOURCE CODE OF HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTS AND MAKE THEM PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.

EXHIBITIONS:THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE AND TIMELY EXHIBITS, INTERACTIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES, DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING PUBLICATIONS, AND ORIGINAL MEDIA PRODUCTIONS, CHM FACILITATES LEARNING AND ENCOURAGES PERSONAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF TECHNOLOGY.SEE SCHEDULE OTHE MUSEUM HAS MORE THAN 40,000 SQUARE FEET OF EXHIBIT HALLS DESIGNED TO ENGAGE, EDUCATE, AND ENTERTAIN THE GENERAL PUBLIC. SIGNATURE EXHIBITS INCLUDE REVOLUTION: THE FIRST 2000 YEARS OF COMPUTING AND MAKE SOFTWARE: CHANGE THE WORLD. IN FY2025, A NEW EXHIBIT, CHATBOTS DECODED: EXPLORING AI, OPENED. WITH MULTIMEDIA, ARTIFACT DISPLAYS, AND INTERACTIVES, THE EXHIBIT REFLECTS MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CHATBOTS AND ANSWERS QUESTIONS LIKE: WHAT ARE CHATBOTS? WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? WHY DO THEY MATTER? THE EXHIBIT RECEIVED POSITIVE COVERAGE IN A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE IN APRIL 2025. VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM COULD SEE SPECIAL DISPLAYS FEATURING ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, INCLUDING A PORTABLE SPEECH PROCESSOR IN A BRIEFCASE THAT WAS A MAJOR INNOVATION FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED AND DOZENS OF COMPUTER MICE SPANNING FIVE DECADES.. VISITORS ALSO ENJOYED THE RESTORATIONS OF HISTORIC MACHINES IN ACTION IN THE IBM 1401 AND PDP-1 DEMO LABS.IN 2025, ABOUT 94,170 VISITORS CAME TO THE MUSEUM TO SEE THE EXHIBITS, AND AN ADDITIONAL 64,633 PEOPLE ATTENDED EVENTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT RENTED THE MUSEUM AS A VENUE . THE MUSEUM HOSTED 443 GROUP TOURS WITH 12,787 ATTENDEES AND 223 SCHOOL GROUPS. SINCE 2011, CHM HAS WELCOMED NEARLY 2 MILLION VISITORS, INCLUDING THOSE WHO CAME FOR VENUE RENTAL EVENTS, FROM 120 COUNTRIES.CHM'S ONGOING GOAL OF ENGAGING WITH AUDIENCES BEYOND ITS WALLS WAS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A RICH SERIES OF EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING ENDEAVORS THAT REACHED GLOBAL AUDIENCES. THE CHM WEBSITETHE DIGITAL PORTAL TO ITS COLLECTION, EXHIBITS, BLOGS, TIMELINES, EVENTS, AND MORERECEIVED 3.7 MILLION PAGE VIEWS IN FISCAL 2025. THE SITE HAS HAD MORE THAN 123 MILLION VIEWS AND NEARLY 30 MILLION USERS SINCE ITS INCEPTION. CHM'S DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION AND SOCIAL CHANNELS INCLUDED OVER 399,000 FOLLOWERS FROM FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, AND YOUTUBE. THE CHANNELS RECEIVED OVER 11.5 MILLION VIDEO VIEWS. THE CHM YOUTUBE CHANNEL HAS 2,000 PUBLISHED VIDEOS, HAS NOW GROWN TO APPROXIMATELY 162,000 SUBSCRIBERS AND OVER 24 MILLION VIEWS SINCE IT DEBUTED IN 2007. THE INSTITUTION'S DIGITAL PUBLISHING PLATFORMS INCLUDE THE CHM BLOG, WHICH HAD MORE THAN 119,000 VIEWS IN FISCAL 2025, AND MEDIUM CORE+. SINCE BEING INTRODUCED IN 2017, THESE FORUMS HAVE PUBLISHED 200+ STORIES AND HAVE 5,000 REGULAR FOLLOWERS. THEY PUBLISH THOUGHT PIECES, RESEARCH ESSAYS, AND ARTICLES ON COMPUTING HISTORY BY CHM'S COMMUNITY OF CURATORS, ACADEMICS, JOURNALISTS, AND OTHERS. EARLIER ISSUES OF CHM'S CORE MAGAZINE ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE.