Guide to the Robert Barton Rice Papers, 1927-1976

Descriptive Summary

Repository: North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center
Creator: Rice, Robert Barton, 1900-1976
Title: Robert Barton Rice Papers, 1927-1976
Call Number: MC 00044
Extent: 10 linear feet, 20 archival boxes

Information for Users

Restrictions to Access: Collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Acquisitions Information: Donated by Robert Barton Rice in 1970 (Accession no. 1970-0009), 1971 (Accession no. 1971-0006), and 1972 (Accession no. 1972-0004, 1972-0005, and 1972-0006). Additional materials transferred from the North Carolina State University Libraries Collection Development and Organization Department in 1976 (Accession no. 1976-0004), and donated by Steve Dolan in 1976 (Accession no. 1976-0005) and 1979 (Accession no. 1979-0005).
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], Robert Barton Rice Papers, MC 44, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Copyright Notice: The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Proccessing Information: Processed by Maurice Toler, 1970, Reprocessed by Cilla Golas, 1997

Encoded by Katherine M. Wisser

Biographical Note

Robert Barton Rice was born November 22, 1900 in Massachusetts. Before graduating in 1919 from Springfield Technical High School (Massachusetts), Barton had already acquired engineering experience at the Van Norman Machine Tool Company. He continued his employment in the engineering field during his college years, graduating from Tufts College Engineering School, (Massachusetts), earning, in 1926, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Enginnering. He received an A.M. degree from Columbia University, (New York), later returning to Tufts College, in 1936, for a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering.

In 1930, Rice served as an independent engineering consultant to several corporations while instructing at the Pratt Institute (New York), the Wyomissing Polytechnical Institute (Pennsylvania), and the New College of Engineering (New Jersey). By 1938, Professor Rice headed the Experimental Engineering Department in Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina State College. He taught undergraduate courses in thermodynamics, hydraulics, aircraft internal combustion engines, and graduate courses in internal combustion engine design and mechanical engineering research. In addition to teaching, he was responsible for the designing of the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, procuring and testing equipment, as well as supervising, organizing, and developing the laboratories for heating, ventilation, steam power, metallurgy, hydraulics, aeronautics, internal combustion engines and associated studies. During World War II, Rice directed the Naval Diesel School, a designated North Carolina State College training facility for national defense.

While teaching at North Carolina State College in 1950, Rice and two partners formed Enginerring Development Associates, a corporation offering services in design, construction, supervision, and consultation in many branches of engineering and architecture. Rice's practice included Traveler's Insurance, Textile Manufacturing Company, Diesel Engine Manufacturers Assocation, Town of Tarboro, North Carolina, New Bern, North Carolina, and Bureau of Ships, United States Navy. Consulting work consisted of inspecting, designing, constructing, administering, and installing power plants, engine designs, and heating and air conditioning systems.

Before his retirement in 1971, Robert Barton Rice headed numerous committees, chaired engineering societies, and was a member of educational and engineering clubs. He received, in 1972, the distinguished service certificate frmo the Naitonal Council of Engineering Examiners. At the Smithsonian Institute, within the National Museum of History and Technology (Washington, D.C.), Rice deposited archival materials in collections relating to the history and advancements of mechanical engineering professions. After more than twenty-five years on the faculty at North Carolina State University and devoting his life to engineering, Rice died on March 4, 1976 at the age of seventy-five.

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Robert Barton Rice are divided into five series and chronologically arranged under each subject heading. Each series in the collection focuses on engineering. The Personal Files are contained within five file folders offering information and correspondence relating to Rice's career. The Diesel Engineering Department series is a significant part of the collection, covering Rice's years as department administrator and includes extensive course material from each class, students' work, faculty minutes from meetings, and the specifications and dedication of the Diesel Engineering Laboratory Building. The National Defense Training and Research series also comprises an important part of the collection, concentrating on NC State's involvement (facilitated by Rice) with the United States Air Force, Army, and Naval personnel defense training programs. Inventories, blueprints, contracts, and supply lists offer detailed descriptions of the engineering department's role in national defense. The Projects, Publications, and Reports series contains the bulk of the collection-- Rice's (and others) engineering projects (up to 1965) , testing of engines, (German language material) and Rice's accumulated historical data (from 1929) relating to engineering. Most files contain photographs and cover diverse projects. The final series, Subject--Miscellaneous consists of ten file folders that contains limited material from 1907-1971, relating to mechanical engineering.

Online Catalog Headings

The following terms have been used to index the guide to the collection in the NCSU Library's online catalog.

Individuals

Rice, Robert Barton, 1900-1976

Corporate Entities

North Carolina State University. College of Engineering

Topics

Diesel electric power plants--North Carolina--New Bern
Diesel electric power plants--North Carolina--Tarboro
Diesel locomotives
Diesel motor
Diesel motor industry--North Carolina
Engineering--North Carolina
Engineering--Research--North Carolina
Engineering--Specifications--North Carolina
Engineering--Study and teaching--North Carolina
Engineering--Vocational guidance--North Carolina
Engineering contracts--North Carolina
Engineering design--North Carolina
Engineering drawings
Engineering firms--North Carolina
Engineering laboratories--North Carolina
Engineering schools--North Carolina
Engineering teachers--North Carolina
Engineers--North Carolina
Engineering in government--United States
Engines
Internal combustion engines
Mechanical engineering
United States. Air Force--Engineering aids
United States. Army--Engineering aids
United States. Navy--Engineering aids

Geographic Names

North Carolina

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series 1: Personal Files, 1936-1976

The Personal files are limited to a brief obituary from the News and Observer, correspondence, a work record and resume that includes recommendation letters and photographs from job sites.
- Biographical Information [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 1]
- Correspondence [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 2]
- Correspondence with L.C. Doll, technician [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 3]
- Correspondence, Pamphlets, miscellaneous brochures [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 4]
- Resume and Work Record with photographs [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 5]
[Return to Descriptive Summary]
Series 2: Diesel Engineering Department, 1926-1966

This series focuses on Rice's academic career and his development of the Department of Engineering. there is a complete history of the origin of the Diesel Engineering Laboratory Building, from the original specifications and blueprints (1943) to the final dedication of the laboratories to the North Carolina State campus in 1944, (blueprints and photographs included). Admissions, rules, records, forms, a sampling of quizzes, tests, outlines, examinations, and student/staff research and seminar papers from 1946 - 1954 offer examples of undergraduate and graduate courses aw well as the reseach and experiments performed. Included in this series are the records, survey, and correspondence from the War Production Board, and bids for war surplus supplies. The series also contains the correspondence and dossiers of "Paperclip Specialists" from the United States Army, Joint Intelligence Objective Agency (JIOA). Note: Paperclip Specialists were immigrants hired to teach at universities. Given the nature of the academic subject (physics, for example) and the restrictions placed on immigration from Germany after World War II, these individuals were classified differently from other immigrants by the United States government.
- Course Material
  - Mechanical Engineering Laboratory Course with photographs, 1936 - 1938 [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 6]
  - Engineering Department Training Course,1941 [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 7]
  - Internal Combustion Engine - Quizzes, Tests - 400, 500 level [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 8]
  - Heat Engineering, steam power plants, and airplane engines - 300 level [MC 44 Box 1, Folder 9]
  - Admission requests, 1946 - 1948 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 1]
  - Rules, regulations, and forms [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 2]
  - Personnel records - Students - A-L1947 - 1953 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 3]
  - Personnel records - Students - M-Z1947 - 1953 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 4]
  - Diesel 101 - outlines [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 5]
  - Diesel 105 - quizzes and final examinations [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 6]
  - Diesel 109 - quizzes and final examinations [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 7]
  - Diesel 113 - fuel systems [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 8]
  - Diesel 117, 121, 125 - quizzes, outlines [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 9]
  - Diesel 201, 205 - quizzes and examinations [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 10]
  - Student work-study sheets and examinations [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 11]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 1, 1946 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 12]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 2, 1946 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 13]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 3, 1946 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 14]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 4, 1946 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 15]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 5, 1947 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 16]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 6, 1947 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 17]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 7, 1947 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 18]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 8, 1947 [MC 44 Box 2, Folder 19]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 9, 1948 [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 1]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 10, 1948 [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 2]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 11, 1948 [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 3]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 12, 1948 [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 4]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 13, 1949 [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 5]
  - Diesel Operation and Maintenance - short course no. 15, 1949
    
    Procesor's note: short course no. 14, no existing file
    [MC 44 Box 3, Folder 6]
[Return to Descriptive Summary]