Stanley Backer (1920-2003) attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning degrees in engineering and textile technology. He joined the faculty at M.I.T. in 1951 and eventually became the head of the Fibers and Polymers Laboratory. His research in textiles engineering led to a greater understanding of fiber structure and fabric behavior. Backer also led a program to develop one of the first online information retrieval systems, known as the Textile Information Retrieval Product. He died in 2003.
Stanley Backer's papers consist of articles, books, papers, theses and other material reflecting his textile engineering research while attending and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A Research Files series contains collected information on fabric mechanics, texturing, and other topics. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Special Program series contains material on programs in which Backer had participated. The Supervised Theses series includes those supervised by Backer while a professor at M.I.T. A series of Backer's published works is also included, as well as a list of his collected works.
Stanley L. Backer was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 9th, 1920. He attended Boston Latin School until graduation in 1937, and earned a bachelor's degree in engineering and manufacturing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1941. He served in the United States Army from 1941-1944 conducting research for the United States Quartermaster, and continued to work for the Quartermaster for several years after completing his service. He returned to M.I.T. to complete a master's degree in textiles technology in 1948, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1953. In 1951 Backer joined the faculty at M.I.T. as assistant professor, and was promoted to full professor and head of the Fibers and Polymers Laboratory in 1962. His research in textiles engineering led to a better understanding of the physical properties and structural geometry of fibers, allowing the prediction of fabric behavior, which has a wide array of applications. His areas of expertise included the mechanics of textile materials and texturing, as well as the fibrous behavior of rope in a marine environment, and the use of fiber reinforcement in cementitious composites. Backer also led a program in the 1960s sponsored by the United States Commerce Department to develop one of the first online information retrieval systems. Known as the Textile Information Retrieval Product, the interface allowed simultaneous access a database of textile terms in seven different languages. Backer retired as professor emeritus in 1989.
Backer was an active member of the profession, having authored over 90 research publications, and serving on a number of government committees, professional societies, and editorial boards. The Harold DeWitt Smith Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials in 1962, and the Carothers Medal from the Textile Institute in 1992 for creativity in the use of fibers are noted among his many awards and honors.
Stanley Backer died January 18th, 2003 at his home in Newton, Massachusetts. He is survived by his wife, Esther Ross, and two sons, Richard, of Berkeley, California, and Jonathan of New Rochelle, New York.
The bulk of Stanley Backer's papers are articles, books, papers, theses and other material directly pertaining to or associated with his textile engineering research while attending and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Research Files contain a collection of resources on fabric mechanics, and a collection on textile texturing, both of which were major areas of Backer's study. Several miscellaneous files are also included the series, but were not originally compiled with either of the mentioned resource collections, including fiber structure of rope in a marine environment and fiber structure in cementitious composites. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Special Programs series consists of lecture, seminar, and demonstration materials for programs in which Backer participated. Program topics include: Materials for Parachutes and Retardation Devices, Dynamics of Textile Processes, Performance Characteristics of Textile Materials, Applied Mechanics of Fibrous Structures, Texturing of Thermoplastic Yarns; all of which include rosters of registrants, schedules of speakers, notes, slides and other handouts. Of particular interest is a report on a project led by Backer to develop one of the first online information retrieval systems, and a six-part article by Backer and various colleagues published in the Textile Research Journal on a project on the mechanics of texturing thermoplastic yarns. The Supervised Theses series is a collection of doctorate of science theses which Backer supervised while a professor and head of the Polymer and Fibers Laboratory at M.I.T. Backer's 95 authored and co-authored published articles and papers are included in the Published Works series. And Backer's textiles and information related resources are compiled in the Collected Works series. Items in this series have been integrated into North Carolina State University Libraries' monograph collection for use and circulation. Please see the library catalog for bibliographic information, call number, and availability.
The collection is arranged into 5 series:
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University 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.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], Stanley Backer Papers, MC 00303, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Received as a gift from Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Backer in December 2000.
The items in Series 5 have been integrated into the Libraries' monograph collection. Please check the library catalog for bibliographic information, call number, and availability.
Processed by Terra Kridler in August 2005
Encoded by Terra Kridler in August 2005
The collection is organized into four principal series:
Stanley Backer's Research Files consist of journal articles, typed lectures, book chapters, theses, reports, and other papers pertaining to his research interests as a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Fabric Mechanics files pertain to characteristics and behaviors of primarily woven and knitted fabrics, as well as those of the yarns and fibers used to make such fabrics. The Texturing files primarily discuss the properties of crimped yarns, processes used for texturing yarns and fabrics, and the mechanical affect of these properties and processes. The Miscellaneous files include other writings relevant to Backer's research.
The Fabric Mechanics subseries is a collection of lectures, articles, book chapters, and other papers pertaining to mechanical characteristics and behaviors primarily of woven and knitted fabrics, such as elastic resistance, bending, crease resistance and wrinkle resistance, and tearing strength, as well as geometrical properties. Several articles concentrate on the properties of the fibers and yarns used to make woven fabrics, and how their structure affects the mechanics of the fabric. At acquisition the Fabric Mechanics files were assembled in notebook form. The arrangement of the Fabric Mechanics subseries replicates the original order of the files.
The Texturing subseries consists of articles, lectures, and other papers pertaining to the physical and mechanical properties of crimped yarns, often made from thermoplastic fibers and have a saw-toothed or curled shape, and the methods and processes used for texturing crimped yarns, including false-twist and draw-twist methods. Relevant articles on snarling, heat setting and treatment, and properties of yarn are also included. At acquisition the Texturing files were assembled in notebook form. The arrangement of the Texturing subseries replicates the original order of the files.
The Miscellanous subseries of Research Files is composed of theses, technical reports, and other studies relevant to Backer's research interests, including fiber mechanics, effects of a marine environment on nylon rope, and fiber reinforced cementitious composites.
During the summer sessions the Massachusetts Institute of Technology holds special programs consisting of series' of lectures, seminars, and demonstrations, intended for field specialists. The material in this series represents the content of several of the programs in which Stanley Backer had participated or attended, including roster of registrants, schedule of speakers and presentations, notes, slides, handouts, and other material. The compiled materials of six programs were relevant to Backer's research in fabric mechanics and behavior. The program on Performance Characteristics of Textile Materials includes a report on one of the first online information retrieval systems, a development program led by Backer. The items are arranged chronologically.
Program consists of a discussion of textile processes, materials, and behaviors for the design and use of parachutes and retardation devices. Also an article on multiflash photography.
Material includes discussions on the processes of combing, spinning, winding, testing, drying, sewing textiles.
Material includes discussion of textile characteristics, such as water absorption, creasing and wrinkle recovery, abrasion resistance, tearing strength, mechanics, fatigue, hysteresis under conditions such as extension, bending and shearing, geometrical properties, and others. Principles of finishing are also discussed as ways to improve performance. A paper titled Design of an On-Line Computer Based Textile Information Retrieval System provides information on a system for textile information storage and retrieval, including a sample dialog between man and machine. Backer led the program to develop this system.
Articles pertain to structures and mechanics of yarns and fibers, including extension and elasticity, effects of shearing, bending, twisting, crimping, and snarl, anisotropy, and tensile properties.
Textile processing methods, such as jet texturing, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), stuffer box crimping, drying, spinning, drafting, fatigue, pressing, and needling are analyzed. Papers on papermaking and machinery are included, as well as articles on the physical properties of nonwovens.
Discusses process and mechanics of texturing, primarily by false-twist methods, as well as inherent variability in textured yarns, and problems and future trends in texturing. Also includes a six-part article by Backer and various colleagues published in the Textile Research Journal on a project on the mechanics of texturing thermoplastic yarns.
The collection of theses are those supervised by Stanley Backer while he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, most of which were written while he was head of the Fibers and Polymers Laboratory. The theses demonstrate the research he supervised in the mechanics of textiles, fibers, and processes, including papers on nonwovens and synthetic fibers, heat setting and thermoplastic materials, false-twist texturing methods, as well as papermaking and cementitious composites. The items are arranged chronologically.
The Published Works series contains 95 papers and articles written by Stanley Backer, showing the progress and dynamics of his research over more than half of a century. Topics include structure and mechanics of fibers and fabrics, the online textile information retrieval system, fibers and rope in a marine environment, and fibers in cementitious composites. Also included are several patents for textile processing methods and apparatuses by Backer. Items are arranged chronologically.
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.
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[Identification of item], Stanley Backer Papers, MC 00303, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University 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.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.