Ferguson, Eugene S.

Eugene S. Ferguson was one of the founders of the discipline of the history of technology, both through teaching at Iowa State University and the University of Delaware and by working at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hagley Museum.

Eugene Shallcross Ferguson was born in Wilmington, Del., on January 24, 1916, received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1937, and began his career as a practicing mechanical engineer with Western Electric and Du Pont before joining the Navy in World War II. During a period of recuperation, a roommate interested him in naval history, and thus began his growing interest in the history of technology. After the war, Ferguson taught mechanical engineering at Iowa State College, where he completed his M.S. in 1955, but by this time he was set on a career in the history rather than the practice of engineering.

From 1958 to 1961, Ferguson was Curator of Mechanical & Civil Engineering at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of History and Technology, then under development. In 1958, Ferguson joined with longtime friend Mel Kranzberg and other kindred spirits in forming the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), separating it as a discipline separate from the history of science or economic history. Ferguson became the semi-official bibliographer for SHOT and published the wide-ranging "Bibliography of the History of Technology" in 1968. Ferguson was president of SHOT in 1977-78 and received its most prestigious award, the Leonardo da Vinci Medal in 1977.

In 1961, Ferguson returned to Iowa State as a professor of the history of technology, and in 1969, he secured a joint appointment and the University of Delaware and the Hagley Museum, where he remained until his retirement in 1979. At Delaware, Ferguson joined with John J. Beer and George Basalla to create one of the country's leading programs in the history of technology, one butressed by opportunities for practical work and research at the Hagley Museum and Library.

After retirement, Ferguson remained at Hagley as Senior Resident Scholar until 1982. During these years he began work on his major book, "Engineering and the Mind's Eye", which was published in 1993. He died at Quarryville, Pa., on March 21, 2004.

From the description of Eugene Shallcross Ferguson (1916-2004) papers, 1937-2001 [bulk, 1960-1995] (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 164066314