In 1999, Stanford University acquired the archives of R. Buckminster Fuller, Class of 1913, architect, engineer, designer, poet and polymath. The collection contains over 1300 linear feet of papers and manuscripts, 2000 hours of video and audio recordings, and thousands of models and other artifacts. Since the acquisition of the R. Buckminster Fuller Archives in 1999, Stanford University Libraries has collaborated closely with the Stanford Humanities Laboratory, developing innovative ways to make the vast collection available to students, researchers, and the general public.
The centerpiece of the Stanford collection is the Dymaxion Chronofile, a formal chronological file of “Bucky’s life.” The Chronofile, a vast scrapbook, included copies of all his incoming and outgoing correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes and sketches, and even dry cleaning bills. By the end of his life, the Chronofile amounted to 270 linear feet.
Fuller intended for the Chronofile to be a case study of his life in context, in which his daily activities were presented in parallel with developments in technology and society. In addition to the Chronofile, the collection includes materials relating to his family’s history; photographs and slides documenting his family and his work; video and audio tapes of his lectures around the world; business and legal files; original manuscripts; physical models and other artifacts.
Explore the life of Buckminster Fuller at Stanford University’s online archive:
Stanford Library:
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/fuller/index.html
Stanford Humanities Lab
http://www.stanford.edu/group/shl/research/bucky.html
