"Doing History" in the Olden Days, 1970s-1990s

Academically trained as a historian and then hired as an IBM salesperson in the 1970s, James Cortada spent many years working to define the scope of the emerging history of computing field. As an IBM employee, Cortada began his writing career with almost exclusive access to the IBM Archives. This article describes his experiences with the IBM Archives, the archives of other major industry leaders (such as Burroughs and NCR), and the still active pioneers in the computer industry during this period.