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Herman Hollerith’s introduction to the Census started when he graduated from Columbia College of Mines. When he graduated he moved to Washington D.C. to work as a employee of the U.S. Census. From the start of his job Hollerith was a very efficient worker and only after a year working got his salary raised by 1/3. "In the fall of 1882, Hollerith left Washington to become an instructor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."(Austrian) Soon after though he ended up going back to Colombia College where he got his degree. Although he was heavily involved in teaching and work with his students he found time to work on his census machine. This is where he got the idea of doing statistical work using electricity. He would punch holes in cards and then run them between 2 metal drums and where the paper had a hole, a charge would come thorough and would tally that. This was a huge step for him, because it made it possible to rearrange cards and still get the same result. Hollerith returned to Washington to become a worker at the patent office. This was a very big step in his life because he got to watch people’s inventions and how they were useful for society. He decided that it was time to move on and that he could make money starting his own business and using the laws of the patents. He finally decided to test his machine at the expense of the government. In only a few days the was assured of the finances and began his work. During this time, Hollerith decided to try his luck at the railroad industry where he did experiments on air brakes. After many trials and patent problems Hollerith lost the battle for becoming a leader in railroad safety to Westinghouse. Although he kept an interest in railroad safety through out his whole life, he decided to resume his work on the census machine. |
| Herman Hollerith | Census Competition | Conclusion |
| Previous Census | Census Machine | Bibliography |