Scope and Content Note
The microfilm of papers of Albert James Myer (1829-1880) spans the years 1816-1880, with the focus on Myer’s service in the Signal Corps and documentation of his work in meteorology. The collection consists of correspondence, biographical material, letterbooks, diaries, reports, memoranda, legal and business papers, and printed material, including papers of his father-in-law, Ebenezer Walden, and material relating to a patent by his father, Henry Beekman Myer, for the railway sleeping car. The papers are organized as filmed from the originals at the U.S. Army Signal Corps Museum, Fort Monmouth, N.J.
Subjects include Myer’s role in the founding and development of the Signal Corps, including his removal and reappointment as chief signal officer; military campaigns against the Comanche people in New Mexico, 1860-1861; publication of Myer’s Manual of Signals (1864); the establishment of the Weather Bureau; and the North Polar Expedition, 1871-1873.