Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Paul Ceruzzi Papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Paul Ceruzzi Papers, C0306, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Paul Ceruzzi in June 2017.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Zac Greenfield in August 2017. EAD markup completed by Zac Greenfield in August 2017.

Biographical Note

Paul Ceruzzi is Curator of aerospace and electronics at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Dr. Ceruzzi attended Yale University and the University of Kansas, acquiring his PhD in American Studies in 1981. He has authored or co-authored several books in addition to "Internet Alley," such as "Computing, A Concise History" and "Beyond the Limits: Flight Enters the Computer Age," among many others.

Scope and Content

This collection is an extensive gathering of local Fairfax County history as it relates to the development of computational technology in the Northern Virginia region. There is a lot of military history from the Cold War, weapons development programs, as well as the development of the public face of the Internet. Dr. Ceruzzi's research ranged from the development of Tysons Corner as a small hamlet to the bustling office and shopping center it eventually became. His work collected here shows the many aspects of Northern Virginia that were involved not only in the growth of the Internet and the local region as a suburb of D.C. but also the constant presence of military and government officials, some less subtle than others. The collection is made up of research papers, declassified military intelligence documents, research done by the various contractor corporations that were drawn to the region, and interviews with prominent individuals, such as Til Hazel and George Johnson, former president of George Mason University. Also included were several empty folders, which have been removed from the collection. The titles of these folders were "NSFnet, circa 1995," "Radio Tower" and "Tower Pix."

The collection is made up of papers, photographs, maps, and newspapers.

Arrangement

Arranged mostly alphabetically, kept in original order.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center also holds the papers of other Northern Virginia development projects, including several on Reston, such as the Planned Community Archives Collection and the Northern Virginia oral history collection, as well as several others.

Index Terms

Persons:

• Hazel, Til.
• Johnson, George W., 1928-2017

Geographical Names

• Virginia, Northern--History, Local.
• Virginia, Northern--Maps.

Subjects:

• Cold war.
• Military intelligence--United States.
• Technology.
• Zoning--Virginia--Fairfax.