The Marshall W. Hanks Papers is a small collection with very complete documentation on the interesting but unsuccessful work done on the Nernst Lamp. Unfortunately there is virtually no personal information about Hanks or his family. Also missing is any information about his professional career for the years between his work with the Nernst Lamp Company and his work with the U.S. Navy Aircraft Division during World War I and for his career after that time. Some of his activities can be gleaned, however, from a list of patents which he held prior to 1939.
The collection consists of general information about the development of the Nernst lamp, business and technical correspondence, reports, theses, experimental data, and miscellany. The collection is organized as Background Information, Westinghouse Company Correspondence, Experimental Data, Patents, and Navy Material. In addition to the archival collection, the Historical Museum Museum holds several Nernst Lamps and lamp parts and an electric boat controller invented by Hanks.
The Background Information consists of pamphlets, clippings, a history, a catalog and price list, publications of the Nernst Lamp Company, and a clipping from a Madison newspaper about Hanks' association with the company.
The Westinghouse Company Correspondence is divided into five subject categories and then arranged chronologically. The personal business file includes incoming and outgoing correspondence relating to salary and personnel matters, a 1900 contract, and information on Hanks' health. The file of general reports includes exchanges of information between Hanks and other developers about their work and some instructions from Westinghouse for a trip Hanks made to Europe in regard to patents and technical matters in 1900. Also included here are several narrative papers and reports by Hanks. The Canadian factory file contains letters concerning costs and equipment needed for starting a Canadian factory for Nernst Lamps. The Texas Mine subdivision contains a 1915 request for information about this mine which Hanks operated for the company (1903-1904) and his reply and related data concerning drilling results and the chemical composition of Yttrium and Zirconium compounds. The miscellaneous file contains a short note dated May 26, 1903 from Nernst himself, several cartoons, and two 1905 letters from Edward Bennett.
The Experimental Data is divided into two categories: raw data, papers, graphs, and charts and a second file of related papers and theses. The experimental data dates from 1898 to 1903 and deals with all aspects of the lamp, its parts, production, efficiency, and characteristics. This file has not been weeded or rearranged in the Archives. The second file contains papers concerning the Nernst lamp, several of which concern experimentation done at the University of Wisconsin and which appear to have been edited by Hanks.
The Patent files are divided into two categories: those of Marshall W. Hanks and related patents held by others. Hanks' file contains a list of patents issued to him between 1898 and 1939, plus twenty-four numerically arranged patent papers (three complete with seals). The related patents, which pertain to several of his colleagues at the Nernst Lamp Company, are arranged alphabetically by inventor.
Navy Material consists of chronologically-arranged reports and letters, 1918-1919, concerning Hanks' work with aircraft material standards and specification for the Bureau of Construction and Repair of the U.S. Navy. They chiefly concern the importance of developing standard sized equipment and standards in manufacturing.
