Herman Hollerith

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Lore & Background

Herman Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1860, where he also spent his early childhood. His parents were German immigrants; his father, Forty-eighter Georg Hollerith, was a school teacher and Lutheran minister from Großfischlingen, Rhineland-Palatinate. He entered the City College of New York in 1875, graduated from the Columbia School of Mines with an Engineer of Mines degree in 1879 at age 19, and, in 1890, earned a Doctor of Philosophy based on his development of the tabulating system. In 1882, Hollerith joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he taught mechanical engineering and conducted his first experiments with punched cards. He eventually moved to Washington, D.C., living in Georgetown with a home on 29th Street and a business building at 31st Street and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, where today there is a commemorative plaque installed by IBM. He died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C., at age 69. At the suggestion of John Shaw Billings, Hollerith developed a mechanism using electrical connections to increment a counter, recording information. A key idea was that a datum could be recorded by the presence or absence of a hole at a specific location on a card. For example, if a specific hole location indicates marital status, then a hole there can indicate married while not having a hole indicates single. Hollerith determined that data in specified locations on a card, arranged in rows and columns, could be counted or sorted electromechanically. A description of this system, An Electric Tabulating System (1889), was submitted by Hollerith to Columbia University as his doctoral thesis. On January 8, 1889, Hollerith was issued U.S. Patent 395,782. Hollerith initially did business under his own name, as The Hollerith Electric Tabulating System, specializing in punched card data processing equipment. He provided tabulators and other machines under contract for the Census Office, which used them for the 1890 census. The net effect of the many changes from the 1880 census: the larger population, the data items to be collected, the Census Bureau headcount, the scheduled publications, and the use of Hollerith's electromechanical tabulators, reduced the time required to process the census from eight years for the 1880 census to six years for the 1890 census. In 1896, Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company (in 1905 renamed The Tabulating Machine Company). Many major census bureaus around the world leased his equipment and purchased his cards, as did major insurance companies. Hollerith's machines were used for censuses in England & Wales, Italy, Germany, Russia, Austria, Canada, France, Norway, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, and again in the 1900 U.S. census. He invented the first automatic card-feed mechanism and the first keypunch. The 1890 Tabulator was hardwired to operate on 1890 Census cards. A control panel in his 1906 Type I Tabulator simplified rewiring for different jobs. The 1920s removable control panel supported prewiring and near instant job changing. These inventions were among the foundations of the data processing industry, and Hollerith's punched cards (later used for computer input/output) continued in use for almost a century. In 1911, four corporations, including Hollerith's firm, were amalgamated to form a fifth company, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Under the presidency of Thomas J. Watson, CTR was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. By 1933 The Tabulating Machine Company name had disappeared as subsidiary companies were subsumed by IBM. Hollerith died November 17, 1929. Hollerith is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Hollerith cards were named after Herman Hollerith, as were Hollerith strings and Hollerith constants. His great-grandson, the Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith IV, was the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and another great-grandson, Randolph Marshall Hollerith, is an Episcopal priest and the dean of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Reader's Guide

Herman Hollerith's significance lies in his invention of the electromechanical punched card tabulating machine, which initiated mechanized binary code and semiautomatic data processing systems. His system, patented in 1884 and refined through the 1890 census, demonstrated the power of using holes in cards to represent data, enabling rapid counting and sorting. This innovation reduced the 1890 U.S. census processing time from eight to six years despite a larger population and more data items. Hollerith's company became part of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911, renamed IBM in 1924, which grew into one of the 20th century's largest corporations. His punched cards, control panels, and keypunch inventions laid foundations for the data processing industry, and his cards continued in use for computer input/output for nearly a century. Hollerith is regarded as one of the seminal figures in the development of data processing, with his legacy including the terms 'Hollerith cards,' 'Hollerith strings,' and 'Hollerith constants.' His great-grandsons include an Episcopal bishop and the dean of Washington National Cathedral.

Did You Know?

• Hollerith was born on February 29, 1860, making his birthday a leap day.
• He earned an Engineer of Mines degree from the Columbia School of Mines in 1879 at age 19.
• His 1890 census tabulators reduced processing time from eight years to six years despite a larger population.
• Hollerith's machines were used for censuses in at least 11 countries including England & Wales, Italy, Germany, Russia, Austria, Canada, France, Norway, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines.
• His great-grandson, Randolph Marshall Hollerith, is the dean of Washington National Cathedral.

From Classroom to Census Bureau

Herman Hollerith's path from immigrant's son to data-processing pioneer was forged through a demanding academic sequence. Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1860 to German immigrant parents, he entered the City College of New York in 1875 and, four years later, graduated from the Columbia School of Mines with an Engineer of Mines degree in 1879 at age 19. In 1882 he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach mechanical engineering, and it was there that he conducted his first experiments with punched cards. He eventually moved to Washington, D.C., living in Georgetown with a home on 29th Street and a business building at 31st Street and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Hollerith had left teaching and began working for the United States Census Bureau in the year he filed his first patent application. Titled "Art of Compiling Statistics", it was filed on September 23, 1884; U.S. Patent 395,782 was granted on January 8, 1889. In 1890, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy based on his development of the tabulating system. He died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C., at age 69 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.

The Punched-Card Revolution

At the suggestion of John Shaw Billings, Hollerith developed a mechanism using electrical connections to increment a counter, recording information. A key idea was that a datum could be recorded by the presence or absence of a hole at a specific location on a card. For example, if a specific hole location indicates marital status, then a hole there can indicate married while not having a hole indicates single. Hollerith determined that data in specified locations on a card, arranged in rows and columns, could be counted or sorted electromechanically. A description of this system, An Electric Tabulating System (1889), was submitted by Hollerith to Columbia University as his doctoral thesis. On January 8, 1889, Hollerith was issued U.S. Patent 395,782, claim 2 of which reads: 'The herein-described method of compiling statistics, which consists in recording separate statistical items pertaining to the individual by holes or combinations of holes punched in sheets of electrically non-conducting material, and bearing a specific relation to each other and to a standard, and then counting or tallying such statistical items separately or in combination by means of mechanical counters operated by electro-magnets the circuits through which are controlled by the perforated sheets, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.' He invented the first automatic card-feed mechanism and the first keypunch. The 1890 Tabulator was hardwired to operate on 1890 Census cards. A control panel in his 1906 Type I Tabulator simplified rewiring for different jobs. The 1920s removable control panel supported prewiring and near instant job changing.

A Century of Punched Cards

The practical impact of Hollerith's machines was immediate and global. The 1890 U.S. census, processed with his tabulators, cut the tallying period from the eight years needed for 1880 down to six years. By 1896 he had founded the Tabulating Machine Company (in 1905 renamed The Tabulating Machine Company), and his equipment was leased by census bureaus across England & Wales, Italy, Germany, Russia, Austria, Canada, France, Norway, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, as well as by major insurance companies. The 1900 U.S. census again relied on his machines. In 1911, four corporations, including Hollerith's firm, were amalgamated to form a fifth company, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Under the presidency of Thomas J. Watson, CTR was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. By 1933 The Tabulating Machine Company name had disappeared as subsidiary companies were subsumed by IBM. Hollerith's punched cards, later adopted for computer input and output, remained in widespread use for almost a century, and terms such as Hollerith cards, Hollerith strings, and Hollerith constants carried his name into the technical vocabulary of the data-processing industry.

Roots, Home, and Remembrance

Hollerith's personal story was inseparable from his family's German heritage. His father, Georg Hollerith, was a Forty-eighter emigrant from Großfischlingen, Rhineland-Palatinate, who worked as both a school teacher and a Lutheran minister. Herman was born on February 29, 1860, in Buffalo, New York, where he also spent his early childhood. In the capital he kept a home on 29th Street in Georgetown and maintained a business building at 31st Street and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; IBM later installed a commemorative plaque at that site. He died of a heart attack on November 17, 1929, at age 69, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. His legacy extended into later generations: his great-grandson, the Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith IV, was the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and another great-grandson, Randolph Marshall Hollerith, is an Episcopal priest and the dean of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.