The idea of creating "a library of reference and a chemical museum" in the United States can be found in the Proceedings of the first meeting of the
American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1876. The idea of a Science History Institute dates to 1976, when the
nation's bicentennial and the ACS' centennial stimulated interest in history and chemistry. As part of the ACS centennial activities, John H. Wotiz of its history-of-chemistry division organized a session on the history of chemistry; he was a strong proponent of a national center for historical chemistry.
Center for the History of Chemistry In 1979, the ACS formed a task force chaired by
Ned D. Heindel to look at creating a national center for the history of chemistry. A policy council was appointed by the sponsoring institutions to oversee routine operations of the center, and
Arnold Thackray was appointed part-time director of the center on April 29, 1982. in several vacant basement rooms on the
University of Pennsylvania campus. Its "immediate aims" included gathering oral histories of important chemists and inventorying papers and manuscripts in repositories throughout the country to map "the largely unexplored territory of the history of chemistry and chemical technology." In addition, the institution began to establish relationships with affiliated organizations such as
The Chemists' Club, the
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the
American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, the
Electrochemical Society and the
American Society for Mass Spectrometry. As early as 1983, the Center for the History of Chemistry expressed an interest in "The Conservation of Historic American Chemical Instruments", in discussions of a possible joint project with the
Smithsonian. However, the center did not yet have exhibition or collections space to allow for the acquisition of any but the most limited quantities of documents. The center did curate a number of traveling exhibitions by collaborating with other organizations, including "Joseph Priestley: Enlightened Chemist", "Polymers and People", "Scaling Up", and "Chemical Education in the United States".
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry (BCHOC) During the 1980s, the center came to the attention of
Arnold Orville Beckman. The
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation provided a $2 million challenge grant in 1986 to stimulate expansion of the center as a research institute, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry (BCHOC). Beckman challenged the center to define its mission more broadly, reaching out to academic, professional and trade organizations, and including biochemistry, materials science, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and instrumentation within its mandate. The National Foundation for History of Chemistry was established in 1987 as a supporting Pennsylvania nonprofit. The renamed Beckman Center began a major capital campaign, listing as its needs "offices, an exhibit gallery, a reading room, library stacks, and archives and storage areas." It celebrated its inauguration on November 5, 1987. With support from the American Chemical Society's "Campaign for Chemistry", the center was able to move to 3401 Walnut Street, on the University of Pennsylvania campus, as of March 9, 1988.
Othmer Library of Chemical History In 1989, the center received a further challenge grant, this time from
Donald F. Othmer and his wife, Mildred Topp Othmer. Donald Othmer was a quiet chemical engineering professor from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The Othmers donated $5 million towards the creation of the Othmer Library of Chemical History. Again, efforts to match the grant were supported by the National Foundation for History of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society's Campaign for Chemistry. The new library was further supported by the donation of 8,500 monographs, textbooks and reference works from
The Chemists' Club of New York.
Chemical Heritage Foundation On July 1, 1992, the National Foundation for History of Chemistry changed its name to the Chemical Heritage Foundation, in recognition of the international nature of chemical history. By 1994, the organization was searching for a permanent home for the Beckman Center and Othmer Library. One candidate was the
First National Bank building at 315 Chestnut Street, an
1866 masonry-and-brick structure with a two-story
Palazzo facade. The institution bought the bank building and nearby property in 1995, in part with a matching grant from Donald Othmer. Soon afterward, its endowment was expanded by a bequest from Othmer's estate. The buildings were renovated by Richard Conway Meyer over the next few years. Phase 1, providing temporary office space and book storage, was completed in 1998. Phase 2, a move to more permanent facilities, was completed in 2000. Phase 3, construction of the adjoining Ullyot conference space for meetings and events, began soon after.
Creating a public museum Acquisition of a permanent building finally made it possible for the institution to develop "a public museum and display area". One possible focus was the history of instrumentation. As early as 1989, the Beckman Center had requested the loan or gift of
Beckman Instruments such as the Beckman
pH meter and the
DU spectrophotometer for display at the center. Some of those instruments were included in an instrumentation exhibition organized by W. Richard Howe of the University of Pittsburgh for the
Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (PITTCON) in 1994, and expanded in 1999. In the early 1990s, inspired by John Ferraro, a committee was formed within the
Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS), to pursue the creation of an instrumentation museum. Edward Brame and other members of that committee connected with Arnold Thackray and formed the nucleus of the institution's Chemical Instrumentation Museum Group (CIMG) in 1994. In 1997, on the recommendation of the CIMG, the Chemical Heritage Foundation's board approved a collections policy for the acquisition of "historically significant chemical instruments and apparatus". Instrumentation, however, was only one of several areas of interest as the institution began to expand its collections.
Alchemical collections The Science History Institute is particularly interested in the origins of early science and chemistry. Its varied holdings have considerable depth both in alchemical books and fine-art depictions of early modern alchemists. Chester Garfield Fisher, founder of
Fisher Scientific, started collecting alchemical art in the 1920s. In 2000, his collection of alchemical paintings was donated by Fisher Scientific International to the Chemical Heritage Foundation. In 2002, the institution received another gift from Roy Eddleman, founder of Spectrum Laboratories, whose collection contained paintings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Together, the two collections contain more than 90 paintings and 200 works on paper illustrating the work of alchemists and their influence on the development of chemistry as a science.
Instrument collections The Chemical Heritage Foundation's collections include such pioneering and landmark instruments as a 1934
Beckman Model G pH Meter, a
DuPont 900 Differential Thermal Analyzer, an early custom Electro-spray Ionization Mass Spectrometer used by
John B. Fenn, In 2002, the institution was given hundreds of
instruments by Stephen P. DeFalco, president of
PerkinElmer, after the company closed a plant in Überlingen, Germany. In 2004, a list of "50 Instruments That Changed the World" was identified as a basis for further expansion. In 2008, the institution released a list of its ten most wanted instruments.
The Arnold O. Beckman Permanent Exhibit and the Clifford C. Hach Gallery As early as 1996, the Chemical Heritage Foundation had envisioned a broadly-based museum of chemical progress in which instruments would have "a major, but not exclusive role". That vision was followed when Peter Saylor of
Dagit•Saylor Architects created the public museum and conference space. The Arnold O. Beckman Permanent Exhibit and the Clifford C. Hach Gallery for rotating exhibitions opened in 2008. The
Arnold O. Beckman permanent exhibition,
Making Modernity, was designed by
Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The exhibition is organized around thematic arcs illustrative of the history of science, particularly chemistry. Displays include the influence of alchemy in early chemistry, the development of the first plastics, the development of brilliantly colored synthetic dyes, scientific advocacy for public health in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the teaching of chemistry through books and chemistry sets.
Science History Institute On December 1, 2015, the Chemical Heritage Foundation merged with the
Life Sciences Foundation, also founded by Arnold Thackray. Thackray was succeeded by
Thomas R. Tritton, under whose leadership (2008–2013) the history of science museum opened to the public in its present location, and the fellowship program expanded. Following a global search,
Carsten Reinhardt, a professor of the history of science from
Bielefeld University, Germany, was chosen in August 2013 as president and CEO of the organization. In 2016, Reinhardt returned to Germany, and his place was taken by interim president
Robert G. W. Anderson. On January 11, 2017, it was announced that Anderson would take the job permanently. As of May 20, 2020, David Allen Cole, previously executive director of the
Hagley Museum and Library, became president and CEO. File:Arnold Thackray at podium ID2005.jpg|Arnold Thackray File:TomTritton 2011 Heritage Day.jpg|Tom Tritton File:Carsten Reinhardt 018.JPG|Carsten Reinhardt File:Robert Anderson Historian MoMM DL 036.JPG|Robert Anderson ==Collections==