Robert Randolph McDonald Papers
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of documents, newspaper articles, and pictures that chronicle the life of Robert Randlph McDonald and his invention, the "Gravigate." This includes pictures, schematics, the original patent, and a video explaining its mechanical operation.
Dates
- Creation: June 5, 1910 to April 3, 1995
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
McDonald attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, from 1928 to 1932. He was called to active military service in 1940 and served in England and North Africa before being transferred to the States. After the war, he remained in the Army, serving in Tokyo, Korea, and West Germany as well as the United States. He retired from the Army in 1960 with the rank of Lt. Col. and worked in civil defense and security in California until 1974. In 1975, he patented the "Gravigate," an electromagnetically controlled security gate mechanism.
Full Extent
0.25 Cubic Feet (1/2 doc box )
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This finding aid is organized by accessions. Each accession represents an addition to the collection. Each accession also represents a transfer of physical and legal custody of archival materials from the donor(s) to Auburn University Special Collections and Archives.
Processing Information
Accession 94-110 and 94-129 processed by Kenny B. Moore, 1995. Finding aid entered into ArchivesSpace by Shelby Strozier, 2024. Finding aid edited by Abbott Kleiner and Joanna Ashley, 07/2026.
- Title
- Guide to the Robert Randolph McDonald Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Subtitle
- Record group #0971
- Author
- Kenny B. Moore
- Date
- April 3, 1995
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Auburn University Special Collections and Archives Repository
Auburn University
Ralph Brown Draughon Library
231 Mell Street
Auburn Alabama 36849
334-844-1732
archives@auburn.edu
