Skip to main content

Eiichiro Honma papers

 Collection
Identifier: MC-0721

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials produced by Honma both during and following his time as a student at MIT.

Dates

  • circa 1868 to 1930

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open.

Conditions Governing Use

Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.

Biographical Note

Eiichiro Honma (1853 - 1927) was the first student from Japan to earn a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His home on entrance is listed as Fukuoka, Japan. He was sent by the Japanese government to Boston around 1867 and entered MIT in 1870 graduating in 1874 with the S.B. in Civil Engineering before being called home by the Japanese government in May 1874.

The title of his 1874 MIT thesis is "Design of an Iron Warren Girder Railroad Bridge".

On returning to Japan Honma played an essential role in developing Japanese railways in the late 19th century. MIT class reunion books list his occupation as civil engineer, Chief Engineer of Ashio Railway Co. of Tokyo, Japan.

Honma's name was recorded as Aechirau Hongma in MIT publications, registrar's records, and some of his English language correspondence. His name was also spelled Hongma Eigh-Ichi-Raw.

Extent

0.4 Cubic Feet (2 manuscript boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Japanese

Physical Location

Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.

Provenance

The materials were donated by family descendents and transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Masanori Nagashima (MIT M.ArchAS, 1976) in October 2015 and May 2016.

Related Materials

The Boston Museum of Fine Art (Boston, Massachusetts) of Eiichiro Honma. He is photographed with two others, he is on the right in the photograph.

Railway Museum, Japan

Processing Information note

Some collection descriptions are based on legacy data and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. Description may change pending verification. Please contact the MIT Department of Distinctive Collections if you notice any errors or discrepancies.

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository

Contact:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US