An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government
organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
A woman operates equipment at the Bureau of Standards. During Hoover's tenure, the bureau became one of the world's largest scientific laboratories.
The original function of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Standards was to ensure consistency in measurement standards. Hoover transformed it into one of the largest and most advanced scientific laboratories in the world. Its researchers studied everything from ceramics to optics and electricity.[i]
“The Bureau sees to it that a yard is a yard and that a pound is a pound… It conducts hundreds of thousands of tests covering a wide variety of materials and devices, all the way from clinical thermometers and radium to cement and full-sized structural beams and columns."
~Herbert Hoover, The Department of Commerce
[i] Hawley, 24; Burner, 161-162; Hoover, Memoirs, Volume 2, 5-6, 73.
Digital Exhibits researched and developed in coordination with History Associates Incorporated
Digital Exhibits researched and developed in coordination with History Associates Incorporated
1401 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Email: research@doc.gov
Monday to Friday
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed on Federal Holidays
General Public - by appointment only
library.doc.gov
An official website of the U.S. Department of Commerce