Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1917

[E1715-F] (E-17-15) Cement House

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to Edison's widely publicized poured concrete house. Included is correspondence between Frank D. Lambie and Edison's personal assistant, William H. Meadowcroft, regarding the organization of a company to promote the concrete house and Edison's refusal to allow his name to be used in connection with the enterprise. Other correspondents include potential investor Sheldon H. Bassett of the Knickerbocker Portland Cement Co., who inquires about the feasibility of Lambie's ideas, and John B. Trainer, trustee of municipal hospitals in Fall River, Massachusetts, who writes about the use of concrete in institutional buildings. Some of the letters contain comments by Edison regarding his interest in seeing his idea developed by others, such as Lambie and Charles H. Ingersoll, rather than pursuing it himself.

Approximately 30 percent of the documents have been selected, including all items bearing Edison marginalia or receiving a reply from Edison. The unselected documents include unsolicited inquiries and suggestions, some relating to the need for reconstruction in Europe when the war ended. Also unselected are form-letter replies referring the writer to Lambie.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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