Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1918

[E1885-F] (E-18-85) West Orange Laboratory

This folder contains administrative and experimental records relating to Edison's principal research facilities in West Orange, New Jersey. Among the documents for 1918 is a letter from Edison's assistant William H. Meadowcroft to Alfred D. Flinn of The Engineering Foundation explaining the unique style of research at the Edison laboratory. Also included are items pertaining to a quasi-military organization of laboratory workers for war-related fund-raising efforts; the construction of additional washroom facilities for female employees; and work on the nickel hydroxide used in storage batteries. A letter from Meadowcroft to John W. Lieb of the New York Edison Co. (NYECo) mentions the contributions of NYECo employees Irving M. Stein and William G. Walker to Edison's wartime research and requests permission for Edison employee S. G. Langley to view the testing instruments at the company's laboratory "to have the benefit of some modern methods in fixing up his Research Laboratory for Mr. Edison's work."

Approximately 10 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected items relate to operational matters rather than to experimental work, including administrative, financial, and technical documents on maintenance, fire protection, insurance, boilers, steam and power, labor expenses, safety, books, equipment and supplies, and accounts. Also not selected are unsigned technical drawings for a new powerhouse, electric circuit lists and plans for certain buildings, and a few items pertaining to Edison's plants in Silver Lake, New Jersey.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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