Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1919

[E1908-F] (E-19-08) Battery, Storage

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to alkaline storage batteries and to the business of the Edison Storage Battery Co. (ESBCo). Among the items for 1919 are letters pertaining to wartime sales to the U.S. government, the possibility of manufacturing Edison batteries in Europe, the use of wind power to recharge batteries, experiments with lithium, and technical education. Also included are a letter from former ESBCo vice president Robert A. Bachman about his work for General Motors Co. and an undated communication from Edison to assistant general manager Leonard W. McChesney about railroad signal batteries. Other correspondents include Thomas R. Briggs of Cornell University, industrialist Charles A. Carlisle, George B. Foster of the Electric Vehicle Association, Czech engineer and former General Electric employee Emil Kolben, Paul de Loye of the French Aviation Mission, and acting Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Approximately 50 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected material includes items duplicating the information in the selected documents, such as replies to incoming letters based on Edison marginalia but not signed by him; correspondence receiving routine replies, some with marginalia indicating that the inquiry referred to lead rather than alkaline batteries; requests for product information; test reports on competing batteries; administrative documents on pay rates and on the return of equipment from boats used for Edison's experiments; and a few unsigned, undated rough sketches of building plans.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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