The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

These documents, which cover the years 1894-1925, relate to Reginald A. Fessenden, a Canadian-born inventor and physicist who served as chief chemist at the West Orange laboratory from 1887 until 1890. Included are items pertaining to Edison's work with x-rays and cement, his wartime experiments with naval submarines and surface vessels, and the selection of a prospective recording artist. In addition to Fessenden and Edison, the correspondents include Arthur E. Kennelly, a prominent electrical engineer who served as Edison's chief electrical assistant from 1887 until 1894; and William H. Meadowcroft, Edison's personal assistant.

Among the items not selected are approximately 110 letters from Kennelly to Fessenden covering the years 1892-1902. These letters relate primarily to personal matters and to scientific projects of mutual interest and contain no substantive discussion of Edison or his laboratory. Also not selected are approximately 20 letters from Meadowcroft to Fessenden, written during 1896-1898 when Meadowcroft was an official in the Edison Decorative and Miniature Lamp Department of the General Electric Co. The letters pertain to Fessenden's order for flourescent screens and Crookes tubes and to the problems that developed in filling that order.