The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

This collection consists primarily of letters exchanged between Edison and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, along with related correspondence. Many of the typewritten letters are accompanied by drafts in Edison's hand. The documents in this folder are from April-July 1917. They pertain to Edison's work on a method of accurately dropping bombs from airplanes. Included is a letter by Edison requesting the permission of the War Department to allow his nineteen-year-old son Theodore and William H. Knierim, a New York Edison Co. employee assigned to Edison for the duration of the war, to conduct tests at the Mineola airfield on Long Island. Also included is correspondence between Daniels and Secretary of War Newton D. Baker regarding Edison's request, which was apparently granted. A letter by Daniels from April 4 contains references to Reports 22 and 23.