The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

These documents consist primarily of letters and telegrams from Mina Miller Edison to her son Theodore and daughter-in-law Ann. Most of the letters date from the period January-June 1928 and were written from Seminole Lodge, the family's winter home in Fort Myers, Florida. Also included are a letter from September, written during a visit with the Ford family in Dearborn, Michigan, and two letters from November addressed to Theodore and Ann on Monhegan Island, Maine.

The five months that Mina and Thomas spent in Florida during the winter and spring of 1928 was their longest stay up to that point, although they would remain even longer during the winters of 1929, 1930, and 1931. Many of the letters contain comments about Edison's search for a domestic source of rubber. "Father dear thinks he is making great progress on his rubber," Mina writes on March 18; "he has absolutely forgotten everything else unless brought to his attention." In April she remarks that Edison "is absolutely possessed over this rubber question" and "is certainly pushing the rubber idea for all it is worth." A letter written a week before their return to New Jersey quotes Edison as saying that "these months down here had been the happiest he had ever spent." Mina, who assisted her husband in his search for new plants, apparently found her five-month stay in Florida more harried than happy. Her letters contain frequent mention of how busy ("swamped") she has been since her arrival. "This is no longer a place of rest and relaxation," she remarks in one letter, "as father has all these men about him."

The Florida letters also illuminate Mina's active involvement in the civic life of Fort Myers. Included are references to her efforts "to help the blacks at Safety Hill" (the segregated black neighborhood of Fort Myers); her organization of the Fort Myers Roundtable to coordinate the efforts of the town's various civic clubs; her leadership role in the local chapter of the National Plant Flower and Fruit Guild; her interaction with Mrs. John Wood Stewart (Laura S. Stewart), the founder and national president of the Guild; and her attempt to organize a Chautauqua reading circle (later named the Valinda Literary Circle) in Fort Myers. In addition, there are references to improvements at Seminole Lodge, some of them supervised by Mina, including a new laboratory on the other side of MacGregor Ave. to replace the old laboratory being shipped to the Ford Museum; a garage with an apartment above it; a sea wall to prevent flooding; and various landscaping projects such as a rock garden, agara garden, salt water garden, and lily pond. One letter contains derogatory comments about the black men who labored on these projects, noting that she was "driving the men like a slave owner" since otherwise "they simply do nothing."

Other topics mentioned in the Fort Myers correspondence include a visit to Terry Park, the spring training site of the Philadelphia Athletics, to watch the last baseball game of the season. Mina notes that all the local shops are closed for the afternoon in honor of manager Connie Mack "to show their appreciation of his choosing Fort Myers." In addition, there are remarks about a visit by Mina and botanist John K. Small to the mountain estate of retired labor leader Margaret Dreier Robins, whom Mina characterizes as "one of ten of the great women of America"; the construction of an experimental radio station for Edison to keep in touch with his office; and Henry Ford's efforts to secure Edison memorabilia for his museum at Dearborn. (Mina acknowledges that she enjoyed her 1928 visit with the Fords "more than I ever have.")

The letters also contain remarks about the health of various family members, including Thomas Edison, who was suffering from stomach problems but "became immediately better" after hearing news of Theodore's "first patent"; Charles Edison, whose kidney problems led to his hospitalization in March; and Charles'