Series 1: WILLIAM J.
HAMMER PAPERS, 1863-1957
This series consists of correspondence, mostly
incoming, from 1879-1935, but also includes diaries, notebooks, biographical
information, patent material, pamphlets, writings by Hammer, and a badge,
1925.
The correspondence consists mostly of letters
to and from Hammer regarding his project of thirty-four years, his Historical
Collection of Incandescent Electric Lamps for which he built a permanent home
in New York City. There are also many letters from companies and businesses,
universities and individuals, for whom Hammer served as a consultant. Some of
Hammer's correspondents were well known scientists of the day: Alexander
Graham Bell, Henri Becquerels, Pierre and Madam Curie, Lord Kelvin, and
Secretary S.P. Langley of the Smithsonian Institution, to mention a few. There
is extensive correspondence related to Hammer's research, including his work
on selenium and radium. Also included is correspondence between Hammer and
professional societies in which he held membership. The correspondence between
1925 and 1935 is devoted to the cataloguing of his collection and to the
establishment of a museum at Dearborn, Michigan, in honor of Thomas A. Edison,
a project Henry Ford agreed to fund.
The correspondence is arranged in two
chronological sub-series: Boxes 1-9, Incoming and outgoing, 1879-1957; and
Boxes 9-10, outgoing, 1902-1928. The reason for this arrangement is not known.
Each document is numbered and a calendar listing of each letter showing names
of correspondents and date has been prepared. In addition, there is a
"Correspondence Description" included in the front of each of two
binders (see "List of
Correspondence" in control file in repository).
Boxes
|
1 - 10
|
CORRESPONDENCE, 1879 - 1957
|
|
11 - 12
|
BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL
|
|
13 - 15
|
NOTEBOOKS & DIARIES
|
|
16 - 18
|
WRITINGS BY HAMMER
|
|
19
|
SECONDARY WRITINGS ABOUT HAMMER
|
|
20
|
HOLBORN VIADUCT PROJECT, LONDON, 1882
|
|
21
|
PATENT MATERIAL
|
|
22
|
ARTIFACTS
|
Series 2: EDISONIA,
1866-1943
This series consists of the following material
about the Edison inventions: announcements; articles; blueprints, copies of
agreements; copies of Edison patents, and other patent materials;
correspondence; data relative to the Edison Central Stations; diagrams; Edison
Pioneer constitution and by-laws; Edison storage battery data; exhibits to
legal cases; excerpts; general inspection reports and suggestions to officers
and Directors of fifteen Edison central Stations; general reference articles
on Edison; invitations; journals; magazines; manuscripts; material on
phonographs; material relative to legal proceedings; memoranda of some central
stations; memoranda on various lamp companies,- Menlo Park data; news
clippings; newspapers; notes; obituaries; pamphlets; speeches; and
testimonies.
Boxes
|
23
|
PEARL STREET STATION, N.Y.
|
| 24 |
"EDISON EFFECT" -
ETHERIC FORCE AND RELATED DATA |
| 25 |
EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY:
LAMPS, DISTRIBUTION |
| 26 |
GENERAL INSPECTION REPORTS |
| 27 |
MENLO
PARK; ELECTRIC TRAIN;
INCANDESCENCE |
| 28 |
NEWSPAPERS: OBITUARIES |
| 29 |
SPEECHES, TESTIMONIALS,
INVITATIONS |
| 30 |
GENERAL REFERENCE, ARTICLES ON
EDISON
|
| 31 |
EDISON STORAGE BATTERY
DATA;
EDISON ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY |
| 32 |
PHONOGRAPHS |
| 33 |
EARLY COMPANIES; MATERIAL
re:
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS MISCELLANEOUS SCRIPTS;
1898 MAP OF BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN |
| 34, 90 |
EDISON'S PATENTS |
| 35-39 |
LITIGATION OF EDISON'S PATENTS |
| 40-41 |
EDISON PIONEERS |
Series 3: REFERENCE
MATERIALS, 1873-1988
This series consists of thirty-four boxes of
reference materials, including advertisements, articles, bulletins, catalogues
and guides, gazettes, journals, pamphlets, news clippings, portraits,
scientific papers, scrapbooks, and theses.
These materials furnish information on many
aspects of electricity including electric lamps, electric trains, electric
railways, electric signs, the domestic application of electricity, and
biographical materials relating to the history of electricity; the Poulsen
telephone; storage batteries; and World Expositions. There is also reference
material on phosphorescence; radium; selenium; U.S. patent specifications and
other patent materials. The last two boxes in the series contain miscellaneous
reference materials.
Boxes
| 42 |
EXPOSITIONS |
| 43 |
WORLD EXPOSITIONS
(CONVENTIONS; EXHIBITIONS) |
| 44,91,95 |
WORLD EXPOSITIONS (PARIS
EXHIBITIONS) |
| 45-47 |
INCANDESCENT LIGHTING
MATERIAL |
| 48 |
ELECTRICITY; LAMPS;
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS |
| 49 |
STORAGE BATTERIES;
ELECTRICAL DEVICES; NEWS
CLIPPINGS |
| 50 |
TELEPHONY: NEWS CLIPPINGS |
| 51 |
DOMESTIC APPLICATION OF
ELECTRICITY:
EARLY HOME APPLIANCES |
| 52-53 |
ELECTRIC RAILWAYS |
| 54 |
ELECTRIC SIGNS |
| 55 |
BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF
ELECTRICITY |
| 56 |
POULSEN: TELEGRAPHONE |
| 57 |
PHOSPHORESCENCE |
| 58-66 |
RADIUM |
| 67-68 |
SELENIUM |
| 69-72 |
PATENT MATERIALS |
| 92 |
SPECIFICATIONS &
DRAWINGS OF DYNAMOS IN GERMANY & FRANCE |
| 73,93 |
MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE
MATERIALS |
Series 4: PHOTOGRAPHS, ca.
1880-1925
The photographs in this series consist of
twenty-three boxes of photographs arranged into three groups: sub-series 1:
Photographs relating to Hammer; sub-series 2: Edisonia photographs; and
sub-series 3: Photographs relating to reference materials. Nine of the
twenty-three boxes in Series 4 are oversized.
Sub-series 1: William J. Hammer Papers
88, 94
Photographs of Hammer, Hammer's
office, various aspects of Hammer's
scientific collections, and Hammer's
Historical Collection of Incandescent Lamps
96
Photographs relating to Hammer's
lectures; photographs of the first
Marine installation, 1880; of Holburn
Viaduct, 1882,- of Berlin, 1883; of
Johnston, PA; and a number of blueprints
Sub-series 2: Edisonia
97
Edison; Sims Edison Electric Torpedo;
Menlo Park; Newark, N.J. Laboratory;
West Orange; Edison Pioneers;
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
(AIEE); and of Edison's Magnetic ore Separator
Sub-series 3: Reference Materials
74,102-103 Generators; motors; electrical
exhibitions;
electric lamp distribution system; electric
railways; electric signs; phonographs
98-99
World Expositions in Berlin, 1883;
Pennsylvania, 1884; St. John, New Brunswick,
Canada, 1888; Paris, 1889; Crystal Palace,
London, 1892; and St. Louis, 1904
75-77
J. Allen Heany Workshop, York,
Pennsylvania
78-80,
100-101 Lamp bulbs, bulbs,
sockets
81
Apparatus for exhibit use
82
Hammer collection of portraits:
album consisting of 57 photographs of
prominent telegraph men; album of
prominent electrical men
Portraits of eminent men of electrical
science:
83
Patrick Alexander to Louis Ducan
84
Justus B. Eantz to George H. Guy
85
James Hamblet to Alexander Loduquine
86
A. MacFarlane to A.A.C. Swinton
87
Glade Tanzelmann to E.L. Zalinski
88
Some photographs of Harmer's Collection of
Incandescent Light Bulbs, 1880-1920
89
Contact prints
104-107 Glass plate negatives (F/O)
