General Radio Company history
Creation: 1987-2007 Creation: Majority of material found within 1987-1993Abstract
The General Radio Company was incorporated in 1915, in Cambridge, Massachussets by Melville Eastham (1885-1964), and was famed for their development and manufacture of electronic instruments, test equipment, laboratory standards throughout the twentieth century. The General Radio Company History materials largely document the efforts to write a synthetic history of the General Radio Company in the late 1980s and early 1990s, supported by the IEEE History Center. While Joseph F. Keithley headed the project, it was conceived as a collaborative endeavor with various persons each writing a chapter on their topic of specialty. Additionally, there is a large binder labeled, “Company Data” containing alphabetically organized information about other firms involved in the manufacture and development of precision measuring instruments over the course of the twentieth century.
Dates
- Creation: 1987-2007
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1987-1993
Creator
- General Radio Company (Organization)
- IEEE History Center (Collector, Organization)
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Historical Note
The General Radio Company was known for their development and manufacture of electronic instruments, test equipment, laboratory standards throughout the twentieth century. The General Radio Company was incorporated in 1915, in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Melville Eastham (1885-1964). Eastham’s venture quickly turned prosperous due to increased demand for radio equipment in World War I, including portable wave meters and crystal sets. The firm’s first contract was to design and build a synchronous rectifier for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, meant to help preserve communications with war-torn Europe. General Electric Company and the National Bureau of Standards were soon also clients. After the close of World War I, General Radio would build components for home radio receiver building, a brief fad for domestic radio hams. In the mid-late twenties, General Radio changed its emphasis to measurement instruments, launching the cathode ray oscilloscope. This shift from direct-to-consumer-sales toward industrial interests allowed them to survive the Great Depression. The Second World War was as good for business as the first had been; Eastham himself was head of the team developing the radio navigation system LORAN at the Radiation Laboratory of MIT during the war years.
In the postwar period, General Radio Company moved their headquarters to West Concord, Massachusetts. There, they pioneered automatic test equipment technologies, including testers for printed circuit boards, electrical component measuring equipment, sound and vibration measurement, and RLC standards (electrical circuit of resistor, inductor and capacitor). After going public in 1986, the company struggled to stay competitive and began a period of growing losses. In 1991, General Radio spun off the standards and tech equipment departments into QuadTech company. QuadTech itself struggled, and in 2000, they sold the General Radio standards to IET labs. As of 2016, IET Labs still manufactures and services both original and updated versions of General Radio’s metrology related products. These include the Standards and Decades products (Resistance, Capacitance, Inductance), Digibridges, Megohmmeters, Audio products, and Strobotac lines. Meanwhile, the General Radio Company was acquired by Teradyne Technologies, Inc. in 2001, and moved their headquarters to North Reading, Massachusetts.
Arrangement
The General Company Radio History organization reflects the order and arrangement of the two original binders that held most of the material. Otherwise, the folders are arranged alphabetically by topic, and chronologically within each folder.
Scope and Content
The General Radio Company History materials largely document the efforts to write a synthetic history of the General Radio Company in the late 1980s and early 1990s, supported by the IEEE History Center. While Joseph F. Keithley headed the project, it was conceived as a collaborative endeavor with various persons each writing a chapter on their topic of specialty. One folder documents the correspondence between Keithley and various authors, coordinating and drafting the book. There appears to have been a partial book draft, missing many chapters, contained in a binder from 1992, with more presumed chapter drafts outside the binder as well. Finally, there was a large binder, now split into four folders, entitled “Company Data.” This binder held alphabetically organized information about other firms involved in the manufacture and development of precision measuring instruments over the course of the twentieth century.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions on use.
Language of Materials
English
Additional Description
Provenance
Donated by H.P. Hall to the IEEE History Center, December 2007. Donated by the IEEE History Center to Hagley, January 2008.
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- General Radio Company history
- Author:
- Anastasia Day
- Date:
- 2016
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
