R.R. Wright collection of RCA ephemera
Creation: 1940-1973Abstract
R.R. Wright (1913-2009) was an employee of the RCA Corporation, one of the country's leading manufacturers and vendors of radios, televisions, and consumer electronics products. This is a small collection of ephemera Wright preserved throughout his thirty-three year long career with the company. Included are sample publications, manuals, stationery and small artifacts with RCA logos or advertising.
Dates
- Creation: 1940-1973
Creator
- Wright, Richard R., 1913-2009 (Person)
Extent
0.5 Linear Foot
Biographical Note
R.R. Wright (1913-2009) was an employee of the RCA Corporation, one of the country's leading manufacturers and vendors of radios, televisions, and consumer electronics products. Richard Ridgway Wright, the son of Henry Hall "Harry" Wright (1881-1956) and Mary Satterthwaite "May" Ridgway (1885-1975), was born at the Wright family's ancestral homestead "Merino Hill" in Wrightsville, New Jersey. He was a descendent of West Jersey pioneer Quaker families and the great-grandson of Philadelphia merchant and entrepreneur Samuel Gardiner Wright (1781-1845), who built "Merino Hill" in the early nineteenth century. Beginning in 1940, R.R. Wright worked in the model shop at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, later the David Sarnoff Research Center. In 1959, he was assigned to the new Astro-Electronics Division, which was involved in the design of satellites and their components and was part of the team that developed the first TIROS-1 weather satellite. Wright retired in 1973, and died in Crosswicks, New Jersey in 2009.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of items Wright collected during his career at RCA Laboratories, such as a variety of small artifacts. A few of the more unique artifacts are a pair of earrings shaped like the TIROS satellite and a ceramic ashtray advertising Radio City Music Hall. The collection also contains a variety of product manuals and pocket reference books, including ones for the RCA Photophone movie soundtrack system and early models of black and white television sets. Recorded in the calendar notebooks is a directory of company divisions and officers and NBC radio and television stations.
Access restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- R.R. Wright collection of RCA ephemera
- Author:
- Christopher T. Baer
- Date:
- 2014
- 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
