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Television

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 31 Collections and/or Records:

Albert Rose papers, 1926-1974

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-10.-II.
Scope and Content:

The Albert Rose papers include figures and lab notes, correspondence, and technical papers related to Rose’s work on picture tubes and photoconductivity at the David Sarnoff Research Center.

The Albert Rose photographs focus on the development and testing for television picture quality including the orthicon, super xx film, electron images, optical images, low velocity scanning electron microscope images, and direct light spot scanning. As well as electron beam paths in cylindrical negative fields and around horseshoe magnets.

Fifty-eight of Rose's lab notebooks (1935-1958) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1926-1974

Alexander Magoun advertising collection

 Collection
Accession: 2464-81
Abstract:

Alexander Magoun was the curator for the David Sarnoff Library from 1998 until 2000. After earning his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Maryland in 2000, he led the David Sarnoff Library as the Executive Director from 2000 until 2009. This collection includes advertisements from RCA and other companies for radios, televisions, phonographs, and other consumer electronics.

Dates: 1888-1989

Bernard J. Lechner papers, 1952-2003

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-20.
Scope and Content:

The collection primarily documents Lechner's research on high-definition television (HDTV) and his work on standards committees. Additionally, materials cover his work in other areas of television research, including video recorders, two-way cable TV services, TV tuners, and broadcast cameras.

Photographs and videocassettes in the collection depict thin film transistor liquid crystal display technology, color images of TFT-LCD screens, black and white images of an experimental model TFT-LCD system, and game testing on circular monitor for Mattel-96-Space War and Pong.

Three of Lechner's lab notebooks (1957-1959) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1952-2003

Bruce J. Anderson notebooks, 1993-1995

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-12.-I.
Scope and Content:

The Bruce J. Anderson notebooks consist of professional notebooks from September of 1993 until May of 1995. Within the notebooks are meeting minutes, notes, project schedules, researcher contact information, vendor information, and diagrams. The notes are related to projects involving video formats, television transmitters and receivers, console electronics, and graphic chips. Also included are meeting notes and information related to Argonaut, a British video game developer.

Dates: 1993-1995

Charles M. Wine papers, 1953-2001

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-7.-V.
Scope and Content:

Charles Wine's papers include information about patents awarded to Wine and other scientists whose patents were relevant to his; the Cole Patent, over which RCA unsuccessfully sued several companies for infringement; various resources RCA's scientists used during the invention process; projects sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and Wine's Identity Controller Utility (ICU.)

Of particular value are the papers documenting the DSRC's unsuccessful attempt to develop a virtual reality video game console in the 1990s (see Subseries F.).

Eight of Wine's lab notebooks (1959-1988) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1953-2001

David Sarnoff papers

 Collection
Accession: 2464-55
Abstract:

David Sarnoff (1891-1971) was the iconic leader of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of the company's history. For many years the only Jewish executive in the communications field, Sarnoff was highly influential in the development of radio and television. The focus of the David Sarnoff papers is the original David Sarnoff Collection assembled by Sarnoff to celebrate his career. However, the papers also include the extensive photographic, publicity, and administrative files created by his staff at RCA and a substantial audiovisual component.

Dates: 1871-1983

DuPont Company Atlantic City exhibit photographs

 Collection
Accession: 1973-278
Abstract:

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The company was established in 1802 and began with the production of gunpowder. Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, the company shifted its focus away from gunpowder production and towards chemistry innovations. This collection contains twenty photographs of DuPont Company exhibits and exhibit areas in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, as well as exterior views in the vicinity of the Hall and views of the boardwalk at North Carolina Avenue. Chalfonte-Haddon Hall was a hotel and convention center that had its start as two Quaker boarding houses built in the 1860s.

Dates: 1948-1954

Edward C. Fox papers, 1957-1999

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-7.-II.
Scope and Content:

The Edward C. Fox papers are composed of detailed daily work diaries, materials related to Fox’s patents, reports, and workplace-related announcements from his tenure at DSRC. The majority of the materials date from the 1980s and 1990s when Fox was working on improving sound reception in ADTV (advanced digital television).

Fifty-seven of Fox's lab notebooks (1957-1987) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1957-1999

Edward G. Ramberg papers, 1935-1980

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-10.-I.
Scope and Content:

The Edward Ramberg papers consist mainly of Ramberg's technical writings, both internal and external, on electron optics, electron microscopy, television, and other topics. It also includes many of his translations of German publications on related subjects.

147 of Ramberg's lab notebooks (1935-1972) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1935-1980

Fred L. Bechly papers

 Collection
Accession: 2586
Abstract:

Fred L. Bechly (1924-2004) was an electrical engineer who worked for RCA's Camden, New Jersey, plant, where he aided in the invention of the Tricolor Kinescope Monitor, which became the standard for color television. His papers describe his work with RCA in television and video recording from 1944 to 1983.

Dates: 1944-2004

Glenn A. Reitmeier papers, 1989-2003

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-7.-I.
Scope and Content:

The Glenn Reitmeier papers are a digital collection of emails, scans of memos and faxes, meeting notes, agendas, presentations, data tables, and even press clippings related to Reitmeier’s activities, forwarded by email or gleaned from the internet.

The collection follows Reitmeier’s role in creating commercially viable digital high definition television technology, standards, and hardware. The papers begin with materials from the Advanced Television Research Consortium (ATRC), which he led from his position at Sarnoff from 1989 until 1993. The bulk of the Reitmeier papers come from his time in the Grand Alliance from 1993 to 1996. Finally, there are materials from the immediate aftermath of the Grand Alliance including marketing plans for making HDTV profitable and business deals with Japanese manufacturers. The papers do not just represent the technical activities of Reitmeier’s career, however; there are also materials tracking the extensive political debates about standardizing and developing HDTV technology (for example, an email responding to Martin Scorsese's public critiques of the GA) and presentations given at various conferences and technology summits.

The Reitmeier papers are especially important for the inside look they offer into the regulatory process as a collaboration between government and various industries: electronics, consumer electronics, broadcasters, Hollywood, computing and other industries are all players in this story. Historians of technological development and path-dependency might be especially interested in the debate over interlace versus progressive scanning and transmission in HDTV. The co-creation of MPEG standards along with HDTV, told in both the first and second subseries, is another important story for those looking at the relationship between engineering, innovation, policy, and standardization.

One of Reitmeier's lab notebooks (1977-1979) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1989-2003

Irwin Gordon papers, 1945-1989

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-9.-II.
Scope and Content:

The Irwin Gordon papers are composed of records generated by Gordon during his 35-year career at RCA Laboratories. They encompass laboratory reports and findings, as well as a number of papers he authored. They also include background and research materials, such as journal articles and technical reports, and manuals for radios, televisions, and tape recorders. Several awards and an invention disclosure reflect his achievements at RCA Labs, and a small collection of ephemera – RCA flight operations, concessions tickets from lab picnics, a Christmas card from RCA Japan, and “bag-velopes” – offers a glimpse of everyday life at the corporation.

Forty-seven of Gordon's lab notebooks (1952-1987) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1945-1989

James Carnes papers, 1984-1998

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-1.-III.
Scope and Content:

The papers of James Carnes not only explain activities at the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC) affecting the original mission of the company as it evolved in the 1980s, but also alludes to the sale of RCA to General Electric, and the subsequent break up of RCA's various operations. The DSRC was donated to SRI International and had to adjust to competing with other research companies for contracts.

James Carnes led the David Sarnoff Research Center into the twenty-first century. His past focus on television as a scientist bode well for the DSRC as he helped develop high definition television and worked to produce wide screen technology. Carnes's papers allude to how the labs retooled to accommodate the company's new focus.

The photographic portion of this collection contains 35mm color slides as well as a few black and white photographs. These show presentation material about digital video interactive technology (DVI), CD Rom and AC-TV, as well as material from various units including the Consumer Electronics and Information Sciences Division, the Manufacturing and Materials Research Division, and the Consumer Software and Software Technology Research Groups.

Twelve of his lab notebooks (1966-1986) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1984-1998

Jeremy Pollack photographs, 1993-2003

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-7.-III.
Scope and Content:

These photographs, papers, and CD's deal with Mr. Pollack's career at RCA and a Grand Alliance Reunion in 2003. The first group of images and papers document a trip Pollack made to Beijing in 1993 to discuss and demonstrate AD-HDTV (advanced digital high definition television).The Grand Alliance 10 Year Reunion was held in Washington, D.C. the file contains two CD-R's and documents that provide details about the event including time, location, schedule, and a list of Grand Alliance members.

Two of Pollack's lab notebooks (1978-1987) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1993-2003

Leslie E. Flory papers, 1936-1995

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-6.-II.
Scope and Content:

The papers of Leslie Flory includes basic information about early television and a history of television from the early days with a focus on television cameras and receivers. They also describe his early experiments with a number of diverse electronic products.

The photographs in this collection include images of medical technology including the pacemaker, incubators, and radio pill capsules. There are also images from the electronic highway project that Flory worked on in the 1960s.

Six of Flory's lab notebooks (1939-1957) and one of his patent disclosure books (1939-1943) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1936-1995

Nicholas F. Pensiero collection of RCA Victor photographs

 Collection
Accession: 1996-211
Abstract:

RCA Victor was an American electronics company. Nicholas F. Pensiero (1918-2003) worked for RCA's Marketing Division. This collection contains sixteen photographs in which Gladys McHugh is the model posed using RCA Victor appliances. The remainder of the photos are candids, some taken inside or near RCA offices.

Dates: 1935-1945

Philip M. Heyman papers, 1980-2002

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-18.
Scope and Content:

The documents in the Philip M. Heyman papers describe the development with Thomson Consumer Electronics of a picture tube named Eagle, which was intended to prevent noise from vibrations in tubes used for generating audio/visual sound and display. Scientists named the noise microphonics. In addition, the papers explain the work of Heyman and his team to develop flat screen televisions, as well as describe the complexity of flat screen TV.

Seventeen of Heyman's lab notebooks (1963-1982) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1980-2002

R. Kenyon Kilbon collection, 1919-1965

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-19.
Scope and Content:

The R. Kenyon Kilbon collection consists of drafts and research relating to his unpublished history of RCA research. Most importantly, it contains files from the papers of Research Director Ralph R. Beal that provide insight into RCA’s research and development during the 1930s and 1940s.

Dates: 1919-1965

Radio Corporation of America photographs

 Collection
Accession: 1995-292
Abstract:

Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was incorporated in 1919, entered the broadcasting field in July 1921 and shortly thereafter began to sell home broadcasting equipment manufactured by GE and Westinghouse. The collection consists of photographs and negatives relating to Radio Corporation of America (RCA), the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was purchased by RCA in 1929, and the RCA-Victor Division of Radio Corporation of America.

Dates: circa 1878-1960

RCA Harrison records

 Collection
Accession: 2464-71
Abstract:

RCA’s plant in Harrison, New Jersey was (originally founded in 1882) was acquired by RCA in 1930 and was the company's primary producer of receiving tubes for consumer, industrial, and defense electronics until the plant closed in 1976. The records consist primarily of the papers of engineers Ralph R. Fichtl (1918-2014) and Otto H. Schade, Sr. (1903-1981) on television and receiving tube development. Files include reports, ephemera, photographs, patents, and correspondence on their work and RCA Harrison in general.

Dates: 1924-1987

RCA News and Information Department photographs

 Collection
Accession: 2464-68
Abstract:

The RCA News and Information Department served a public affairs role for RCA corporate headquarters at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The collection contains photographs and negatives created or commissioned by RCA that document much of RCA’s history and activities. Many of the photographs were organized by the News and Information Department into subjects that cover the history of radio, television, communications, and consumer electronics, with a particular emphasis on RCA”s role in that history. Additional photographs are grouped by RCA division and document their specific achievements, with the RCA laboratories being especially prominent. This collection also contains a large number of photographic negatives that were taken by the public relations firm, Carl Byoir & Associates, which showcase many of RCA’s products, events, and facilities.

Dates: 1860-1985; Majority of material found within 1900-1983

RCA product information

 Collection
Accession: 2464-77
Abstract:

The Radio Corporation of America (renamed RCA Corporation in 1969) was best known for its pioneering radio and television development and manufacturing. In addition to consumer electronics, RCA was a major player in the development of electronics for industrial and military applications. The collection contains extensive documentation of RCA’s consumer and industrial products and components. Files include manuals, technical data, advertisements, technical bulletins, catalogs, and training materials.

Dates: 1904-1994

RCA Victor Camden/Frederick O. Barnum III collection

 Collection
Accession: 2069
Abstract:

For over fifty years the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was one of the country's leading manufacturers and vendors of radios, phonographs, televisions, and a wide array of consumer and military electronics products. The records of the RCA Corporation consist of three series: Secretary's files; B.L. Aldridge files; and the Camden Technical Library files. The collection is largely RCA technical reports, standards, engineering notebooks, manuals and miscellaneous publications. The Secretary's files document the formation of RCA. Aldridge's files deal almost entirely with the history of the Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA-Victor and the Camden Plant.

Dates: 1887-1983; Majority of material found within 1914-1968

RCA/Thomson Lancaster records

 Collection
Accession: 2464-74
Abstract:

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA)’s Picture Tube Division, later known as the Video Component and Display Division, was headquartered at a research and production facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1987, the French firm Thomson Consumer Electronics acquired RCA’s consumer electronics business, including the Lancaster plant, and operated the facility until Thomson shut down its consumer electronics operations in 2005. Materials in the collection document a diverse array of activities at the RCA/Thomson Lancaster plant between the facility’s early days of operation and its closure. Corporate memoranda, correspondence, product technical data, photographs, and audiovisual materials trace the development of RCA/Thomson’s picture tube product line. Corporate publications chronicle major moments in company history.

Dates: 1929-2006

Robert W. Sarnoff papers

 Collection
Accession: 2464-04
Abstract:

Robert W. Sarnoff (1918-1997), son of RCA founder David Sarnoff, became president of NBC in 1956 and succeeded his father as president of RCA in 1965. This collection consists of films, videos and sound recordings dating from 1953 to 1979 documenting the life and career of Robert W. Sarnoff. The collection has been organized into six series: Events, Meetings, Press and media coverage, Speeches, Travel, and General.

Dates: 1944-1979

R.R. Wright collection of RCA ephemera

 Collection
Accession: 2574
Abstract:

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: 1940-1973

Stanley P. Knight papers, 1980-1985

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-12.-II.
Scope and Content:

The Stanley P. Knight papers are composed of Knight’s letterbooks, including memos and notes, from 1980 to 1985.

Dates: 1980-1985

T. Peter Brody papers

 Collection
Accession: 2532
Abstract:

Thomas Peter Brody (1920-2011) was a theoretical physicist whose work in tunnel diodes and semiconductor device theory resulted in numerous electronic uses for thin film technology, eventually leading to his invention of active matrix flat panel display technology, or liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. The collection describes Dr. Brody's education, personal and professional character, scientific achievements, business successes and disappointments, as well as personal praise. Included are lecture notes, private and professional correspondence, research studies, patents, contracts, business records, and other documents related to Dr. Brody's career and the development of LCD technology.

Dates: 1915-2011

Tee Vee Corp. photographs

 Collection
Accession: 2022-220
Abstract:

Tee Vee Corp. was a retail appliance store in California that sold televisions and other household appliances. This small set of photographs shows the Tee Vee Corp store's exterior and interior views.

Dates: 1950s

Television, circa 1930-1976

 Series
Accession: 1995-220Identifier: 1995-220-XIX.
Scope and Contents:

The Television series consists of images of television equipment, components, parts, and details. The series is organized into five subseries: Color Television, Industrial TV equipment, Test charts, Theater Television, TV sets 1930s-1960, and USSR. The materials date from 1930 to 1976. There are some related materials in the Radio/TV broadcasting and the Recorders, projectors, and cameras series.

Dates: circa 1930-1976

Vladimir K. Zworykin papers, 1908-1981

 Series
Accession: 2464-09Identifier: 2464-09-6.-I.
Scope and Content:

The collection includes Dr. Vladimir K. Zworykin's records he created shortly after joining the research division of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1929 through his formal retirement in 1954 as a vice president of RCA Laboratories, and from there through his active post-retirement career. While Zworykin is best known for his work on television during the 1920s and 1930s, the larger part of the collection consists of material documenting Zworykin’s work in medical electronics research and chairmanship of the International Institute for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering.

Zworykin’s papers are composed of his publications, lectures, and other writings; patents and awards conferred; correspondence with domestic and international colleagues related to the span of his research from television to medical technologies; and research materials.

Photographs document Zworykin's career at RCA including work on kinescopes, the electron microscope, television, and other equipment. Audio and video materials contain a documentary of Zworykin's life and interviews about Zworykin with other RCA employees.

Ten of Zworykin's patent disclosure books (1930-1943) can be found in Record group 26.

Dates: 1908-1981