This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to electric lighting and power. Included are items pertaining to the technical and commercial development of the miner's safety lamp, a battery-powered, portable electric lamp for which Edison was awarded the Rathenau Gold Medal from the American Museum of Safety. Also included are references to the history of electric lighting and collections of historic artifacts; an essay by A. K. Baylor opposing government ownership of municipal utilities; and the annual report of the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Co., Ltd. Among the correspondents are members of Edison's technical and administrative staff, including Miller Reese Hutchison, Harry Lanahan, and William H. Meadowcroft. There are also letters from longtime Edison associate William J. Hammer, Edwin W. Rice, Jr., and other representatives of the General Electric Co., and Theodore N. Vail of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co.
Approximately 20 percent of the documents have been selected. The material not selected includes specifications, patent applications, and other documents relating to the development of portable electric lighting in the United States and abroad; letters of transmittal; and unsolicited correspondence receiving no substantive reply from Edison. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.