This folder contains correspondence requesting Edison to write articles, letters from journalists and publishers seeking to interview Edison or solicit statements and photographs for publication, and other documents relating to articles by or about Edison and his inventions. Among the documents for 1916 are items regarding the deaths of Edison associate Jonas Walter Aylsworth and Canadian inventor and engineer Thomas L. Willson. There is also correspondence pertaining to Edison's camping trip with Henry Ford and John Burroughs and to his health and sleeping habits. In addition, there are clippings, draft letters, and marginalia containing Edison's opinions about political matters, including women's suffrage and the presidential election. A statement prepared for The Engineering Magazineannounces his opposition to a bill introduced by Rep. Clyde H. Tavenner to prohibit the payment of bonuses to government workers on the basis of efficiency studies. Among the correspondents are Abraham Cahan of the Jewish Daily Forward, author and self-improvement training pioneer Dale Carnegie, and Joe Mitchell Chapple of the National Magazine.
Approximately 50 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected material consists of items that received a perfunctory response or no reply from Edison. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.