THOMAS A. EDISON PAPERS:A SELECTIVE MICROFILM EDITION

PART V

(1911–1919)

Acknowledgments

A project of the scale and complexity of the Thomas A. Edison Papers can only be successful through the encouragement, cooperative endeavor, and support of many individuals and organizations. Over the years, we have had the strong backing of the project's Sponsors: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; the National Park Service; the New Jersey Historical Commission; and the Smithsonian Institution. We wish to acknowledge the continuing support of the current representatives of the sponsoring institutions: from Rutgers University, President Richard L. McCormick; Ziva Galili, Acting Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; Ann Fabian, Dean of Humanities of the School of Arts and Sciences; and Paul Clemens, Chair of the History Department; from the Northeast Region of the National Park Service, Regional Director Dennis Reidenbach; from the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, Superintendent Greg A. Marshall, Assistant Superintendent Theresa Jung, and Supervisory Museum Curator Michelle Ortwein; from the New Jersey Historical Commission, Peter Mickulas, Senior Research Associate; from the Smithsonian Institution, Harold Wallace, Curator of Electricity. In addition, we are indebted to numerous former members of the Board of Sponsors, including Roger Durham, Bernard Finn, Maryanne Gerbauckas, Howard Green, Marc Mappen, Arthur Molella, Barry Qualls, Marie Rust, Holly M. Smith, Randy Turner, and Deborah White.

The preparation of this edition was made possible through financial support from the National Park Service and Rutgers, The State University, as well as public and private foundations, corporations, and individuals. Especially notable were grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, New Jersey Historical Commission, Charles Edison Fund, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Trust for the Humanities. We are grateful for the support of their executive officers, program officers, and trustees, including Elizabeth Arndt, Roger Bruns, Bruce Cole, Timothy Connolly, Max Evans, Michael Hall, Alice Hudgins, John P. Keegan, Mark Mappen, Mary Murrin, Francis X. O'Brien, Ann Orr, Malcolm Richardson, and Kathy Toavs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in the microfilm edition and guide are solely those of the editors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any of the above federal foundations or agencies, the United States Government, or any other financial contributor.

All of the documents published in Part V are from the archives of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey. In addition to the sponsor's representatives mentioned above, other members of the Edison site have contributed to this edition. We are especially thankful for the cooperation and support of archivists Leonard DeGraaf and Edward Wirth, former archivist Douglas Tarr, collections manager Joan Harris, and the late Marilyn Kyles, who photocopied most of the newspaper clippings that appear in Part V. Other present and former staff who have given support and assistance include Clarence Askew, Joseph DeMonte, Gerald Fabris, Charles Magale, Beth Miller, Claudia Mosquera, Gregory Schmidl, and Karen Sloat-Olsen .

Many associates at Rutgers University have contributed to the Edison Papers. In addition to the sponsor's representatives mentioned above, we wish to acknowledge the contributions of Philip Furmanski, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the following members of the School of Arts and Sciences: Barbara Lemanski, Associate Dean for Policy and Personnel; Paul Kuznekoff, Director of Development; John Amodeo, Associate Director of Information Technology; Thomas Vosseler, Associate Director (IT), and David Motovidlak, Assistant Director (IT). We value the support of colleagues and staff in the History Department, including Michael Adas, Rudolph Bell, Alastair Bellany, John Chambers, James Masschaele, Matt Matsuda, the late Philip Pauley, James Reed, Susan Schrepfer, Virginia Yans, Robin  Chapdelaine, Mary DeMeo, Dawn Ruskai, and Candace Walcott‑Shepherd. Our special thanks go out to Ann Gordon, editor of our sister project The Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. We also wish to thank Michael Geselowitz and the staff of the IEEE History Center, as well as University Librarian Marianne Gaunt and the staff of the Rutgers University Libraries, including Ronald Becker, Thomas Frusciano, Thomas Glynn, Rhonda Marker, and James Niessen. At the Rutgers University Foundation, we have benefitted from the assistance of President Carol P. Herring, Linda Corcoran, John Pearson, and Jacqueline Perkel‑Joseph. We are especially grateful to Daphne Evans, Deborah Fisher-Burch, and Donna Foster, our grant specialists at the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, headed by Michael Pazzani, Vice President for Research, and his predecessor Michael Breton.  We also acknowledge the contributions of Larry Galbreath, Stephen A. Miller, and Ronald S. Thompson of the Division of Grant and Contract Accounting, Stephen Di Paolo and Joseph Harrigan of the Controller's Office, and Allison Thomas of University Relations. We are also grateful to the staff of Material Services, including Peter Shergalis, James F. O'Brien, and Susan L. O'Brien, for their assistance in consolidating the offices of the book and microfilm editions at Rutgers in 2004 and for numerous other services to the project.

The Edison Papers is fortunate to have University Publications of America, an imprint of LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions, as publisher of the microfilm edition. The documents in Part V were filmed during April-July 2007 at the LexisNexis  micropublishing facility in St. Mary's County, Maryland. We are grateful for the support and assistance of the management team at St. Mary's: James Rumple, Vice President, Imaging & Manufacturing; Lukman Bazarah, Senior Manager of Operations; and Janet Speaker, Camera Mastering Manager. Other LexisNexis staff making important contributions include Catherine Ferguson, who microfilmed the documents; Richard Milan, who made numerous trips between New Jersey and Maryland to transport them; and the quality control team under the direction of Faith Farmer, especially Eunice Bond and Elaine Lawrence. Stephen Want, Director of Content Acquisition & Licensing, provided valuable assistance during the early stages of the project by the arranging for the documents to be filmed at the  LexisNexis facility. Numerous others contributed as well, including Micah Calloway, Edgar O'Bannon, Kyle Tubbs, and Shaun Woolcock. Among the staff at University Publications of America, Daniel Lewis and Rosemary Orthmann worked closely with project staff on preparation of the hard-copy guide. Mark Zimmerman copyedited and formatted the guide and designed the cover.

The microfilm edition has benefitted from the work of several individuals whose names do not appear on the title page. Eric Barry, Clare Hilliard, and Alexandra Rimer assisted with the proofreading. Ms. Hilliard also participated in the addition of reel-and-frame numbers to the database. Although they were not directly involved in the editing of the microfilm edition, Associate Editor Louis Carlat, former Assistant Editor David Hochfelder, and Business Manager Rachel Weissenburger have made numerous indirect contributions. We wish especially to acknowledge the contributions of the late Tony Cautillo, a former student and volunteer for the Edison Papers in 2004-2005, who was involved in a number of projects that significantly enhanced the value of our microfilm, book, and online editions.

A special debt of gratitude is owed to the staff of the Special Collections of the Ellis Library at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and to its director, Michael E. Holland, for allowing Dr. Endersby the extended use of their facilities to edit the notebooks and pocket notebooks that appear in the Notebook Series. We are also grateful to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park for the loan of the microfilm that Dr. Endersby used to complete her project.

A special debt is owed as well to Reese V. Jenkins, who served as Director and Editor of the Edison Papers from its inception in 1978 until 1995 and his successor, Robert A. Rosenberg, who served until 2001 and oversaw Part V through its early stages. Two other former members of the Edison Papers—Helen Endick, the longtime Assistant to the Director, and Grace Kurkowski, our longtime Secretary—also deserve a special note of appreciation for their years of hard work and dedication. 

Last Updated: 10/28/2016 , taep@rci.rutgers.