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Lee De Forest
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Manuscript Division staff
Revised by Harry G. Heiss
1997
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services,
January 1999;
encoding completed by Manuscript Division, 1999
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Table of Contents for Lee De Forest
Collection Summary
Selected Search Terms
* Names:
* Subjects:
* Occupations:
Administrative Information
* Provenance:
* Processing History:
* Copyright Status:
* Microfilm:
* Preferred Citation:
Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Container List
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Collection Summary
Creator: De Forest, Lee, 1873-1961
Title: Papers of Lee De Forest 1884-1955
Size: 375 items; 4 containers; 1.6 linear feet; 2 microfilm reels
Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Abstract: Radio pioneer and inventor. Correspondence, diaries, technical
notes and other material relating to Lee De Forest's inventions in radio
and electronics and their effect in sound recording and transmission,
efforts to exploit his discoveries through various business ventures, and
his competition with Guglielmo Marconi in the field of wireless
communication.
Selected Search Terms
Names:
Marconi, Guglielmo, marchese, 1874-1937
Yale University--Students
Subjects:
Electronics
Inventions
Preparatory schools
Radio
Sound--Recording and reproducing
Sound--Transmission
Wireless communication systems
Occupations:
Inventors
Radio pioneers
Administrative Information
Provenance:
The papers of Lee De Forest, radio pioneer and inventor, were given to the
Library of Congress by De Forest in 1955.
Processing History:
The papers of Lee De Forest were arranged and described in 1955. The
description was revised in 1997.
Copyright Status:
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Lee De Forest is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Microfilm:
A microfilm edition of part of these papers on two reels is available from
the Library's Photoduplication Service for purchase subject to the
Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C). This microfilm
edition may also be requested on interlibrary loan through the Library's
Loan Division.
Preferred Citation:
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Lee De Forest Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date Event
1873 , Aug.
26 Born, Council Bluffs, Iowa
1896 Ph.B., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1899 Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1900 Joined Western Electric Co. , Chicago, Ill.
Designed alternating current transmitter
Developed electrolytic receiver
1901 Founded American De Forest Wireless Telegraph Co. (later
United Wireless Telegraph Co. )
1905 Developed first model of audion amplifier
1906 Developed triode vacuum tube
Married Lucille Sheardown (divorced 1907)
1908 Married Nora Blatch (divorced 1911)
1910 Broadcast voice of Enrico Caruso by radio from the
Metropolitan Opera House, New York, N.Y.
1912 Sold telephone repeater rights to American Telephone and
Telegraph Co. , which used his three electrode vacuum tube
in first transcontinental telephony
Married Mary Mayo (divorced 1930)
1913 Demonstrated first oscillating audion tube
Became vice president, Radio Telegraph Co.
Became vice president, De Forest Radio Co.
1916 Made first radio news broadcast
Established radio broadcast station
1919 Patented phonofilm device for making talking pictures
ca. 1920 Published How to Set Up an Amateur Radio Receiving Station
(New York, N.Y.: De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraph
Co. 32 pp.)
ca. 1922 Published Wireless in the Home (New York, N.Y.: De Forest
Radio Telephone and Telegraph Co. 32 pp.)
1923 Demonstrated sound on film at Rivoli Theater , New York,
N.Y.
Organized De Forest Phonofilm Co.
1926 D.Sc., Yale University , New Haven, Conn.
1930 Married Marie Mosquini
1934 Established Lee De Forest, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.
1942 Published Television, Today and Tomorrow (New York, N.Y.:
Dial Press. 361 pp.)
1947 Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers
1950 Published Father of Radio (Chicago, Ill.: Wilcox and
Fallett. 502 pp.)
1951 Vice president, National Association for Better Radio and
Television
1961 , June
30 Died, Hollywood, Calif.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Lee De Forest (1873-1961) span the years 1884-1955 and
include biographical sketches, booklets, correspondence, diaries, drawings,
essays, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, poetry, and research
notes. De Forest was a pioneer in wireless communications who made possible
the long distance transmission and reception of the human voice, which led
to the foundation of the radio industry and long distance telephone
communication. His inventions, particularly the audion amplifier in 1905,
the triode vacuum tube in 1906, and the oscillating audion in 1913,
revolutionized wireless communications and earned him the title, "the
father of radio." De Forest also perfected the phonofilm method of sound
recording and the glow-light recording of sound films, made important
contributions to the development of television and high speed facsimile
transmission, and invented radio therapy and the radio knife.
The collection contains letters from De Forest to members of his family,
friends, and business associates, with only a few to fellow scientists. The
correspondence is arranged chronologically. A subject file contains
biographical material on De Forest, published and manuscript scientific
writings, photographs of early audion tubes, and technical schematics,
sketches, and notes on several of De Forest's inventions. The subject file
is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
De Forest's diaries, or notebook journals, span the years 1891-1949 and
contain references to the difficulties encountered in the early years of
his career as he struggled for recognition in the face of persistent lack
of funds and inconstant friends. There are frequent allusions to his
inventions and business ventures, both successes and failures, descriptions
of the natural world, and original poetry. The diaries are arranged
chronologically and have been microfilmed.
Container List
Box Reel Contents
BOX 1 Correspondence, 1884 - 1950 , n.d.
(29 folders)
BOX 2 Subject file
Clippings, 1890 - 1953 , n.d.
(2 folders)
La Lumière Électrique, 1911
Photographs
Early audions, n.d.
Personal, n.d.
Printed matter, 1904 - 1950 , n.d.
Schematics, sketches, and technical notes, 1910 - 1911 ,
n.d.
(2 folders)
Yale University, New Haven, Conn., entrance examination,
biographical sketch, and class book form, 1892 - 1937 ,
n.d.
Writings, 1896 - 1955 , n.d.
Diaries
Microfilm edition available. Shelf no. 17,174
BOX 3 REEL 1 Vols. 1-15, 1891 - 1902
BOX 4 REEL 2 Vols. 16-23, 1903 - 1949
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