The Edison Pioneers was an organization composed of former employees of
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
who had worked with the inventor in his early years. Membership was limited to people who had worked closely with Edison before 1885.
On February 11, 1918, the Edison Pioneers met for the first time, on the 71st birthday of Edison. There were 37 people at the first meeting.
Edison himself was not present; it was announced he was "engaged in important government service".
It was suspected he was working on a military project since
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was still in progress.
The organization had 100 members although in later years descendants of Edison Pioneers were also allowed membership.
Members
Members of the Edison Pioneers:
*
Edward Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson (March 9, 1856 – July 6, 1931) was an American chemist. Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, he was the inventor of the Acheson process, which is still used to make Silicon carbide (carborundum) and later a manufacturer of ...
(1856–1931)
*
William Symes Andrews
William Symes Andrews (September 10, 1847 – July 1, 1929) was an Edison Pioneer, electrical engineer, and one of the first employees of the General Electric Company.
Biography
He was born in England in 1847. He started working at Edison's Me ...
(1847–1929)
*
John I. Beggs
John Irvin Beggs (September 17, 1847 – October 17, 1925) was an American businessman. He was associated closely with the electric utility boom under Thomas Edison. He was also associated with Milwaukee, St. Louis, Missouri and other regiona ...
(1847–1925)
* C. A. Benton
* Sigmund Bergmann
* Charles S. Bradley
*
James Burke (1873–1940)*
*
Charles Lorenzo Clarke (1853-1941)
*George V. Delany (died 1933)
* Charles L Edgar
*
Charles L. Eidlitz (1866–1951), business executive
* William E. Gilmore
* Edwin T. Greenfield
*
William Joseph Hammer
*
John White Howell
John White Howell (December 22, 1857 – July 28, 1937) was an American electrical engineer who spent his entire professional career (1880 to 1930) working for Thomas Edison, specializing in the development and manufacturing of the incandescent la ...
*
Samuel Insull (1859–1938)
*
Francis Jehl
* Oscar Junggren
* Alfred W Kiddle
* Isaac Krall
*
Lewis Howard Latimer
Lewis Howard Latimer (September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928) was an African-American inventor and patent draftsman. His inventions included an evaporative air conditioner, an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments for light bulbs ...
*
Thomas Commerford Martin
Thomas Commerford Martin (July 22, 1856 – May 17, 1924) was an American electrical engineer and editor.
Martin was born in Limehouse, England. His father worked with Lord Kelvin and other pioneers of submarine telegraph cables, and Martin worke ...
(1856–1924)
*
George F. Morrison (1867–1943), Vice President of
General Electric Company
* H. W. Nelson
*
Frederic Nicholls
* John G Ott
* Henry V.A. Parsell (1868-1962)
* Charles E. Pattison
* Charles R. Price
*
Louis Rau
* Frederick Sargent
*
Frederick A. Scheffler
*
Elmer Ambrose Sperry
Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. ...
(1860–1930)
*
Francis Robbins Upton, first president
*Theodore Vandeventer
* Montgomery Waddell
*
Schuyler Skaats Wheeler
* Edwin R. Weeks
* Charles Wirt
References
External links
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Thomas Edison
Engineering societies based in the United States
History of engineering
Organizations established in 1918
1918 establishments in the United States