Emile Bachelet Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Bachelet, Emile, 1863-1946
label: Creator
content: Bachelet, Albert E.
label: Names
content: Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874-1965
topic: label: Topic
content: Electromagnetism
label: Topic
content: Electromagnetism in medicine
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1910-1920
label: Topic
content: Inventors
label: Topic
content: Magnetic levitation vehicles -- 1910-1920
label: Topic
content: Magnetic suspension -- 1910-1920
label: Topic
content: Medicine
label: Topic
content: Patents
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Trains -- 1910-1920 -- England
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Albert E. Bachelet, son of the inventor.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bachelet, Emile, 1863-1946
label: Creator
content: Bachelet, Albert E.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Emile Bachelet Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection documents Emile Bachelet, inventor of electro-magnetic therapeutic devices for the treatment of rheumatism.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Emile Bachelet (1863-1946) was born in Nanterre, France, a village outside Paris and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1880s. He began his career in Boston as an electrician on the building staff of the Boston Institute (now known as Massachusetts Institute of Technology).  He was naturalized a United States citizen in 1888, moved to California in 1889 and then to Tacoma, Washington where he worked as an electrician for the city government and later as an inventor of electro-magnetic therapeutic devices for the treatment of rheumatism.  Bachelet discovered that arthritic pain disappeared when he was near huge generators and thus began his experimentation with electromagnets.  In the 1890s he conceived the idea of magnetic levitation and worked for twenty years on its application to a train.  A model was exhibited in London in 1914 and it received worldwide notice and some financial support.  In the early 1900s, Bachelet moved to New York City and formed three companies, Bachelet General Magnet Co., Inc., Bachelet Magnetic Wave Company, and Bachelet Medical Apparatus Company to continue his invention work.  However, his interest shifted often from one device to another and he later moved to Poughkeepsie, NY where he continued his invention efforts in a small workshop until his death in 1946.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.3 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1890 - 1973
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Electricity (now the Division of Medicine and Science) in April 1988.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0302
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Clippings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into six series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1890-1956

Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1959

Series 3: Patents, 1903-1929

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1880s-1945

Series 5: Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbook, 1912-1973

Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1915-1917
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed  by Robert S. Harding, archivist and Don Darroch, volunteer, May 1990; revised Alison Oswald, archivist, March 2003.
label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Grace M. Angle (volunteer) June, 1988; supervised by Robert Harding, archivist. Revised by David Haberstich, March 21, 2005.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of approximately .66 cubic feet of biographical materials, correspondence, clippings, patents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and a scrapbook relating to Emile Bachelet's invention of a device for magnetically levitating trains and other devices. 

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1890-1956, consists of Bachelet's passports, citizenship papers, some genealogical notes, clippings, a certificate from the Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and an undated interview with Albert Bachelet, Emile's son. Documentation on Albert Bachelet's  work with the Lincoln stereoscopic pairs is also here. 

Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1959, includes letters from Emile Bachelet's former secretary, Suzanne Stokvis-Simpson, to Albert Bachelet from 1948 to 1959. 

Series 3: Patents, 1903-1929, contains both United States and foreign issued patents for Bachelet's inventions. Also included in this series is information on Bachelet's Wave Generator Machine that was used to treat individuals suffering from rheumatism and other pains by "increasing the vital energies of the blood and creating a vibratory magnetic field in which is placed the patients or patients."  

Series 4: Photographs, 1929-1945, include Bachelet's "Magnetically Levitated Railway" device, his "Free Energy Machine", models, equipment, and other devices being demonstrated and portraits of Emile Bachelet.  

Series 5: Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbook, 1912-1973, document accounts of the public presentation of Bachelet's model of a magnetically levitated train in London in 1914 and other projects. 

Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1915-1917, contains a visitor's book to Bachelet's laboratory, brochures on the Bachelet Wave Generator machine and drawings.