ITT Industrial Research Laboratories Electron Tube Research Records
name: label: Creator
content: Papp, George
label: Creator
content: International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation
label: Creator
content: Lott, H.J.
label: Creator
content: Salinger, Hans W.G.
label: Creator
content: Hirsch, Robert L.
label: Creator
content: Farnsworth, Philo Taylor, b. 1906
label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Information, Technology and Society
label: Creator
content: Cawein, Madison
label: Creator
content: Essig, Sanford
label: Creator
content: Eberhardt, Edward
topic: label: Topic
content: Electron tubes
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Television
label: Topic
content: Vacuum-tubes
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: ITT donated the collection to the Division of Information, Technology & Society, National Museum of American History through Elaine Tuttle, Vice President of Director of Contracts on September 4, 1992.   The collection was transferred to the Archives Center on September 13, 2002.
creator: label: Creator
content: Papp, George
label: Creator
content: International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation
label: Creator
content: Lott, H.J.
label: Creator
content: Salinger, Hans W.G.
label: Creator
content: Hirsch, Robert L.
label: Creator
content: Farnsworth, Philo Taylor, b. 1906
label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Information, Technology and Society
label: Creator
content: Cawein, Madison
label: Creator
content: Essig, Sanford
label: Creator
content: Eberhardt, Edward
setName: label: See more items in
content: ITT Industrial Research Laboratories Electron Tube Research Records
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The ITT Corporation Industrial Research Laboratories, Electron Tube Division's laboratories in Fort Wayne, Indiana conducted research and product development in the field of special purpose vacuum tubes and sensors.  Their history in the research and development of these special purpose devices originated in Fort Wayne in 1939, when Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television, moved there.  What brought him there was that his company, Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation, purchased the Capehart Incorporated plant in Fort Wayne.

Rather than build a plant of their own, Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation decided to purchase the plant, which had a reputation for building quality phonographs, and retool it to build radio and television receivers.  Farnsworth and his engineers' research at the plant lead to the invention of numerous devices, including amplifier tubes, cathode-ray tubes, vacuum tubes, electron multipliers, and photoelectric materials.

The laboratories in Fort Wayne were responsible for developing new technical concepts, methods and designs of tubes, sensors and devices for application in industrial, government and commercial markets.  Laboratory activities included applied research, advanced development and product design, and development and fabrication.  They concentrated their efforts on designing and developing components which operated in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Their various areas of research and development led to a diverse offering of products, including:  multiplier phototubes (for stellar observation, star tracking, laser detection, vibration analysis, scintillation counting); vacuum photodiodes (for laser detection, scintillation detection, high speed switching, solar radiation monitoring, interference detection); image dissectors (for slow scan TV systems, slide projector readers, industrial process control, electronic star trackers, electronic scanning spectrometers); electron multipliers (for space research, radiation detection, vacuum monochromators, single particle counting, demountable vacuum systems), image converters (for high-speed photography, infrared viewing and surveillance, optical correlation, pulsed light systems, ultraviolet detection and viewing), correlation devices (for motion compensation, area correlation, map reading, document reading, tracking), and accessories (for focusing magnets, image dissector cameras, focusing and deflection coil assemblies and yokes, phototube holders, power supplies).  

The Tube and Sensor Laboratories were world leaders in the areas of photometric quantum detectors, image devices, camera tubes, and optical pattern correlators.  Some of their major developments included the Star Tracker sensors used in the Lunar Orbiter Program, Vidissector camera tubes used in several observational satellites, and the cockpit display storage tubes used in the F105 Thunderchief and A4D Skyhawk fighter planes.

They were innovators in developing a number of specialized high vacuum devices including: image dissectors, star tracking dissectors and multiplier phototubes, single quantum counting photomultipliers, grid-controlled photomultipliers, biplanar and laser monitoring photodiodes, windowless electron multipliers and single particle detectors, ultraviolet sensitive photodiodes, image converters, image storage and image correlation tubes, and spectral response information.

Throughout the collection there are numerous names that the laboratories were known as that reflects different stages in the company's development.  What follows is a chronology of the names of the laboratories in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

1929 – Capehart Corporation

1936 – Capehart, Inc.

1938 – Farnsworth Television & Radio Corporation

1949 – Capehart-Farnsworth Corporation

1953 – Capehart-Farnsworth Company, Division of ITT

1954 – Farnsworth Electronics Company, Division of ITT

1958 – ITT Laboratories, Division of ITT

1960 – ITT Federal Laboratories

1962 – ITT Industrial Laboratories

1969 – ITT Electron Tube Division, Tube and Sensor Laboratories

1973 – ITT Electro-Optical Products Division, Tube and Sensor Laboratories
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.5 Cubic feet (9 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1934-1984
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The papers were transferred from the Division of Information, Technology and Society (now the Division of Work & Industry) to the Archives Center on September 13, 2002.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0822
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Certificates
label: Type
content: Laboratory notes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Project files
label: Type
content: Technical drawings
label: Type
content: Technical reports
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into six series

Series 1: Company Records, 1937-1984

Series 2: George Papp, 1938-1964

Series 3: Hans W.G. Salinger, 1944-1945

Series 4: Research Records, 1934-1969

Series 5: Product Information, 1955-1979

Series 6: Photographs, 1960-1965
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Mitch Toda, 2004.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Certificates
label: Genre/Form
content: Laboratory notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Project files
label: Genre/Form
content: Technical drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Technical reports
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection contains a diverse selection of materials that address a variety of aspects of the ITT Industrial Laboratories in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  There are research and development notebooks from various scientists and engineers, reports and articles on products being developed and research being conducted, technical drawings, a large body of product information, and photographs of products and research projects.  People represented in the collection include: George Papp, Hans W.G. Salinger, Philo T. Farnsworth, Madison Cawein, Robert L. Hirsch, Sanford F. Essig, H.J. Lott, and Edward H. Eberhardt.  When these materials came to the Archives Center a portion of them were housed in envelopes with captions written on them.  The envelopes were photocopied to preserve the information and the contents were incorporated into the above series in order to facilitate intellectual access to the materials.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: 130 vacuum tubes, many related to Philo Farnsworth were donated to the Division of Information Technology & Society (now Division of Medicine and Science), National Museum of American History.