Guide to the Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla 1880s-1990s
Arrangement
Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla
Creator
Anderson, Leland
Collection Number
MSS 0481
Extent
49.5 linear feet(49 boxes)
Date
1880s-1990s
Abstract
Leland Anderson is a writer and researcher who is the author a number of published works on the electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla, who worked for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in 1888, was known for his work on the alternating current system, radio communication, and X-ray technology. Beginning in the 1940s and continuing over the next 50 years, Anderson compiled a large collection of research materials documenting the life and work of Tesla. The Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla primarily contains secondary research material, including journals, articles and other publications, and photocopies archival material from various research institutions. Also included are Anderson's published works, biographical material on Tesla's contemporaries, and audiovisual material related to Tesla.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Alex J. Toner.
Sponsor
This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Leland I. Anderson (b. 1928) is a writer and researcher who is the author of a number of published works on the electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla. Anderson, an electrical engineer, technical writer, and former manager of the Minnesota State Historical Society, took up an interest in Tesla during high school in the 1940s, shortly after Tesla's death. Over the course of the next 50 years, Anderson compiled a large collection of materials documenting Tesla's life, work, inventions, technical theories, and more recent work based Tesla's ideas. Anderson founded the Tesla Society, and was editor of its newsletter, Tesliana, beginning in the 1950s. In 1956, he and John T. Ratzlaff published an extensive bibliography of over 3,000 citations of writings by or about Tesla, which was subsequently updated over the following decades. Additionally, Anderson has written and edited numerous books on Tesla and his work.
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was an electrical engineer and inventor who experimented in electricity, magnetism, and radio waves and is best known for developing the alternating current (AC) electrical supply system and the polyphase induction motor Recognized today as a Serbian-American, Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, Lika, which today is in modern-day Croatia. After completing his education in Prague in 1880, he worked as chief electrician for a telephone company in Budapest, and soon after was employed for the Continental Edison Company in Paris.
Tesla accepted a position working with Thomas Edison in America in 1884, although he resigned after only a year following a payment dispute with Edison. With the backing of several investors the short-lived Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company was formed in 1885, followed by the Tesla Electric Company in the spring of 1887. In 1888, after hearing of a public presentation Tesla made proposing his alternate-current motor and transformers, George Westinghouse licensed the patents for Tesla's polyphase induction motor, and several of his transformers designs. Tesla was subsequently hired on a year-long contract to continue his AC designs and act as a consultant for Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company's labs in Pittsburgh, Pa. During the year Tesla lived and worked in Pittsburgh, he furthered his AC designs, actually using the system to power some of the city's streetcars for a short time. Nikola Tesla became a naturalized American citizen in 1891.
Tesla assisted Westinghouse in powering the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, demonstrating to the public the viability of large-scale alternating current power. He experimented with X-ray technology and wireless radio development, and participated in several industrial and scientific organizations including serving as vice president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers between 1892 and 1894. In 1899, Tesla began a year-long series of high-voltage electricity experiments in Colorado Springs, Co. Soon after his Colorado experiments, which gained national publicity, he received funding to build a large transmission tower on Long Island, New York. Wardenclyffe Tower, which was never completed, was intended by Tesla to conduct wireless communication and wireless electrical transmission tests. Tesla's research and experimental interests late in his life revolved around aviation, interstellar power sources, extraterrestrial communication, weaponized energy, electrotherapeutics, and radio-controlled. While he became more reclusive has he aged, Tesla earned roughly 300 patents internationally during his lifetime, including several bearing his name, such as the Tesla coil and Tesla turbine. Nikola Tesla died in the New Yorker hotel, where he had long since taken up resident, in 1943.
Scope and Content Notes
The Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla documents the life and work of engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla. The collection primarily contains secondary research materials compiled by Anderson over the course of 50 years, and includes photocopied contextual materials on Tesla's life and times from research institutions; Anderson's own work; topical materials covering Tesla's various fields of work and experimentation; biographical material on Tesla's contemporaries; journal and scholarly articles on Tesla's inventions and patents; journals, newspapers, and publications on Tesla and his work; and audio/visual materials including photographs, negatives, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, 35 mm slides, and microfilm. The collection contains 49 boxes and has been arranged into 8 series: I. Contextual/Biographical about Tesla; II. Leland Anderson's Research; III. Topical; IV. Biographical Materials, Tesla's Contemporaries; V. Tesla's Patents and Inventions; VI. Scholars Files; VII. Journals and Publications; VIII. Audio/Materials.
Series I. Contextual / Biographical about Tesla
Series one contains contextual material on the life of Nikola Tesla, primarily contained in secondary publications concerning different facets of his life and work.
Box 1 Scrapbooks created by Leland Anderson containing newspaper clippings, articles, and photocopied materials about Tesla, photocopies of letters to and from Tesla concerning his work and discoveries (1900s-1940s), and articles on Tesla and his contemporaries.
Box 2 2 Scrapbooks of published articles concerning Tesla's theories and works, from 1943 through 1961, and the 1970s. There are also three folders of assorted biographical materials concerning Tesla, including correspondence to and from Tesla and copies of agreements with Westinghouse.
Box 4 Biographical material on Tesla, primarily copies and chapter excerpts from different works. There is an original manuscript of John Jay O'Neil's biography on Tesla, Prodigal Genius.
Box 5 Contextual materials about the life and times of Nikola Tesla including writings about him, articles about his life, interests, and ideas, as well as theories he was connected with.
Box 6 Contextual information, primarily copies of authors' papers, news clippings, magazines, and research concerning topics such as Tesla's death, Tesla and extra terrestrial communication, Tesla's family, his patron saint, spirituality, social acquaintances, and musings on his personal philosophy.
Box 7 Photocopied materials featuring Tesla's writings for various publications and addresses to the New York Academy of Science, NY Electrical Society, and others. There is also photocopied correspondence with colleagues and relatives (1880-1942) that was translated by staff from the Tesla Museum in Belgrade. There is a box level inventory inside this box.
Series II. Leland Anderson's Research
Series two consists of copies of archival and library materials from a number of institutions, as well as published materials on Tesla's life or his work, which were used by Anderson in compiling his writings about the man.
Box 8 Primarily photocopied archives materials, including copies from the Marie Scherff Collections at Columbia University, all on Tesla's life and work. Marie Scherff's father, George Scherff, was Tesla's trusted assistant. Box 8 also includes Library of Congress (LOC) copies of correspondence between Tesla and Mark Twain (1892-1910), Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company (1888-1899), and John Pierpont Morgan (1907-1943).
Box 9 Photocopied archival material, primarily from the LOC, of correspondence between the Westinghouse Company, Tesla, George Scherff, and others. There is additional material from other institutions.
Box 10 Primarily contains copies of Columbia University correspondence between Tesla and Robert Underwood Johnson, or between Johnson and others concerning Tesla. Johnson was an author, editor of the Century Magazine, and United States diplomat.
Box 11 Bibliography, indexes, and articles Anderson and Ratzlaff used to compile their bibliography.
Box 12 Articles and reports written or edited by Anderson on Tesla's theories, inventions, and lectures; binder of some primary letters, with 2 possibly written by Tesla, and others concerning him. There are several portfolios containing Anderson's views on public opinions about Tesla and his work.
Box 13 Research materials used in Anderson's writing and scholarship, including photocopies from books, correspondence with other experts and institutions, FOIA requests, and materials from the Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia.
Series III. Topical
Series three contains topical materials relating to Tesla including radio wave development and Tesla's role in wireless experimentation, and international engineers' conference bearing his name, AC/DC current war, Niagara Falls, Tesla coils, government materials concerning Tesla, and the Wardenclyffe Tower.
Subseries A. Radio History
Box 14 Historical developments in radio history including articles related to Tesla's contributions to wireless radio transmission. There are editions of the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) review (1980s-1990). There are copies of Tesla's correspondence with Benjamin F. Miessner.
Box 15 Materials concerning the history of radio including Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club newsletters (1980s-1990s), proceedings from the Institute of Radio Engineers (1950s- 1960s), and articles from early 20th century.
Box 16 Materials concerning the history of radio including historical context for radio and wireless transmission development. This box also includes Tesla Symposia materials, including commemorative and scholarly articles (1956-1990s).
Subseries B. Tesla Symposia
*The Tesla Symposia is an international technical engineers conference, usually held in conjunction with the anniversary of Tesla's birthday.
Box 16 Box 16 also includes Tesla Symposia materials, including commemorative and scholarly articles (1956-1990s).
Box 18 Select articles covering and describing the AC/DC controversy involving Tesla, Westinghouse, and Edison, as well as the development of hydroelectric power at Niagara Falls.
Subseries D. Legal Materials
Box 19 Legal materials and court proceedings including several of Tesla's patent battles, as well as other relevant cases, some dealing with Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co.; requests and correspondence of Leland Anderson to various repositories for said information.
Subseries E. Tesla Coils
Box 20 Tesla's Coil Builders Association (1982-1998); topographical maps of Colorado Springs and area (1995); general information about Tesla's Colorado Springs experiments.
Box 21 Materials on Tesla coils, including articles, scholarly papers, and bulletins on Tesla Coils (1890-1980s).
Subseries F. Government Materials
Box 22 Government files: FBI files obtained by Arthur B. Keyes through FOIA requests (1943- 1949); correspondence of division of Investigation and Research (1940s); Federal Agency records on Nikola Tesla (1934-1981).
Subseries G. Wardenclyffe Tower
Box 23 Journal articles and other materials on Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower.
Series IV. Biographical Materials on Tesla's Contemporaries
Series four is comprised of secondary contextual material focused on engineers and scientists of Tesla's time, as well as person who have done research on Tesla, or have conducted more recent experimentation based on his theories and work.
Box 24 Photocopies of research, correspondence of, and biographical materials on prominent scientists and engineers, primarily Tesla's contemporaries, including George Scherff, Steinmetz, and Westinghouse (1890s-1990s).
Box 25 A-H: Biography files of prominent scientists and engineers including Tesla's contemporaries, as well as figures/persons that have researched and studied Tesla (1900s).
Box 26 G-R: Biography files of prominent scientists and engineers including Tesla's contemporaries, as well as figures/persons that have researched and studied Tesla (1900s).
Box 27 Author extracts from works on or about Tesla; photocopied materials extracted from authors works about Tesla or work based on his theories.
Series V. Tesla's patents and inventions
Series five focus on the over 300 patents Tesla received during his life time, comprised of secondary materials on the subject.
Box 28 Photocopied materials removed from published materials specifically on Tesla's inventions and discoveries such as the electric motor turbines, and wireless radio waves. There is one folder of photocopies of Tesla's own notes (1920s) concerning ether and gravity.
Box 29 Articles, scholarly papers, and reflections on Tesla's inventions, including pumps, turbines, and other machinery. Included are patent materials, Leland Anderson's correspondence with other Tesla scholars about patents and inventions (1880s-1980s).
Box 30 Patent and invention materials, some of which is from NARA, as well as more recent research materials and studies based on Tesla's patents.
Series VI. Scholars Files
Series six contains analytical and research based materials produced Professor Warren Rice and Dr. James Corum based on Tesla's work and theories.
Subseries A. Professor Warren Rice
Professor Warren Rice (b.1925-d.2009) was a mechanical engineer at Arizona State University
Box 31 Professor Warren Rice Papers, A-H; college papers and dissertations related to Tesla's theories and work.
Box 32 W. Rice Papers, H-Z. Box 32 also includes J.R. Johler reports and papers on radio waves produced by the National Bureau of Standards; research, papers, some correspondence of James R. Wait, an electromagnetic scientist and educator.
Subseries B. Dr. James F. Corum
Dr. James F. Corum is a highly distinguished electrical and electronic engineer, and is a member of the Tesla Memorial Society of New York.
Box 33 Dr. James F. Corum papers including technical and scholarly papers on Tesla; as well as 6 cassette tapes of Corum's speeches to the International Tesla Society, Inc.
Box 34 James F. Corum Papers including technical and scholarly articles and analyses of Tesla's work (1930-1990).
Series VII. Journals and Publications
Series seven contains numerous scientific and engineering publications and journals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or subsequent work and research based in his theories. Several publications are produced by Tesla-centered organizations.
Box 35 Foreign Language publications, primarily the American Srbobran, the newspaper produced by the Serb National Federation. There is also a serial titled Tesla, published in Serbian.
Box 36 A-E: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories. Primarily a variety of copies of newspaper articles.
Box 37 E: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories, including: Electrical Engineers (1888, 1890, and 1910s), Electrical World (1889-1899, 1956-1990).
Box 38 E-M: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories, including various electrical and electronic journals.
Box 39 N-P: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories, including: Regular Mechanics, Popular Science, copies of New York Times editions (1890s-1990s).
Box 40 Q-S: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories, including Practical Electrics (1921-1925), Radio Electronics (1940s-1960s), Science and Inventions (1920s-1930s).
Box 41 S-Y: Scientific and engineering periodicals containing articles about Tesla, his work, or research based on his theories, including The Teslian, The Tesla Journal, a 1931 Time edition covering Tesla, Westinghouse publications, and the Scientific American (1892- 1915).
Box 42 Bound copies of Electrical World (1891); On May 1892 edition featuring the full text of Tesla's London lecture; Illustrated Electrical Review editions (1890s); Scientific American (1900s); all containing articles or references to Tesla's works.
Box 43 American Srbobran newspapers on Tesla (1911-1945); assorted other serials.
Box 44 Photocopies of newspaper articles, feature magazine articles, concerning Tesla, his work, inventions, discoveries, and theories from 1890s-1910s
Box 45 Contains Electrical Review editions from 1890s-1900s; assorted publications with stories on Tesla.
Series VIII. Audio/Visual Materials
Series eight contains the audio and visual materials within the collection, including photographic reproductions of Tesla and his work, VHS tapes containing Tesla features and interviews with Leland Anderson, Tesla correspondence from the LOC on microfilm, and cassette tapes with audio recording of lectures and speeches concerning Tesla and his work.
Box 45 Box 45 also contains several larger photographs of Wardenclyffe tower, machinery, and turbines. There are also 2 images of the rock band Tesla.
Box 46 Photographs of Tesla, machinery, turbines, Wardenclyffe, Tesla with friends and associates, Tesla scientific experiments, electromagnetic experiments Leland Anderson was involved with. The photographs concerning Tesla are primarily reproductions or copies.
Box 47 VHS Tapes (1990s): National Tesla Productions, Inc., feature programs on Tesla and his works. Three Tapes contain a personal interview with Leland Anderson about his interest in Tesla and a history of Tesla's work.
Box 48 Microfilm (1888-1940s): Tesla correspondence on microfilm from Library of Congress, Tesla Museum, and Columbia University Library.
Box 49 Cassette Tapes: Scholars and scientists lectures, radio tributes to Tesla, 1990 lectures from Tesla Symposia. There are also a number of 35mm slides, containing images of Tesla materials and ephemera Leland Anderson photographed.
Arrangement
The Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla consists of 49 boxes and has been arranged into the following 8 series:
Boxes 1-7: Series I. Contextual / Biographical about Tesla
Boxes 8-13: Series II. Leland Anderson's Research
Boxes 14-23: Series III. Topical
Boxes 16-17: Subseries B. Tesla Symposia
Box 18: Subseries C. AC/DC Controversy, Niagara Falls
Box 19: Subseries D. Legal Materials
Boxes 20-12: Subseries E. Tesla Coils
Box 22: Subseries F. Government Materials
Box 23: Subseries G. Wardenclyffe Tower
Boxes 24-27: Series IV. Biographical Materials on Tesla's Contemporaries
Boxes 28-30: Series V. Tesla's Patents and Inventions
Boxes 31-34: Series VI. Scholars Files
Boxes 31-32: Subseries A. Professor Warren Rice
Boxes 33-34: Subseries B. Dr. Jeff F. Corum
Boxes 35-45: Series VII. Journals and Publications
Boxes 45-49: Series VIII. Audio / Visual materials
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Leland Anderson and the Serb National Federation in 2004.
Archives accession # 2004.0160
Preferred Citation
Leland Anderson Collection on Nikola Tesla, 1880s-1990s, MSS 0481 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Alex J. Toner on 12/19/12.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Related Materials
Westinghouse Electric Corporation Records, 1865-2000, MSS 424, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Separated Materials
A large amount of biographical and technical books on or about Nikola Tesla and his work were separated from the collection and added to the Library's holdings.
