DOCSLIB.ORG

Silence Study Guide.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Silence Study Guide.Pdf Study Guide Education & Outreach Coordinator Grand Theatre Grandtheatre.com |1.519.672.9030 | 471 richmond street |@thegrandlondon 2 Contents ? Inspirations: the Bells Extend Your Knowledge: Visible Speech and ASL Learn ASL! Scientific Discovery and Invention New Play Development Become a Playwright Conversation Starters Grand Theatre study guides are made possible by the support of our sponsors ACCESSING THE ARTS PROGRAM SPONSOR 3 Cast Gertrude Mercer McCurdy Hubbard Suzanne Bennett Alexander Graham Bell Graham Cuthbertson Eliza Bell Catherine Joell MacKinnon Berta (Roberta) Hubbard Madelyn Narod Mabel Gardiner Hubbard (Bell) Tara Rosling Gardiner Greene Hubbard Michael Spencer-Davis Crew Director Peter Hinton Set & Costume Designer Michael Gianfrancesco Lighting & Projection Designer Beth Kates Sound Designer Richard Feren Dramaturg Iris Turcott Stage Manager Michael Hart Assistant Stage Manager Sandi Becker Apprentice Stage Manager Kelly Boudreau 4 Playwright: Trina Davies Trina Davies is a playwright based in Vancouver BC Canada. -winning plays include Shatter, Multi User Dungeon, The Auction, The Bone Bridge and Waxworks. Her play The Romeo Initiative literary pri Drama 2012 and was the winner of the National Enbridge Prize for Established Artist. Her plays have been performed across Canada and in a number of other countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, and India. Her work has been translated into Italian and German. She has participated in artist residencies at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Banff Centre for the Arts, the Playwrights Theatre Centre and the Bella Vita Playwrights Retreat in Italy. She is currently working towards the world premieres of her plays Waxworks (to be revealed) and Silence: Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell (The Grand Theatre, 2018). She is also working on The Bone Bridge, recent winner of the Woodward International Playwriting Prize, which will have its academic premiere at the University of New Hampshire in October 2017. Trina is a member of the Alberta Playwrights Network, the Playwrights Theatre Centre and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. (Source: trinadavies.com) This play is for those who have loved and for those who have been loved. For those who have spilled over in their all-consuming love for another, and for those afraid they might not have enough love to give Trina Davies 5 Silence: It only takes one spark of love, genius, or inspiration to change the world forever. Silence uncovers the life of the remarkable woman often overshadowed by one of I will know if you are listening. Even if I cannot Alexander Graham Bell. hear you at all, even if I This beautiful (and true) story follows Mabel cannot see your lips, I will Gardiner Hubbard, who was Deaf, as she meets and falls in love with the future inventor of the telephone. - Mabel - Listen to Tara Rosling, who plays Mabel, discuss her character here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM_vXqKybM4 6 Inspiration: the Bells BORN: November 25th 1857, in Massachusetts. LIFE: after a bout of scarlet fever when she was five years old, Mabel became profoundly deaf. She learned to lip read in several languages, and was a skilled speaker. She was educated at schools in the United States and Europe, and when she was 15 years old, became a private pupil of Alexander Graham Bell, her future husband. FAMILY: t Mabel also gave birth to two sons, Edward and Robert, both passed away shortly after their birth. ACHIEVEMENTS: an advoca First woman in the world to form and manage an aviation company, the Aerial Experiment Association, in 1907; the Association launched the first manned aircraft in Canada, the Silver Dart. Founded club: the Bell Club formerly known as the Young Ladies of Baddeck. Established the first chapter of the Canadian Home and School Parent-Teacher Federation; the first Canadian Montessori School; the Baddeck Public Library, the first public library in Canada; and conducted agricultural research for the Bureau of Soils in the United States as well as the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. DIED: January 3rd 1923, and is buried with her husband on a Sources: https://agbfoundation.ca/mabel-hubbard-bell/; http://www.alexanderandmabelbelllegacyfoundation.com/biography.html 7 st by electricity BORN: March3 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland. BEST KNOWN: as the inventor of the telephone. FAMILY: son of speech pathologist Alexander Melville Bell, and Eliza Bell. worked as a voice coach for those with difficulties hearing. His mother was Deaf, and an accomplished painter and pianist. From her, Alexander inherited a love of music, and was himself a skilled pianist. TRAVELLED: from London, U.K. to Brantford, ON, Canada, with his parents, in search of a healthier life. Then, to Boston, Massachusetts, teaching lip reading and oral speech at Sarah Fuller s Boston School for the Deaf. ACHIEVEMENTS: professor and president at the Clarke School for the Deaf, now the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, professor of voice and speech at Boston University in 1873, founded the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, now the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. THE TELEPHONE: June 2 1875 - Alexander and co-developer Thomas Watson transmit the sound of a musical note through a telephone. February 14th 1876 - Gardiner Hubbard filed a patent application; inventor Elisha Gray filed a caveat (a document which indicates the intention to invent something) for his own telephone. March 7th 1876 Bell granted the patent for his telephone March 10th 1876 - first spoken sentence transmitted call for his assistant to help him. AFTER THE TELEPHONE: Alexander experimented in aviation, designing tetrahedral kites, and hydrodynamics, building hydrofoils. Also served as President of the National Geographic Society. DIED: August 2nd 1922, and is buried on a hill at Beinn Bhreagh with his wife. Source: http://www.alexanderandmabelbelllegacyfoundation.com/biography.html 8 FEATURED ARTIST: Catherine Joell MacKinnon. Catherine is a performer, filmmaker, and producer. After seeing a performance featuring a hard of hearing actor at five years old, Catherine became interested in becoming a performer herself. Despite being told it would be impossible, Catherine continued to pursue her passion. She now holds a BFA from Ryerson Un have won numerous awards around the world. Catherine is dedicated to promoting equal work opportunities in the Canadian entertainment industry, and is a festival director of the biennial Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival. Catherine speaks both ASL (American Sign Language) and English. Source: http://www.actra.ca/uncategorized/2016/03/catherine-joell-mackinnon-biography/ Perspective What I learned when I started researchi Eliza Grace Symonds Bell was the mother of Alexander Graham Bell. She was born in England in 1809. I came across an article written by her son describing his childhood, and there was one excerpt which struck me because it demonstrated how deaf she was. At church, she would read sermons while the congregation sang. Afterwards, when they arrived home, she would ask her sons what was being said in church. Eliza was also an accomplished pianist and artist. She played the piano using the sounding board which enabled her to play every note and play expressively. She loved to write letters to her son and Mabel. She would sign off as ectionate mother, Eliza S. Bell would send his mother a telegram on Christmas Day, wishing her a Merry Christmas. It certainly shows the closeness of the relationship between a mother, her son, and her daughter in law, Mabel. Sources: Family correspondence letters via the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.00400108/?sp=6 Biofeedback and the Modification in Behaviour, Aubrey J. Yate 9 Visible Speech and ASL Alec: What is Visible Speech? Visible Speech is a system devised by Alexander Melville Bell. Visible is a phonetic system, in which each shape corresponds to a specific sound in human speech. The system also includes notations for pitch, tone, and suction. The system made it possible for someone to accurately pronounce the sounds of a language, even if they had never heard it before. Like his father, Alexander Graham Bell used visible speech to teach his Deaf students how to shape their mouths in order to produce the desired sounds of a language. This is the method used by Alexander to teach Mabel speech in Silence. Source: http://www.historytoday.com/kate- wiles/deafness-visible-speech-and-alexander- graham-bell For Teachers: Curriculum links: History/Social Studies this section describes different approaches to language learning for Deaf students. This information will inform students of important historical and cultural shifts, as well as enrich their understanding of the effects of these practices on the daily lives of those who participate in them 10 What is ASL? Exercise: ASL is one of many sign languages in use today. Have your students research other sign languages. How many can they name and describe? Where are they typically used? ASL is an abbreviation of American Sign Language, which is the most predominant sign language for Deaf communities in North America. Signed languages use visual-gesture systems in order to convey meaning; this differs from spoken languages, which use auditory-vocal systems. While they may seem different, the purpose of sign and spoken languages remains the same: to communicate. Just like any other language, sign languages can be used to tell stories or jokes, to relay experiences or feelings, to ask questions, or to give a theatre performance. School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT, and was developed from French Sign Language and signs that students brought to the school from their homes. Source: https://wfdeaf.org/human-rights/crpd/sign-language/ ASL Fun Facts from Catherine Joell MacKinnon: ifferent sign languages are used in different countries or regions. For example: British Sign Language (BSL) is a different language from American Sign Language (ASL).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Early Years of the Acoustic Phonograph Its Developmental Origins and Fall from Favor 1877-1929
    THE EARLY YEARS OF THE ACOUSTIC PHONOGRAPH ITS DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS AND FALL FROM FAVOR 1877-1929 by CARL R. MC QUEARY A SENIOR THESIS IN HISTORICAL AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES Submitted to the General Studies Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of BACHELOR OF GENERAL STUDIES Approved Accepted Director of General Studies March, 1990 0^ Ac T 3> ^"^^ DEDICATION No. 2) This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my wife Laura, who has continued to love me even when I had phonograph parts scattered through­ out the house. Thanks also to my loving parents, who have always been there for me. The Early Years of the Acoustic Phonograph Its developmental origins and fall from favor 1877-1929 "Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snov^. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go." With the recitation of a child's nursery rhyme, thirty-year- old Thomas Alva Edison ushered in a bright new age--the age of recorded sound. Edison's successful reproduction and recording of the human voice was the end result of countless hours of work on his part and represented the culmination of mankind's attempts, over thousands of years, to capture and reproduce the sounds and rhythms of his own vocal utterances as well as those of his environment. Although the industry that Edison spawned continues to this day, the phonograph is much changed, and little resembles the simple acoustical marvel that Edison created.
    [Show full text]
  • Wireless Networks
    SUBJECT WIRELESS NETWORKS SESSION 2 WIRELESS Cellular Concepts and Designs" SESSION 2 Wireless A handheld marine radio. Part of a series on Antennas Common types[show] Components[show] Systems[hide] Antenna farm Amateur radio Cellular network Hotspot Municipal wireless network Radio Radio masts and towers Wi-Fi 1 Wireless Safety and regulation[show] Radiation sources / regions[show] Characteristics[show] Techniques[show] V T E Wireless communication is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not connected by an electrical conductor. The most common wireless technologies use radio. With radio waves distances can be short, such as a few meters for television or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. It encompasses various types of fixed, mobile, and portable applications, including two-way radios, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless networking. Other examples of applications of radio wireless technology include GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mice,keyboards and headsets, headphones, radio receivers, satellite television, broadcast television and cordless telephones. Somewhat less common methods of achieving wireless communications include the use of other electromagnetic wireless technologies, such as light, magnetic, or electric fields or the use of sound. Contents [hide] 1 Introduction 2 History o 2.1 Photophone o 2.2 Early wireless work o 2.3 Radio 3 Modes o 3.1 Radio o 3.2 Free-space optical o 3.3
    [Show full text]
  • Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Alexander Melville Bell, February 26, 1880, with Transcript
    Library of Congress Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Alexander Melville Bell, February 26, 1880, with transcript ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL TO HIS FATHER A. MELVILLE BELL 904 14th Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. Feb. 26th, 1880. Dear Papa: I have just written to Mamma about Mabel's baby and I now write to you about my own! Only think! — Two babies in one week! The first born at 904 14th Street — on the fifteenth inst., the other at my laboratory on the nineteenth. Both strong vigorous healthy young things and both destined I trust to grow into something great in the future. Mabel's baby was light enough at birth but mine was LIGHT ITSELF! Mabel's baby screamed inarticulately but mine spoke with distinct enunciation from the first. I have heard articulate speech produced by sunlight! I have heard a ray of the sun laugh and cough and sing! The dream of the past year has become a reality — the “ Photophone ” is an accomplished fact. I am not prepared at present to go into particulars and can only say that with Mr. Tainter's assistance I have succeeded in preparing crystalline selenium of so low a resistance and so sensitive to light that we have been enabled to perceive variations of light as sounds in the telephone. In this way I have been able to hear a shadow, and I have even perceived by ear the passage of a cloud across the sun's disk. Can Imagination picture what the future of this invention is to be! I dream of so many important and wonderful applications that I cannot bring myself to make known my discovery — until I have demonstrated the practicability of some of these schemes.
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander Graham Bell
    WEEK 2 LEVEL 7 Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell is the famous inventor of the telephone. Born in Scotland on March 3, 1847, he was the second son of Alexander and Eliza Bell. His father taught students the art of speaking clearly, or elocution, and his mother played the piano. Bell’s mother was almost deaf. His father’s career and his mother’s hearing impairment influenced the course of his career. He became a teacher of deaf people. As a child, Bell didn’t care for school, and he eventually dropped out. He did like to solve problems though. For example, when he was only 12, he invented a new farm implement. The tool removed the tiny husks from wheat grains. After the deaths of his two brothers from tuberculosis, Bell and his parents moved from Europe to Canada in 1870. They thought the climate there was healthier than in Scotland. A year later, Bell moved to the United States. He got a job teaching at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. © 2019 Scholar Within, Inc. WEEK 2 LEVEL 7 One of his students was a 15-year-old named Mabel Hubbard. He was 10 years older than she was, but they fell in love and married in 1877. The Bells raised two daughters but lost two sons who both died as babies. Bell’s father-in-law, Gardiner Hubbard, knew Bell was interested in inventing things, so he asked him to improve the telegraph. Telegraph messages were tapped out with a machine using dots and dashes known as Morse code.
    [Show full text]
  • ARSC Journal, Vol
    EDISON AND GROWING HOSTILITIES1 By Raymond Wile The spring of 1878 witnessed a flurry of phonographic activity at the Edison laboratories. Caveats were filed with the United States Patent Office, and Prelimi­ nary Specifications were filed on April 24, 1878 which resulted in the eventual issuance of a British patent.2 Despite this initial activity, the Edison involvement rapidly wound down by the end of that summer. In September a fatal mistake occurred-final specifications were supplied for the British patent, but the equiva­ lent American applications were neglected. In December, an attempt was made to rectify the omission by predating a series of applications, but the U.S. Patent Office refused to allow this and the matter had to be dropped. Except for a patent applied for on March 29, 1879 and granted in 1880 the phonograph seems to have been completely abandoned by Edison in favor of his new interest in the electric light.3 During the first half of the eighties there is no evidence whatsoever of any phono­ graph activity emanating from Menlo Park. However, Edward H. Johnson, who had done much experimenting for the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company, did be­ come involved in some experimenting after his return from England in 1883-enough so for Bergmann and Company to bill the group for 192 1/2 hours of experimental work.4 Edison had become completely disenchanted and reasoned that the concept of the phonograph was incapable offurther developments. The members of the Edison Speak­ ing Phonograph Company were delighted to relieve Edison of the responsibility for further experimenting when he released them from the necessity of investing further capital.
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander Graham Bell Sample
    TM For action-packed nonfiction, turn to Capstone’s Graphic Library. These vivid, dynamic books present high-interest nonfiction in graphic novel format. An additional information TM section provides key facts for further understanding. TM world-changing eventss unfold before your eye A LEXANDER in the inventions and . discovery set TM Check out these other y titles: G inventions and discover RAHAM Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone B Hedy Lamarr and a Secret Communication System TM ELL Henry Ford and the Model T Jake Burton Carpenter and the Snowboard AND Johann Gutenberg and the Printing Press THE Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine TELEPHONE TELEPHONE Levi Strauss and Blue Jeans TELEPHONE Madam C. J. Walker and New Cosmetics Marie Curie and Radioactivity Philo Farnsworth and the Television Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and the Personal Computer Thomas Edison and the Lightbulb TM RL: 4 IL: 3-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-7368-6478-7 Fandel ISBN-10: 0-7368-6478-4 /Tucker www.capstonepress.com by Jennifer Fandel Reinforced Library Binding illustrated by Keith Tucker TM by Jennifer Fandel illustrated by Keith Tucker Consultant: Michael E. Gorman Professor of Science, Technology, and Society University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia Mankato, Minnesota Graphic Library is published by Capstone Press, 151 Good Counsel Drive, P.O. Box 669, Mankato, Minnesota 56002. www.capstonepress.com Copyright © 2007 by Capstone Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Edison Alexander Graham Bell
    The Inventing Game Cut out the images. Cut out the name of the inventor separately. Read out the text as a clue. Can people match the correct name and image? THOMAS EDISON Clue The first great invention developed by (don’t say the name) Thomas Edison was the tin foil phonograph. A prolific producer, Edison is also known for his work with light bulbs, electricity, film and audio devices, and much more. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL Clue In 1876, at the age of 29, (don’t say the name) Alexander Graham Bell invented his telephone. Among one of his first innovations after the telephone was the "photophone," a device that enabled sound to be transmitted on a beam of light. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER Clue (Don’t say the name) George Washington Carver was an agricultural chemist who invented 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds of more uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. His contributions chang ed the history of agriculture in the south. ELI WHITNEY Clue (Don’t say the name) Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794. The cotton gin is a machine that separates seeds, hulls, and other unwanted materials from cotton after it has been picked. JOHANNES GUTTENBERG Clue (don’t say the name) Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor best known for the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing machine that used movable type. JOHN LOGIE BAIRD Clue (don’t say the name) John Logie Baird is remembered as the inventor of mechanical television (an earlier version of television). Baird also patented inventions related to radar and fibre optics.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great Telecom Meltdown for a Listing of Recent Titles in the Artech House Telecommunications Library, Turn to the Back of This Book
    The Great Telecom Meltdown For a listing of recent titles in the Artech House Telecommunications Library, turn to the back of this book. The Great Telecom Meltdown Fred R. Goldstein a r techhouse. com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the U.S. Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Goldstein, Fred R. The great telecom meltdown.—(Artech House telecommunications Library) 1. Telecommunication—History 2. Telecommunciation—Technological innovations— History 3. Telecommunication—Finance—History I. Title 384’.09 ISBN 1-58053-939-4 Cover design by Leslie Genser © 2005 ARTECH HOUSE, INC. 685 Canton Street Norwood, MA 02062 All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. International Standard Book Number: 1-58053-939-4 10987654321 Contents ix Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) Gave Cable Providers an Advantage on “Triple Play” 122 RBOCs Took the Threat Seriously 123 Hybrid Fiber-Coax Is Developed 123 Cable Modems
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOLUME XXIII FIRST MEMOIR BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 1847-1922 BY HAROLD S. OSBORNE PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1943 It was the intention that this Biographical Memoir would be written jointly by the present author and the late Dr. Bancroft Gherardi. The scope of the memoir and plan of work were laid out in cooperation with him, but Dr. Gherardi's untimely death prevented the proposed collaboration in writing the text. The author expresses his appreciation also of the help of members of the Bell family, particularly Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, and of Mr. R. T. Barrett and Mr. A. M. Dowling of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company staff. The courtesy of these gentlemen has included, in addition to other help, making available to the author historic documents relating to the life of Alexander Graham Bell in the files of the National Geographic Society and in the Historical Museum of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 1847-1922 BY HAROLD S. OSBORNE Alexander Graham Bell—teacher, scientist, inventor, gentle- man—was one whose life was devoted to the benefit of mankind with unusual success. Known throughout the world as the inventor of the telephone, he made also other inventions and scientific discoveries of first importance, greatly advanced the methods and practices for teaching the deaf and came to be admired and loved throughout the world for his accuracy of thought and expression, his rigid code of honor, punctilious courtesy, and unfailing generosity in helping others.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Forms of Long-Distance Communication
    EARLY FORMS OF LONG-DISTANCE COMMUNICATION In this material, you will learn about Telegraphy, Telephone and GSM architecture Before the development of the electric telegraph in the 19th century revolutionized how information was transmitted across long distances, ancient civilizations such as those in China, Egypt and Greece used drumbeats or smoke signals to exchange information between far-flung points. However, such methods were limited by the weather and the need for an uninterrupted line of sight between receptor points. These limitations also lessened the effectiveness of the semaphore, a modern precursor to the electric telegraph. Developed in the early 1790s, the semaphore consisted of a series of hilltop stations that each had large movable arms to signal letters and numbers and two telescopes with which to see the other stations. Like ancient smoke signals, the semaphore was susceptible to weather and other factors that hindered visibility. A different method of transmitting information was needed to make regular and reliable long-distance communication workable. Did You Know? SOS, the internationally recognized distress signal, does not stand for any particular words. Instead, the letters were chosen because they are easy to transmit in Morse code: "S" is three dots, and "O" is three dashes. The Electric Telegraph In the early 19th century, two developments in the field of electricity opened the door to the production of the electric telegraph. First, in 1800, the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) invented the battery, which reliably stored an electric current and allowed the current to be used in a controlled environment. Second, in 1820, the Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851) demonstrated the connection between electricity and magnetism by deflecting a magnetic needle with an electric current.
    [Show full text]
  • The Marriage That Almost Was Western Union Has Always Been R.Idiculed for Rejecting the All Telephone
    RETROSPECTIVE .Innovation The marriage that almost was Western Union has always been r.idiculed for rejecting the telephone. But what actually happened wasn't so ridiculous after all The hirth of the telephone.,-one hundred years ago railway and illuminating gas to Cambridge, Mass. this month-is a fascinating story of the geJ;Jius and Long intrigued by telegraphy, he decided to do persistence of on.e man. In addition, it is an instruc­ something about what he called "this monopoly tive demonstration of how an industrial giant, in with its inflated capital which serves its stockhold­ this case the Western Union Telegraph Co., can ers better than the 'public and whose:rates are ex­ miss its chance to foster an industry-creating orbitant and prohibiting of many kinds of busi­ breakthrough-something that has happened again ness." Between 1868 and 1874, he lobbied unceas­ and again in electronics and other fields. ingly, shuttling back and forth betweep. homes in Between ·1875 and 1879, Western Union's chiefs Boston and Washington. for a private "postal tele­ engaged in an intricate minuet with Alexander graph company" to be chartered by Congress but Graham Bell and his associates. On more than one with Hubbard and some of his friends among the occasion, the telegraph colossus came excruciating­ incorporators. As Hubbard envisioned it, the com­ ly close to absorbing the small group of ~ntre­ pany would build telegraph lines along the nation's preneurs, That the absorption was finally avoided rail and post roads and contract with the Post was probably the result of a technological gamble Office Department to send telegrams on its wires ~t that simply didn't payoff, as rates roughly half those being charged by Western ••• The place: the ollie of well as a clash of personali­ Union.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Years of the Telephone
    ©2012 JSR The early years of the telephone The early years of the telephone John S. Reid Before Bell Ask who invented the telephone and most people who have an answer will reply Alexander Graham Bell, and probably clock it up as yet another invention by a Scotsman that was commercialised beyond our borders. Like many one line summaries, this is partly true but it credits to one person much more than he really deserves. Bell didn’t invent the word, he didn’t invent the concept, what ever the patent courts decreed, and actually didn’t invent most of the technology needed to turn the telephone into a business or household reality. He did, though, submit a crucial patent at just the right time in 1876, find backers to develop his concept, promoted his invention vigorously and pursued others through the courts to establish close to a monopoly business that made him and a good many others very well off. So, what is the fuller story of the early years of the telephone? In the 1820s, Charles Wheatstone who would later make a big name for himself as an inventor of telegraphy equipment invented a device he called a ‘telephone’ for transmitting music from one room to the next. It was not electrical but relied on conducting sound through a rod. In the same decade he also invented a device he called a ‘microphone’, for listening to faint sounds, but again it was not electrical. In succeeding decades quite a number of different devices by various inventors were given the name ‘telephone’.
    [Show full text]