Thomas Edison National Historical Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

The Lab Notebook Jill Hawk Is New Superintendent of Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Jill A. Hawk, currently Superin- portunity to engage with the tendent of Morristown National staff, volunteer and partners at Historical Park, has taken on the Thomas Edison without having additional role of Superintendent to leave Morristown. It’s the best of Thomas Edison National His- of both worlds.” torical Park. Jill succeeds Greg Marshall who retired in August. Prior to her assignment to Mor- ristown in January 2011, Jill Dennis R. Reidenbach, North served as Northeast regional East Regional Director of the Na- chief ranger in Philadelphia, tional Park Service made the an- overseeing a variety of programs nouncement on January 5, 2012. that included risk management, “Bringing the two parks together environmental protection, safety under a single superintendent,” and occupational health, law en- he said, “provides continuity of forcement, wildland fire, struc- National Park in Virginia. Early in leadership plus opportunities for tural fire, search and rescue, her career, she also had assignments cooperation between two rela- emergency management, emer- at the Statue of Liberty, Everglades tively close sites. Jill brings a gency services, and aviation National Park, and Blue Ridge Park- great deal of skill, energy and en- across the 13 northeast states. way in North Carolina. thusiasm into this dual position, Before being selected as regional and is the right person to lead chief ranger in 2005, Jill was Jill graduated from the FBI National these two important national chief ranger at Mount Rainier Academy in March 2006. She com- parks.” National Park in Washington. pleted graduate study in Organiza- tional Psychology in 2005 from An- “Having a single superintendent She began her NPS career in tioch University, Seattle, and com- for multiple sites is common in 1989 as a seasonal park ranger, pleted undergraduate study in natu- the National Park Service,” Jill first at Fire Island National Sea- ral resource management at the Uni- said. “For me, it means the op- shore and then at Shenandoah versity of Tennessee-Martin in 1988.

Happy 125th!

Thomas Edison opened his We will plan several commemora- newly built Laboratory in West tive events throughout the year, Orange in 1887. Although the culminating in a symposium on exact date is uncertain, it seems November 17 that will open a week to have been sometime in the of programs throughThanksgiving autumn. Consequently, 2012 weekend. During the year, follow marks the 125th anniversary of us on Twitter for updates on up- the six red-brick buildings that coming events plus highlights housed Edison’s last and most drawn from the past century and a The main laboratory building, 1887-1888. lavish laboratory. quarter of the Laboratory’s history.

The official newsletter of Thomas Edison National Historical Park, Winter 2012, Volume VI, Issue 3. Message from the Superintendent Teacher-Ranger- Teacher Welcome to Thomas Edison National Histori- The Teacher-Ranger- cal Park! This is my inaugural message as Park Teacher program is a superintendent. If this is your first visit to the service-wide offering of park, I share your excitement about what is to the National Park Ser- be discovered as you walk throughout the vice that strengthens the Laboratory Complex and the prized Edison bonds between schools and Parks. Individual estate at Glenmont. Please put all your pre- Janet Armstrong with young visitors in Build- Parks select a local conceptions aside because as you visit this his- ing 11. teacher for a summer toric crown jewel of the National Park Service immersion experience I expect that you will be amazed at what is that allows the teacher to take part in the full ranger experience. Janet Armstrong, from the Parsippany-Troy Hills school district, here. You will learn, you will question, and spent her summer at Edison learning basic interpretive skills for you will discover that hard work and persis- staffing the front desk, operations at both the Laboratory and tence were at the root of all Mr. Edison’s Glenmont, roving interpretation in Building 5, and program sup- methods and inventions. Nothing has really port for rangers giving Chemistry Lab tours. She conducted some changed. The team at Thomas Edison Na- Chemistry Lab tours herself and worked with several rangers on Camp Edison. With Ranger Tim Pagano, she designed activities for tional Historical Park are continually challeng- the Kindergarten to third grade campers to be used on the Inven- ing themselves – whether it is to discover a tors’ Day of the camp. She created a picture scavenger hunt for the long-forgotten sound recording, create a new Heavy Machine Shop, and an I-Spy game for the Library. Both programs are now used in our current school programs. educational program, or reveal the park’s story to a new audience – to engage our 21st century In the fall, Janet received a grant to present a special engineering guests in a world of invention and experience. program, the “Skimmer Project,” that Rangers Ben Lee and Tim I have found this to be an amazing place, one Pagano helped her present in her classroom. She is also conducting a course at Montclair State University's Gifted Enrichment Pro- of history and intrigue; but also of creativity, gram called "Thinking Like Thomas Edison" for fourth and fifth challenge, and opportunity. As our guest, grade gifted students.

please enjoy “your national park” and share Janet also developed a course as part of "Brain Unit" at the Gifted your experiences with me at: Reach Out program in Parsippany-Troy Hills for fifth grade stu- dents that helps them understand how Thomas Edison's brain en- [email protected]. abled him to achieve so many things during his lifetime. She is also developing a letter-writing idea (“Dear Mr. Edison”). In April, Janet will address the Bergen Consortium of Gifted Teachers about Jill Hawk her Edison experience.

The summer was a resounding success for Janet, the Park, and the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program. We are looking forward to her return this summer.

Thomas Edison National Historical Park was established to preserve and protect Suzanne Vega Records Wax Thomas Alva Edison’s West Orange Cylinders for Audio Students Laboratory, home, and collections for the education and inspiration of people worldwide. On February 10, singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega visited Thomas Edison NHP to make Thomas Edison National Historical Park wax cylinder recordings of her 1987 hit songs 211 Main Street “Tom’s Diner” and “Luka.” John Krivit, West Orange, NJ 07052 Web site: www.nps.gov/edis Chair of the Audio Engineering Society’s Edu- Email: [email protected] cation Committee, arranged for about twenty

Visitor Information students of Audio and Media Technology 973-736-0550 x11 from Bay State College in Boston to witness Fax: 973-243-7172 the recording session and tour the Edison The National Park Service cares for the special places saved by the American Suzanne Vega recording “Luka.” Laboratory. people so that all may experience our heritage. A podcast of the event is available on-line at: http:// streetdate.radio.com/2012/02/14/suzanne-vega-steps National Park Service -back-in-time-records-toms-diner-on-wax-cylinder- U.S. Department of the Interior at-thomas-edisons-laboratory/

Greg Milner of Spin magazine (seated in front left of photo) joins the class discussion about making and listening to sound recordings.

2 The Lab Notebook Preservation Notes Voices from the

At Glenmont, AMEC contractors will be patch- Past ing plaster and repainting the Servants' Dining At the end of January the Park Room and Hallway. They will also paint the Con- announced the release of 12 his- servatory and make repairs to the glazing putty on toric wax cylinder sound re- its windows. All walls cordings made by Theo Wange- will return to their 1930 mann, Thomas Edison’s re- color. Work is sched- cording engineer in 1889-90. uled to be completed by Wangemann travelled to Ger- the end of March. many, Austria, Prussia, and

France and captured the voices of Painters apply a primer coat German Chancellor Otto von Bis- in the Conservatory. marck and Field Marshal

Helmuth von Moltke, plus several Theodore Edison plastered the walls of his bed- Theo Wangemann, photo- performances by important musi- graphed in Berlin during his room with automobile advertisements. After his cians of the period. European trip, with an auto- teenage years, the room simply became a bedroom graphed message to Edison. for his mother’s overnight guests. Mina Edison re- painted the room in a pale pink in 1940, but over the Museum staff cataloged the dam- years this wall treatment fell into disrepair and was aged wooden box containing the altered by both Thomas A. Edison, Inc.. and the Na- cylinders in 1957, but the re- tional Park Service. cordings, some broken with pieces missing, were put aside while the Christopher Mills Con- rest of the sound recording collec- servation Services re- tion received attention. In 2011, turned the room to the Jerry Fabris, the Park's Curator of historic color it had in Sound Recordings, digitized 12 of the late 1920s and early Wangemann's 17 cylinders using a 1930s. The team ana- French-made Archéophone cylinder lyzed paint layers to de- playback machine. termine that four cam- Wangemann, about 1905. Theodore’s bedroom today. paigns of blue-green Theo Wangemann oversaw the first paint could be found on regular production of pre-recorded cylinders at the Edison the walls, one of them definitely in 1927, according Laboratory in West Orange, in 1888-89, ushering in the be- to archival records. The team stabilized the plaster ginning of the American musical recording industry. Later, walls and recreated the blue-green color that can Wangemann’s trip abroad played a prominent role in intro- now be seen in decorative elements such as the fire- ducing Edison’s invention to continental Europe. place tiles and the fabric above the mantel. The To hear the recordings themselves, visit our website. The link completion of this exciting project brings the site is: http://www.nps.gov/edis /photosmultimedia/ theo- one step closer to restoring the second floor Glen- wangemann-1889-1890-european-recordings.htm. There mont guest bedrooms to their historic appearance. you will also find two more informative articles, a biography

of Wangemann by Patrick Feaster, a Grammy nominee who The brick retain- specializes in the history of sound media, and an article on ing wall at the Labo- Wangemann’s European ratory Visitor Parking recordings by Stephan Lot is being resur- Pulle of the University of faced. Work should be Applied Sciences in Ber- completed by April 15. lin, Germany. Visitors can still park in the lot near the Park Work begins on the retaining wall. entrance sign and in the handicapped park- ing spaces near the fence as well as in the employee Patrick Feaster, sound recording parking area. Contractors will not work on the historian, presented weekends, and caution tape and barricades will be in a talk here on place along the brick wall side of the parking lot to Wangemann’s Euro- alert visitors not to park there. pean trip. Inset: one of the wax re- cordings.

The Lab Notebook 3 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Thomas Edison National Historical Park 211 Main Street West Orange, NJ 07052

How did we overlook this photo for the last issue?

Health-conscious Edi- son staffers and volun- teers took part in the 2011 Llewellyn Park 5K Run/Walk last October 2. They took a breather for this group portrait.

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA

Volunteers-In-Parks Coordinator Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Michelle Ortwein 973-736-0550 x31 phone The Model T Gets a Tune-Up [email protected]

www.nps.gov/edis Click on “Support the National Park Service”

The Lab Notebook is a quarterly publication of Thomas Edison National Historical Park. Printed on recycled paper. Editor Edward Wirth

Contributors

Anne DeGraaf Jerry Fabris Brigid Jennings Theresa Jung Charly Magale Michelle Ortwein Claire Shields Karen Sloat-Olsen

Comments? Write to: Model T experts Bob Jablonski and Greg Marshall, Superintendent George Mills volunteered several hours Thomas Edison National Historical doing maintenance work on Edison's 1922 Park Ford at the Glenmont garage. At right, a 211 Main Street view of the Model T in the 2011 West West Orange, NJ 07052 Orange St. Patrick's Day Parade.

4 The Lab Notebook