Tuesday, July 22, 2008

IEEE Researcher Visits the Library

Every year the IEEE History Center hosts a young scholar for a summer internship, during which she or he can work on a project at the center or draw on near-by scholarly resources. This summer, Alejandro Casasempere Garcia from the Technical University of Madrid is working on his master's thesis, "The Role of the White House in the Establishment of a Government Radio Monopoly in the U.S.: The Case of RCA." Through the offices of the Center's executive director, Michael Geselowitz, Alejandro visited the David Sarnoff Library. Alex Magoun, executive director, reviewed the Library's holdings, including the transcript of a 1919 meeting convened by Sarnoff on the middle managers' perspective of the transition from British-owned subsidiary to American company. Our thanks to Endicott College intern David Upperco for scanning this document five years ago for uses just like this. Alex also discussed the archival resources for the leading individuals involved in the establishment of the Radio Corporation of America, some of which are located at Princeton University. Alejandro also had the opportunity to visit the original entrance to the RCA Laboratories, while Mike and Alex discussed the History Center's Milestones Program in front of the plaque for the invention of electronic, monochrome-compatible, color television.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Power of the Press

Yow! The Princeton Packet follows Town Topics' feature article last winter with a double feature today. First, an article by Adam Grybowski on Library executive director Alex Magoun, David Sarnoff, and RCA's inventions as exhibited in the museum, with multiple photos by Mark Czajkowski; and then an article on the Library's Martians for Education campaign and logo. Can the Today Show and Jon Stewart be far behind?