Guide to the Cyril Frank Elwell Papers M0049
Elwell (Cyril Frank) papers
Processed by Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Patricia White
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
1997 ; revised 2018
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Cyril Frank Elwell Papers
Creator:
Elwell, C. F. (Cyril Frank)
Identifier/Call Number: M0049
Identifier/Call Number: 215
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
(5 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1930-1961
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials
are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Cyril Frank Elwell, 1963.
Biographical / Historical
Cyril Frank Elwell (1884 – 1963) was an American inventor and pioneer in the development of radio-telegraphy and long-distance
communication. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1884 to an American father and a German mother, Elwell arrived in the United
States in 1902. He studied electrical engineering at Stanford University, graduating with an engineering degree in 1907. While
he first was involved with electric metallurgy, in 1908 he began research in wireless communication after investigating a
system for voice transmission invented by Francis Joseph McCarty (1888-1906) six years earlier. Elwell founded the Poulsen
Wireless Telephone and Telegraph Company, later renamed Federal Telegraph Company in 1909. By 1910 Elwell had sucessfully
demonstrated voice communication between Stockton and Sacramento, California. Equipment and technique rapidly improved and
by 1911 Federal Telegraph was prepared to bid on contracts to provide Navy communication to Hawaii. After a dispute with the
Federal Telegraph board of directors, Elwell resigned in 1913 but continued his research, joining the short-lived Universal
Wireless Syndicate. During World War I he was a consulting radio engineer for the French and Italian governments. Subsequently
he moved to England where in the early 1920s he established and managed the company C. F. Elwell, Ltd., originally to mainly
supply wireless apparatus for maritime communication but later manufacturing home radio receivers for the emerging radio broadcasting
service. While in England he also became involved in other electronics enterprises, including collaborating with Lee de Forest
on talking pictures with the British de Forest Phonofilms Company. He also briefly worked on motion picture sound in France.
Elwell was a founding investor in the Mullard Radio Valve Company, manufacturers of vacuum tubes. After his term as director
at Mullard, he returned to the United States in 1947 and was a consulting engineer for Hewlett Packard. He died in 1963.
Paging
Page from catalog record https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4082748
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Cyril Frank Elwell Papers, M0049, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Related Materials
Stanford holds a few related collections:
MSS PRINTS 0085 "600-foot tower design for Federal Telegraph Co. : blueprints and typescript, 1912"
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5175668
MISC 1035 "Clippings about Elwell and his work, 1912-1934"
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4703395
Scope and Contents
These papers contain several versions of Elwell's autobiography, including one written under a pseudonym and correspondence
with possible ghost writers, especially R. B. Stone. Also included are engineering papers, clippings, biographical materials,
and correspondence.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Radio -- History
Electrical engineering
box 1, folder 1
Autobiography. Notebook with typed copy and manuscript corrections 118227
box 1, folder 2
Autobiography. Notebook with typed copy but no corrections 118225
box 1, folder 3
Autobiography. Notebook with typed copy of marked pages 2-66 118223
box 1, folder 4
Autobiography. Notebook with typed copy and manuscript corrections. Version C 118221
box 1, folder 5
Autobiography. Typed copy of tape recorded reminiscences 118219
1957
box 1, folder 6
Autobiography. Typed copy of tape recorded reminiscences, revised 118217
box 1, folder 7
Autobiography. Version P begining with page 2 118215
box 1, folder 8
Autobiography. Another version 118213
box 1, folder 9
Revised autobiography with the aid of R. B. Stone. Outline for possible publisher 118211
box 1, folder 10
Revised autobiography written under the name Frank Rossa 118209
box 1, folder 11
Autobiography. Notes for Stone 118207
box 1, folder 12
Autobiography. Miscellaneous notes 118205
box 2, folder 13
Autobiography. Notes for Stone 118203
box 2, folder 14
Autobiography. Notes for Stone 118201
box 2, folder 15
Autobiography. Van Etten, deForest and Hewlett Packard material 118199
box 2, folder 16
Autobiography. Miscellaneous notes 118197
box 2, folder 17
Letters, outgoing 118195
1941 January 16 -1961 February 28
box 2, folder 18
Letters, incoming, A - Z 118193
box 2, folder 19
Letters not to Elwell but concerning his work 118191
Articles, speeches, papers, etc.
box 3, folder 24
Speeches and articles by Elwell 118181
box 3, folder 25
Magazine articles pertaining to Elwell 118179
box 3, folder 26
Contracts and certificates 118177
box 3, folder 28
Engineering papers. Notebook of designs and circuits 118173
box 3, folder 29
Engineering papers. History of Radio, notes by Elwell 118171
box 3, folder 30
Engineering papers. Structural designs 118169
box 4, folder 31
Engineering papers. Antennas 118167
box 4, folder 32
Engineering papers. Antennas 118165
box 4, folder 33
Engineering papers. Transisters 118163
box 4, folder 34
Engineering papers. Lapp radio material 118161
box 4, folder 35
Engineering papers. Radio towers 118159
box 4, folder 36
Engineering papers. Linear electron accelerator 118157
Photographs
Scope and Contents
Approximately 150 early 20th century photographic prints of radio towers, equipment and people. There are also portraits of
Elwell.
box 5, folder 1
"The C.F. Elwell Collection of Photographs & Equipment Used in Connection With the First Continuous Wave Commercial Stations
on the West Coast Built by Federal Telegraph Company"
Scope and Contents
listing for exhibit with most of the photos listed
box 5, folder 2
Portraits of Elwell, residences, other people
box 5, folder 6
South San Francisco/California
box 5, folder 7
El Paso, Texas
Scope and Contents
One photo from the El Paso file is in Folder 1 (portrait of C.V. Logwood)
box 5, folder 8
England
Scope and Contents
Primarily Newcastle & Horsea Island
box 5, folder 12
Misc. Europe
Scope and Contents
Romania, Hungary, Malta
