Douglas M. Perham Clippings on Early Radio History

Finding aid created by History San Jose Research Library staff using RecordEXPRESS
History San Jose Research Library
1661 Senter Road
San Jose, California 95112
(408) 287-2290
research@historysanjose.org
http://www.historysanjose.org/
2023


Descriptive Summary

Title: Douglas M. Perham Clippings on Early Radio History
Dates: 1890-1930
Collection Number: 2003-46
Creator/Collector: Perham, Douglas M.
Extent: 616 clippings
Online items available
Repository: History San Jose Research Library
San Jose, California 95112
Abstract: Clippings compiled by electronics collector Douglas M. Perham on the history of wireless telegraphy and radio, particularly in the Pacific Region.
Language of Material: English

Access

Collection is open to the public for research by appointment with the Curator of Library and Archives.

Publication Rights

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Douglas M. Perham Clippings on Early Radio History. Collection Number: 2003-46. History San Jose Research Library

Acquisition Information

Acquired in 2003 by History San Jose from the Perham Foundation as part of the Perham Collection of Early Electronics.

Biography/Administrative History

Douglas M. Perham (1887-1967) was an early wireless experimenter and broadcaster, and a talented technician. His career spanned the first fifty years of commercial electronics in the West — from his first youthful experiment with a Marconi coherer in 1898 to his retirement from Varian Associates in 1953. In March 1953, Doug, a lifelong collector, joined forces with Connie Kambish, an avid collector in her own right and creator and curator of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum south of San Jose, California.

Scope and Content of Collection

Clippings compiled by electronics collector Douglas M. Perham on the history of wireless telegraphy and radio, particularly in the Pacific Region. They are organized alphabetically by subject, with an emphasis on amateur radio stations, wireless stations, and early radio broadcasting in the San Francisco Bay Area. Also included are multiple clippings on patent suits involving Radio Corporation of America; labor strikes against the Marconi Company; and early radio equipment manufacturers in the Bay Area, including Moorhead Laboratories, Elmer Cunningham, and National Radio Company.

Indexing Terms

Radio--Law and legislation--United States
Telegraph, Wireless--Pacific Coast (U.S.)--History
Patent suits
Radio broadcasting--California--San Francisco Bay Area
Vacuum tubes--Manufactures
Marconi, Guglielmo, 1874-1937
De Forest, Lee, 1873-1961
Cunningham, Elmer
Wolverton, Robert
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America
De Forest Radio Company
Radio Corporation of America
General Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company
United States. Federal Radio Commission
Pacific Coast (U.S.)