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HOW AND WHY I BEGAN THIS QUEST

In 1983, I was browsing through the Allegheny College Library--I had traveled there to bring my daughter home for spring vacation. While there I explored their library and found a biography, PRODIGAL GENIUS: THE LIFE OF NIKOLA TESLA, by John J. O'Neill, (1944). I had known about Tesla and his famous coil from my high school days 40 years earlier, but this was my first opportunity to learn more about the man whose coil made fascinating sparks. Regrettably, his coil was the sorrowful extent of my knowledge of his work, and likely, this is as much as most people know...if indeed they recognize his name at all.

The first two pages of O'Neill's biography are powerful. After more than 27 years I can not forget his words. In short, I deem his book of epic proportion. When I looked at the inside of the back cover, I was amazed to find the book had been taken out only eight times in 38 years. How could this be? Was I overestimating the importance of its message? I did not think so, and I still don't. The same can be said for the next Tesla biography I discovered, TESLA, MAN OUT OF TIME, by Margaret Cheney, (1981). It has a powerful introduction by Leland Anderson, our country's foremost authority on Tesla--he was Cheney's mentor. It is by far the most authoritative and well documented book available today on Tesla.

I had been teaching English Composition and my first thought was, 'how interesting it might be for my students to learn the story of Tesla's life; it just might help me breathe some fire into their writing.' The more I read, the more I was able to tell my students, and the more they became inflamed with enthusiasm...not only for writing but for a desire to wave Tesla's banner. It seemed we had discovered a secret, if not an outright flaw in history. Why was it that so few people had ever heard of Tesla? We decided to write letter stories to people and tell them about our discovery. At first, and without realizing it, Tesla had become our class hero, and my students now became excited about writing. We developed a mission...to tell as many people as possible about Tesla. I was reveling at the writing successes in my classes, so I continued this activity with succeeding classes for several years.

One school year, 1986-87, was particularly exciting. Someone brought to our attention an interesting situation that existed in Madison, Wisconsin. We learned that several years earlier someone had named streets after famous scientists, including Tesla and Marconi. The city fathers spelled "MARCONI" correctly, but somehow they had misspelled Tesla's name as "TELSA" on their street sign. We also learned that the Chairman of the History Department at the University of Wisconsin years earlier had petitioned Madison officials to correct the spelling of Tesla's name, but his pleas to City Council were rejected repeatedly until he finally abandoned his crusade. This was exactly the kind of challenge my students wanted and needed. We bombarded Madison with letters to City Council, the newspaper, residents on "TELSA" Street, the mayor, even the mayor's wife, chiding them to correct Tesla's misspelled name. We argued, 'after all, Tesla was an honored American citizen who gave much to the world.' Also, 'how would they like to see Washington's name spelled incorrectly on street signs?' We had a birthday party for Tesla at my home that summer and made posters.

Photo of our yearly birthday party for Tesla at my home

The dispute raged for months and our story made the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal. One council member was particularly distraught over the issue. He called one day and begged that we 'get off their backs.' We refused because we knew we had truth on our side. Five months later we received a letter from the City Clerk advising us they had corrected the street signs. This was confirmed later by a photograph one of my students took while traveling there.

Two of my former students sent me this photo while on vacation in Madison, WI

One Saturday morning two years later my doorbell rang. It was a former student and her father. She told me that for the past three years she had not forgotten our Tesla story. It had made such an impression on her that she had persuaded her father, Ronald Farrington Sharp, an accomplished sculptor, to render a bust of Tesla for our class... that is, if this was something I really wanted. It took about a microsecond for me to agree to their generous offer. They explained that I would have to pay for the materials, but there would be no charge for the work. I was ecstatic and many thoughts ran through my head. We could put the bust in our classroom, or perhaps donate it to some museum. When the clay model took better shape and I could see how magnificent it really was, the sculptor asked what preference I had for the final cast. We decided on bronze. We also decided on a granite base and a bronze plaque telling of Tesla's contributions to electrical science. I worked for weeks at my computer keyboard composing various inscriptions for the plaque and consulting Margaret Cheney and Leland Anderson for guidance. Finally, I decided to use the following inscription:

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NIKOLA TESLA

1856 - 1943

American Inventor

HIS NAME MARKS AN EPOCH

IN A SINGLE BURST OF INVENTION HE CREATED THE POLYPHASE ALTERNATING CURRENT SYSTEM OF MOTORS AND GENERATORS THAT POWERS OUR WORLD. HE GAVE US EVERY ESSENTIAL OF RADIO, AND LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR MUCH OF TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY.

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There will probably be several readers who might prefer I had said something else on this plaque. Nevertheless, these were Tesla's greatest achievements.

My younger son told me about a band in California named TESLA that might be interested in contributing to our campaign, so I wrote them. In a few weeks their drummer and a guitar player responded personally with a check for $1,800. In addition, we wrote to dozens of CEO's of power companies and large corporations. Many responded with checks of $50 to $100. It seemed we were making real progress because many people in high positions were sympathetic to our message.

As we struggled, deciding where to place our bust, someone suggested the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Its museum has an entire section devoted to the history of electrical science. We believed their curator would welcome a bust of this caliber for their display. When I met the head curator I showed him a large full color photograph of our bust and told him our story about how it came into being. Then, on behalf of my students, I offered the bust, fully expecting that he would accept it. After all, the bust was magnificent and had an appraised value of $6,000. I was struck dumb when he refused our offer. It was simply beyond my comprehension that such a famous museum would refuse to accept and display the bust of America's greatest inventor in electrical science. As I left the building, admittedly dazed, I noticed a huge model of the Statue of Liberty, the central feature of an Edison display. The theme was a celebration of Edison for making possible the electrical energy needed to illuminate our national monument. It was apparent AC power was celebrated, rather than Edison's incandescent lamp. As I walked out the door I looked back, and there above the entryway I saw an inscription I had apparently missed when I first entered. It read, "The Edison Institute." Now everything suddenly fit into place. Edison and Ford were close friends, and it was reasonable to expect the Ford Company would continue to celebrate Edison's name. I thought, 'there must be other museums that would not have this kind of bias,' so I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I concluded it was nothing more than a haven for commercial displays...certainly nothing to compare with, say, the Ontario Science Centre. Canada was out of the question though because we wanted to keep our bust in this country.

Finally someone suggested we go to the top...to the most revered institution of them all, the Smithsonian. It is the one place in our country where only the greatest have their places in history preserved forever...men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Joseph Henry. We felt their officials would understand and appreciate Tesla's merit, and wondered if they had recognized Tesla's accomplishments and already had a bust, so I decided to travel to Washington in 1988 to visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. I had visions of seeing nothing but the grandest of sculptures and extensive displays. Upon arriving I discovered the electrical section was closed for renovation. When I explained to officials my purpose of coming to Washington, I was treated to a personal tour of their archives by the curator's assistant. He gave me a book describing their displays, but I was also able to see a part of the museum that was open to the public. There were numerous busts, but none were so great as to make our bust seem inferior. Therefore, I saw no reason why the museum could possibly refuse it. I returned to Ann Arbor with the book under my arm and feeling as though my trip had been a success. All that remained was to make our formal offer and our project would be ended.

When the bust was finished, one of my students wrote to offer it. In a few days we received a reply from Dr. Bernard S. Finn, then Curator of the Division of Electricity and Modern Physics. He did not want the bust! My students were devastated, and again I was struck dumb. He explained they 'almost never collect busts in their Division.' Later, another trip to the museum revealed that Dr. Finn was displaying Edison's bust next to Tesla's first AC motor/generator. Tesla's U.S. patent number appeared on the motor/generator, but the display was arranged in such a way as to give credit to Edison. Needless to say, I was astounded.

Further investigation revealed we were not the first group pressuring Dr. Finn to recognize Tesla. A congressman several years earlier had chided Finn to create a Tesla display. The display prepared by Dr. Finn consisted of a small glass showcase housing a few insignificant personal artifacts. The showcase was placed in a darkened hallway next to the Men's Room; their main gallery was devoted to an elaborate Edison display.

By this time I had thoroughly read Dr. Finn's book, LIGHTING A REVOLUTION, given me by Finn's assistant when I visited the museum. The section entitled, "The Beginning of the Electrical Age," named 43 contributors to the science of electricity, but Tesla's name was omitted! This was particularly disturbing because, in describing the Niagara Falls Power Project Dr. Finn alluded to Edison's genius that made the Niagara project possible: "When the Niagara Falls power station began operating in 1895, it signaled the final major act in the revolutionary drama that began in Menlo Park in the fall of 1879." In other words, in 1879 Edison invented DC electricity! Then, in 1895, he invented AC and harnessed Niagara Falls! The historical truth of this episode is that Edison fought the rise of AC and played no role whatsoever in the Niagara Falls power project. An acknowledgement on the inside of the book revealed that its funding was made possible by the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation. Is it reasonable to believe that Dr. Finn's depiction of electrical history was highly biased toward Edison because funding for the book came from the Edison Foundation?

In "Science", Vol.245, July - Sept. 1989, p.768, a book review entitled "The Real Edison, The Making of an Inventor," by Reese V. Jenkins et al., Eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1989, carries a most revealing observation: "This volume renders untenable the popular view of Edison as a Merlinesque figure who wrestles with mysterious forces and single-handedly conjures up stunning inventions." It seems I have an ally at Johns Hopkins University.

Before being married, my daughter taught Physics and Chemistry for ten years at Eastern Michigan University. I asked her to involve her physics students in my campaign. They wrote numerous letters to the Secretary of the Smithsonian besieging him to accept our bust. All responses were negative because the Secretary was determined to back Finn's personal bias toward Edison, amounting to the virtual exclusion of Tesla.

One of my students suggested we make promotional T-shirts. We engaged an artist to create a six-color likeness of Tesla including several symbolic figures representing highlights in his life. The artwork and silk-screening was complex and we could find only one firm in Ann Arbor able to do the work. The end product was magnificent! We sold hundreds of shirts in almost every state. the proceeds went into our school's tax-free account.

My next move was to write U.S. Senator Carl Levin from Michigan; we asked if he could intercede on our behalf to the Smithsonian. Several letters were exchanged, but they had no apparent effect other than to annoy Smithsonian officials. Then in one final effort, Senator Levin, on July 10, 1990, stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate and delivered a scorching account of the Smithsonian's historical debacle regarding Tesla: (Congressional Record, Vol. 136, No. 86): "...Nikola Tesla has not been granted his proper place in history. In the Smithsonian Institution, for example, Mr. Edison's inventions are justifiably well represented. However, although the museum has included Mr. Tesla's alternating current generators in their exhibit, no mention is made of Mr. Tesla. In fact, the generator is included as part of the Edison exhibit..."

At this time several Michigan newspaper articles telling our story appeared in Detroit and locally. Later, an Associated Press writer put the story in newspapers throughout the country. I even received one report that someone saw our article in a Hong Kong newspaper. All this publicity had no effect on Smithsonian policy. Finally, the Secretary promised to have Dr. Finn create a significant Tesla display in 1993. Their plan was to commemorate the Hundredth Anniversary of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was the first World's Fair brilliantly lit by electricity--the same AC that powers the world today made practical by Tesla's genius.

I sensed the Secretary was only buying time and that some excuse would be found not to give Tesla his due. It was not long until my apprehension became reality. Dr. Finn was relying on obtaining a few Tesla artifacts held in a Yugoslav museum. Soon thereafter the war in Yugoslavia erupted and Dr. Finn used the war as an excuse not to create a Tesla display. The Yugoslavian museum items he deemed so important for his proposed display were only insignificant artifacts...a suit of clothing, a cane, a pair of shoes, a suitcase, etc. Obviously, the public would not relate these items to Tesla's greatest contributions--his rotating magnetic field principle and his basic four-tuned circuits forming the essential element of radio. Dr. Finn's plan is to explain Tesla as an eccentric loner who remained outside the arena of mainstream academe and industry. Would not science history be better served if he highlighted and paid tribute to Tesla's greatest contributions? These fundamental discoveries serve as the foundation for our two most important industries--power and communication.

It was Hans Christian Oersted discovering electromagnetism in 1820, followed by Michael Faraday making the first electromagnetic generator in 1831, who really opened the age of electric power. Tesla's rotating magnetic field principle indeed 'signaled the final major act in the revolutionary drama'...but that drama began with Oersted and Faraday, not with Edison at Menlo Park!

Veterans' groups recently severely criticized the Smithsonian, and rightly so, for their wrongful depiction of history regarding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The outcry was so loud that Smithsonian officials had to modify their Enola Gay display. I see little difference in the historical bias the Smithsonian shows against Tesla and the nonsensical bias they preferred regarding the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Of course the main difference in these disputes is that Tesla does not have large segments of the general public complaining to Smithsonian officials.

Unfortunately the Smithsonian is a political organization, much the same as many other groups in Washington--they blow in the same direction as the wind. I believe the wind has been blowing for too long in Edison's direction, particularly in regard to his entrepreneurial experiment with DC power. I want to see credit given where credit is due...to Tesla for his polyphase AC system...the system that works. We should not be celebrating a businessman's failure in the power industry.

The History of Technology faction that emerged in recent years has subverted our national museum and converted it into an advertising medium promoting specific industries that support them financially. Also, the group that has assumed power at the Smithsonian is methodically dismantling and converting our national museum into an instrument for social change. What was once a tribute to America is gradually being transformed into an assault on American history. I strongly suspect these issues were not even imagined by Mr. James Smithson, a genteel and erudite Englishman, when he bequeathed his estate to the government of the United States to establish the Smithsonian "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson was a scientist and man of letters, not a social activist. He undoubtedly envisioned a museum that celebrated creativity (instead of entrepreneurship), and tasteful displays depicting an accurate account of our society's accomplishments (instead of focusing on its problems).

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