2002: An Electronic-Television Anniversary


Speaker: Donald G. Godfrey, author of Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television
 

  • Date & time: Thursday, 14 Nov 2002
  • Meeting organizer: Roy Trumbull
  • Meeting Host: Steve Runyon, University of San Francisco

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  • Program:

    • Philo T. Farnsworth conceptualized an all-electronic scanning scheme for television in 1920, when he was just 14 years old. He established his first laboratory when he was 19 and went on to found four corporations and patent 130 inventions. This autumn marks the 75th anniversary of Farnsworth's first working television prototype, which he developed in his lab on Green Street in San Francisco.

    Our guest speaker is Donald G. Godfrey, a professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. He is the author of Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television (University of Utah Press, 2001). Don spent 12 years researching Farnsworth and his pioneering television work. He's uncovered a number of details and never-before-seen photographs of one of Americas most prolific inventors in the field of communications.

    Farnsworth was a complicated man who found himself at odds with some powerful corporate forces in American electronics in the 1920s and '30s. Don will talk about Farnsworth's successes and failures. The Farnsworth story remains highly charged with emotion about who invented what in television. Our speaker will dispel a few of the myths about the inventor that have recently been circulating in the popular press. Don will keep his presentation informal, so there will be lots of time for audience questions and participation.

    Don is the former president of the Broadcast Education Association and the Council of Communication Associations. He's published numerous articles and books, including the Historical Dictionary of American Radio, Television in America: Local Station Histories from Across the Nation, and ReRuns on File: A Directory of Broadcast Archives.

    Well-known television historian Albert Abramson has called Godfrey's research, "a major work about a major television inventor." Walter Cronkite calls it, "a sterling example of thorough research, applied scholarship and interesting presentation."

    Many thanks to Steve Runyon, our USF host.
     

    Welcome:

    SMPTEsf  welcomes members and friends to attend without charge. Reservations are not required for this meeting.

    Location:

    University Faculty Lounge,
    University of San Francisco (2nd floor of the University Center)
    USF is located between Fulton and Golden Gate Avenues west of Masonic in San Francisco.
    The main entrance is somewhat offset from the center of the block on the Golden Gate Ave. side. From that entrance, the University Center is the first building on the right. See "UC" on this campus map.   For driving directions, go to www.usfca.edu/online/gen_info/directions.html

    Parking: There is on-street parking in the area this time of the evening. The bulk of the street parking is on the Golden Gate Ave. side of the campus.

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