COMMeMOratiVe ISSue - Illuminating Engineering Society

C E L E B R AT I N G T H E PA S T
who are especially interested
in the question of light and its
distribution. For this purpose,
the undersigned have asked a
number of those most prominently
interested in such questions
to meet at the Hotel Astor,
44th Street and Broadway, this
city, on Thursday evening, December
21, at 6:30 o’clock, to
talk over the formation of such a
society and to discuss whatever
is necessary to accomplish this
purpose. We trust you will be
able to attend this meeting and
would ask that you kindly let Mr.
L. B. Marks, 202 Broadway, New
York City, know beforehand so
that arrangements for an informal
dinner may be made. The
price of this dinner will be $1.00
each.
Trusting that we may have the
pleasure of meeting you at that
time, we are,
Very truly yours,
L. B. Marks,
E. Leavenworth Elliott,
Van Rensselaer Lansingh.
P.S.-The dinner will be purely
informal and business suits will
be in order.
Among the list of those contacted
were Prof. Charles P. Matthews;
Prof. Edward L. Nichols;
Proctor Dougherty; Albert Spies;
John W. Lieb; and W.D. Weaver.
Charles P. Matthews was teaching
at Purdue University and was
very active in photometry, having
developed one of the first flux
integrators. He had published extensively
on lighting topics and
his interest in a new organization
would have been natural.
Prof. Edward L. Nichols had
been one of Marks’ instructors
while he was at Cornell University
earning his master’s degree.
He was a nationally recognized
leader in physics and an important
figure in electrical engineering
and lighting. His status
and influence made him an obvious
person to invite. Though
Nichols was unable to attend the
meeting, he was enthusiastic.
Lansingh knew Proctor Dougherty
from his days at MIT and
Dougherty’s connection with the
federal government must have
been considered promising.
The response from Albert Spies,
editor of The Electrical Age, was
measured but supportive.
At the time of Mark’s invitation,
John W. Lieb was an important
veteran of electric incandescent
lighting, president of the
American Institute of Electrical
Engineers, the most famous central
station engineer in the lighting
industry and immensely influential.
He would become vice
president and general manager
of the New York Edison Company.
Lieb had been sent to Milan,
Italy, to oversee the technical
aspects of establishing Edison
Central Stations. Lieb stayed 10
years, becoming well known
throughout Europe. He returned
in 1894 to work in the New York
Edison Company. Lieb was enthusiastic
but was aware of potential
political problems.
The response from W.D. Weaver,
editor of Electrical Word, was
considerably more measured and
reserved than any other; arguing
that it was premature to form a
new organization, and describing
several political problems that
would likely arise should a new
organization be formed. Weaver
predicted a turf war between the
American Institute of Electrical
Engineers and any new organization
that promoted the idea
that specialists should be doing
the lighting work that was then
be done by electrical engineers.
As it happened, though his letter
stated he would not be able to attend,
he did attend—indicating
perhaps the importance of the
development.
Twenty-five men gathered at
the Astor Hotel in response to the
invitation of Marks, Elliott and
Lansingh. At that meeting, called
to order by Lansingh, Marks’s
position as instigator and leader
was recognized and he was
elected as temporary chairman.
Elliott was elected to serve as
temporary secretary. This later
appointment was fortunate, for
the details about this and subsequent
meetings appeared in
Elliott’s The Illuminating Engineer.
Marks stated that the purpose
of the meeting should be to
determine the object of the pro-
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