Nikola Tesla Centennial Celebration

(Chicago, Illinois, October 1, 1956)

On Monday, October 1st (1956), the American Institute of Electrical Engineers dedicated the opening day of its Fall General Meeting held in Chicago to the Centennial Anniversary of the birth of Dr. Nikola Tesla. Chicago was a particularly significant location for the Tesla Centennial celebration because it was there in 1893 at the World's Fair Exposition that the Tesla Polyphase System of power transmission was first introduced. There too, the same year, the Chicago section of the A.I.E.E. was organized, the oldest A.I.E.E. chapter in the United States. It was in Chicago that Tesla demonstrated the first radio-controlled guided weapon in 1899, on route to Colorado Springs where he established his famed experimental Station. And Tesla again returned to Chicago in 1917 when he was engaged in work on mechanical transformers. Indeed, Chicago has been the scene of important milestone events in Tesla's monumental career.

Headquarters for the A.I.E.E. Meeting at Chicago was the Hotel Morrison, and the Mezzanine floor held a number or interesting exhibits. Through the courtesy of the Ford Museum at Dearborn, two early Westinghouse “Tesla” motors were displayed. An attractive exhibit furnished by the Westinghouse Company showed the 2-page AGREEment dated August 2, 1899 between George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, and the MEMORANDUM OF THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT between the Tesla Electric Company of New York and the Westinghouse Electric Company of Pittsburgh. A sculptured bust of Nikola Tesla was on view portraying Tesla holding a book as an interpretation of his literary and natural genius. It was completed only a few months previous by Mr. Stevan Segvich studying at the Chicago Art Institute. Through the courtesy of Popular Science Magazine, an enlarged reproduction of the Nikola Tesla narrative which appeared in the preceding July issue of that magazine was displayed. A 1 1/2% scale model of the Tesla Long Island Tower was also on view, furnished by the Tesla Society. Three photo blow-ups were prepared by the A.I.E.E. which showed the Sarony portrait of Tesla at 77, the first (Tesla's) quided weapon, and cascading electrical discharges of Tesla's Colorado Springs Experimental Station.

Monday noon, the Tesla Society sponsored a luncheon in the Madison Room of the Hotel Morrison honoring the Tesla Centenary. Speakers at the luncheon program were Mr. Elmer Gertz and Mr. W.W. Wilhelm. Mr. Gertz, for the subject of his presentation, recalled an evening gathering in New York in 1934 attended by editors, scientists, artists, and professional men, and one of the greatest men at the gathering, Nikola Tesla. Mr. Gertz discussed interesting contrasts and personal similarities of Tesla and another world-famed genius born the month of July, George Bernard Shaw. He told how Tesla the scientist, the lover of all things beautiful, spoke of the verities of science that will exist when all transitory art is no more. Mr. Gertz quoted from an unpublished poem by Tesla entitled, “Fragments of Olympian Gossip,” in which Tesla muses on the qreat scientific figures of times past.

Mr. Wilhelm related many interesting and humorous incidents of his association with Tesla in Chicago during 1917 in the development of his ultra-high speed turbine for the United States Government. Mr. Wilhelm was then a shop foreman for Tesla and described his talent as an inspiring instructor to those who worked with him. He told how Tesla would see multitudes of possibilities for investigation while restricted to his particular research program, and how his genius could not be confined any more than a mighty stream. Mr. Wilhelm related many of the personal traits of Tesla as he experienced them, which were so singularly characteristic of Tesla's unforgettable nature.

The Honorable Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago, dedicated Monday, October 1st, as “Nikola Tesla Day” and his proclamation read as follows:

WHEREAS, The American Institute of Electrical Engineers will hold its Fall General Meeting in Chicago beginning October 1, with delegates from all sections of the United States and many foreign countries in attendance; and

WHEREAS, as part of its proceedings, the Institute will pay tribute to the memory and achievements of Nikola Tesla, father of our present-day alternating current electric power system; and

WHEREAS, Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia on July 9, 1856, came to the United States in 1884, and in 1900 introduced his concept of alternating electrc current, and is said by electronic authorities to have inspired the major portion of the innumerable inventions in the electronics field which have contributed so greatly to our modern standards of living;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Richard J. Daley, Mayor of the City of Chicago, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, to be Nikola Tesla Day in Chicago and urge all citizens to take cognizance of the honors to be paid his genius by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Dated this 11th day of September, A.D. 1956

Richard J. Daley
Mayor

The General Session Meeting of the A.I.E.E. began at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Richard C. Sogge, A.I.E.E delegate to the Tesla Centennial celebrations in Yugoslavia July 10-21 this summer reported in detail on those activities. The commemorative ceremonies in Yugoslavia included scientific and technical lectures delivered by prominent scientists representing nearly every nation of the world. These lectures included such subjects as, “The Work of Tesla in the Field of Electric and Magnetic Magnitudes and Their Unity,” “Long Distance Power Transmission,” “High Frequency Techniques,” “Certain Achievements in RADAR Techniques,” “The Significance of Tesla's Power System - Its Importance in the Success of First Niagara Plant,” “Fundamentals and Prospects of Physical Science,” “Application of High Frequency Currents in Electrical Heating,” “Tesla's Lecture at the Royal Institution of Great Britain,” “The Cultural Impact of Technical Scientific Research!” etc., etc.