[NJARC] More on Elma Farnsworth and Philo

[john ruccolo]

^BC-Obit-Farnsworth,0734

^Elma Farnsworth, television pioneer, dies at 98
^Eds: Moving on general news, entertainment and
financial services.
^AP Photo UTSAL501
^By DEBBIE HUMMEL=
^Associated Press Writer=
   SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ Elma Gardner ``Pem''
Farnsworth, who
helped her husband, Philo T. Farnsworth, develop the
television and
was among the first people whose images were
transmitted on TV, has
died at age 98.
   Her death Thursday was confirmed by Mary Rippley,
assistant
director of nursing at Avalon Care Center in
Bountiful, where
Farnsworth lived.
   Farnsworth, who married the young inventor in 1926,
worked by
her husband's side in his laboratories and fought for
decades to
assure his place in history after his 1971 death.
   Other inventors had demonstrated various
developments in the
1920s, including mechanical transmission of images,
but it was
Farnsworth's work that led to the electronic TV we
know today.
   His first TV transmission was on Sept. 7, 1927, in
his San
Francisco lab, when the 21-year-old inventor sent the
image of a
horizontal line to a receiver in the next room.
   He said inspiration for his invention had come
seven years
earlier, while plowing a field on his family's Idaho
farm. He
realized an image could be scanned onto a picture tube
the same
way: row by row.
   His widow recalled that morning in the lab ``like
it was
yesterday,'' she told the San Francisco Chronicle in
2002. ``It was
a very small screen, about the size of a postage
stamp, an inch and
a half square. At first, we were stunned. It was too
good to be
true. Then Phil said, 'There you have it _ electric
television.'''
   According to the book ``Philo T. Farnsworth: The
Father of
Television'' by Donald G. Godfrey, the first human
images
transmitted by Farnsworth were of his wife and her
brother, Cliff
Gardner. A 3{-inch-square image of his wife with her
eyes closed
was transmitted on Oct. 19, 1929, Gardner wrote. The
book lists her
as ``first woman on TV.''
   But credit for the invention nearly escaped
Farnsworth after RCA
claimed the innovation was the work of its chief
television
engineer, Vladimir Zworykin. In 1935, the courts ruled
on
Farnsworth's patent, naming him TV's undisputed
father. The
decision was upheld on appeal, though Farnsworth
continued to get
little recognition.
   Philo Farnsworth gave his wife equal credit in his
invention,
saying, ``my wife and I started this TV,'' according
to Godfrey.
   He eventually was featured on a U.S. postage stamp,
and a
historical marker was placed on the San Francisco
building where
the first Farnsworth television image was projected. A
statue of
her husband now stands in the U.S. Capitol bearing the
inscription:
``Philo Taylor Farnsworth: Inventor of Television.''
   Elma Farnsworth was received with applause when she
stood up at
the Academy of Television Arts & Science's Emmy Awards
tribute to
her husband in Los Angeles in 2002.
   The battle between Farnsworth and RCA boss David
Sarnoff was
told in several books, including his widow's 1990
autobiography,
``Distant Vision.''
   Evan I. Schwartz, who wrote ``The Last Lone
Inventor: A Tale of
Genius, Deceit and the Birth of Television,'' said in
2002 that he,
like many people, were puzzled when he began
researching the story.
   ``I had heard the name. You can't forget the
name,'' Schwartz
said. ``But then I had these questions: Who WAS this
guy? How could
you invent the defining technology of the century and
remain
virtually anonymous? That's quite a trick.''
   Elma Farnsworth was born near Vernal on Feb. 25,
1908. Her
family moved to Provo, where she met the man she would
marry and
call ``Phil.'' The couple had four sons. The
Farnsworths lived in
several parts of the country, including in Fort Wayne,
Ind., before
returning to Utah.
   In a 1999 interview with The Journal Gazette of
Fort Wayne, she
recalled that she was more interested in fighting for
recognition
of her husband than he was.
   ``He'd say, 'We have too much to do for the future
to worry
about the past. History will take care of that,''' she
said.
   ``He told me early on, 'We're going to be right on
the leading
edge, and it's going to be very exciting.'''
   Survivors include sons Russell of New York and Kent
of Fort
Wayne.
   AP-ES-05-02-06 1302EDT


Copyright (c) 2006 The Associated Press
Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 5/2/2006 1:00 PM

--- David Sica <davesica at juno.com> wrote:

> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> I know that there is a huge controversy roiling
> about Farnsworth's actual
> role in the invention of all-electronic television.
> I can agree with a
> lot of the criticism, but I still admire his vision
> and ability to invent
> extraordinary things. Whatever your position on the
> subject, I don't
> think you can argue with the fact that he was, at
> the very least, "one of
> us".
> 
> I was, and continue to be, thrilled to have received
> the following from
> Mrs. Farnsworth a couple of years ago:
> http://www.njarc.org/images/pem_autograph.jpg
> 
> --Dave
> 
> On Wed, 3 May 2006 08:54:05 -0700 (PDT) john ruccolo
> <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>
> writes:
> 
> > SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- Elma Gardner "Pem"
> > Farnsworth, who helped her husband, Philo T.
> > Farnsworth, develop the television and was among
> the
> > first people whose images were transmitted on TV,
> has
> > died at age 98. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> _______________________________________________
> NJARC mailing list
> NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> 


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