Theodore Miller Edison

Theodore Miller Edison (July 10, 1898 – November 24, 1992) was an American businessman, inventor, and environmentalist. He was the fourth son and youngest child of inventor Thomas Edison, and founder of Calibron Industries, Inc. He was the third child of Edison with his second wife, Mina Miller Edison.

Theodore Miller Edison
Born	(1898-07-10)July 10, 1898 Glenmont West Orange, New Jersey
Died	November 24, 1992(1992-11-24) (aged 94) West Orange, New Jersey
Education	The Haverford School Montclair Academy (1916) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1923)
Spouse	Anna Maria Osterhout ​ ​ (m. 1925)​
Parent(s)	Thomas Edison Mina Miller Edison

Biography

He was born on July 10, 1898, at Glenmont, the Edison home in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. He attended The Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and later the Montclair Academy in Montclair, New Jersey, from which he graduated in 1916.^[1][2] Theodore ended his education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned a physics degree in 1923 and remained there another year to pursue graduate studies.^[3]

In 1925, he married Anna Maria (Ann) Osterhout, a graduate of Vassar College.^[4]

After graduation, Theodore worked for his father's company, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., starting as a lab assistant. He later founded his own company, Calibron Industries, Inc., and built his own smaller laboratory in West Orange. He earned over 80 patents in his career.

In later years he became an ardent environmentalist and helped preserve Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest Florida^[5] as well as Monhegan Island in Maine.^[6] He was also an opponent of the Vietnam War and advocate of Zero Population Growth. He lived in West Orange, New Jersey and died from Parkinson's disease on November 24, 1992.^[7]

References

1. "Edison Sees Son Graduated" (PDF). The New York Times. June 10, 1916. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
2. Edison Family Album: Theodore Miller Edison, National Park Service. Accessed November 21, 2007.
3. Pace, Eric (November 26, 1992). "Theodore M. Edison; An Illustrious Father Guided Inventor, 94". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Theodore M. Edison, an inventor, environmentalist, and philanthropist who was the last surviving child of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, died on Tuesday at his home in West Orange. He was 94 years old. He died of Parkinson's disease, said a cousin, Kim Arnn. After Thomas Alva Edison died in 1931, Theodore Edison took charge of his father's experimental laboratories in West Orange. His father's more than 1,000 inventions included the microphone, the phonograph, and the incandescent electric lamp.
4. "Engaged". Time. July 21, 1924. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-04. Theodore M. Edison, of West Orange, N. J., son of Thomas A. Edison, famed inventor, to Miss Anna Maria Osterhout, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father, a professor in the Botany Department of Harvard, precipitated wide discussions in 1918 by averring that food could be obtained from sunlight, air and water.
5. "The Acquisition and Development of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, 1952-1967 | Carl W. Buchheister". ThursdayMan | el hombre del jueves. 2011-08-03. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
6. "Our History | Monhegan Associates, Inc". Retrieved 2024-08-21.
7. Pace, Eric (November 26, 1992). "Theodore M. Edison; An Illustrious Father Guided Inventor, 94". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Theodore M. Edison, an inventor, environmentalist, and philanthropist who was the last surviving child of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, died on Tuesday at his home in West Orange. He was 94 years old. He died of Parkinson's disease, said a cousin, Kim Arnn. After Thomas Alva Edison died in 1931, Theodore Edison took charge of his father's experimental laboratories in West Orange. His father's more than 1,000 inventions included the microphone, the phonograph, and the incandescent electric lamp.