BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Cyrus Field and the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable

DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Cyrus Field and the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable:

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Description of Pictures: Cyrus Field and the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
July 1, 2016 – November 30, 2016
In the mid-19th century, the world suddenly became smaller when an underwater telegraph cable joined two nations divided by the sea, Ireland and Newfoundland, Canada. Using Archives Center collection materials, this display commemorates American businessman and financier Cyrus Field’s accomplishment in laying the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable in July 1866.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIAHCY_160912_001.JPG: Cyrus Field and the 1866 Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Circle
2. SIAHCY_160912_007.JPG: Bakelizer around 1909 Leo H. Baekeland, chemist and inventor, used the Bakelizer to produce the first totally synthetic plastic, Bakelite. Easy to mold and an excellent insulator, Bakelite was used in radios, telephones, and many other items. Baekeland's diaries are in the Archives Center and are available online at amhistory.si.edu/archives
3. SIAHCY_160912_030.JPG: Cyrus Field and the 1866 Trans-Atlantic Cable Cyrus Field (standing, fourth from right) organized a British-American enterprise that led to this dramatic event aboard the steamship Great Eastern on September 2, 1866. Having just laid a telegraph cable from Ireland to Newfoundland, the crew retrieved the broken end of a cable lost the previous summer. The eyewitness artist shows the moment when a message came back from Ireland. It worked! This was a major innovation, essential to today's telecommunications network. Field's character and persistence, combined with the expertise of British scientists and engineers, demonstrated that cables could be laid across oceans, picked up and repaired.
4. SIAHCY_160912_034.JPG: Cyrus W. Field Cyrus Field (1819-1892) was born into a large family in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. At age fifteen an older brother helped him find a job in a New York dry goods store. In 1840, he became junior partner in a paper company. When the firm failed a year later, he took it as a personal duty to repay all creditors. He then formed his own paper company, which succeeded due to his integrity, salesmanship, and entrepreneurial skills. By 1862, he had amassed a modest fortune and retired. Early in 1854, a contact made by another brother led Field to take over a bankrupt project to build a telegraph line across Newfoundland. Field had a bigger idea: extend the line to Britain.
5. SIAHCY_160912_040.JPG: Daguerreotype of Cyrus Field in 1840, at age twenty-one
6. SIAHCY_160912_049.JPG: Preliminary Efforts To create his cable Field needed financial, political and technical support. In America, he raised money from friends and obtained government commitments for ships and future use of the cable. In London, he secured additional financing and pledges of government support. He obtained advice from British companies with experience in laying telegraph cables in the Mediterranean and across the English Channel. He received invaluable help from engineer Charles Bright and scientist William Thomson. Unfortunately, he also chose to rely on Edward Whitehouse and Samuel Morse, whose poor electrical advice -- combined with Field's haste -- led to difficulties and the ultimate failure of their efforts in 1857 and 1858.
7. SIAHCY_160912_060.JPG: This 1853 letter from a creditor acknowledged Field's repayment of his company's debt: "Resolved: That in the full payment of a debt by the junior partner, having been contracted in the commencement of his business life & by misfortunes rendered him unable to pay the same; is a mark of strict honesty & integrity and is worthy of all commendation."
8. SIAHCY_160912_066.JPG: Letter, William Thomson to Cyrus Field, 1862 British scientist William Thomson's help was crucial. He analyzed electric pulses, showed how they spread out, and designed sensitive instruments to detect them. The instruments proved their value on the failing 1858 cable and provided confidence for future attempts. He also tested improved equipment for recovering cables from the ocean floor.
9. SIAHCY_160912_081.JPG: Negotiations with governments could be a long and tedious process. After several attempts, this 1862 letter from Field resulted in a meeting with British Foreign Minister John Russell to seek an official commitment to the project.
10. SIAHCY_160912_087.JPG: Field and his colleagues published pamphlets and scientific reports about the cable projects, which generated public interest and helped raise funding.
11. SIAHCY_160912_100.JPG: Field's confidence in the cable project was reflected in this resolution of the Atlantic Telegraph Company: "That until the Cable has been laid down and a clear revenue be such as to give the Shareholders a dividend of 10% per annum, no remuneration in any shape by paid to any Director..."
12. SIAHCY_160912_103.JPG: Cyrus Field and the 1866 Trans-Atlantic Cable: First Step to Our Global Telecommunications Network: Cyrus W. Field (1819-1892) gained fame for organizing the effort to successfully lay an underwater telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America. Success in 1866 came after a decade's worth of effort and several earlier failures. To complete the cable Field marshalled financial, political and technical support on both sides of the Atlantic. He helped create companies to undertake the project and found investors willing to gamble on the new technologies involved. He negotiated with the British and American governments for material support in the form of ships and equipment, and for commitments to use the cable when it was finished. He obtained the assistance of leading scientists and engineers. In all this, the entrepreneur skills and integrity he had demonstrated as a successful businessman, combined with his boundless enthusiasm, stood him in good stead. The resulting cable was the first means of fast trans-Atlantic communication and one of the foundations of today's telecommunications network.
13. SIAHCY_160912_107.JPG: Presented to Cyrus Field, this box contains samples of the 1858, 1865, and 1866 cables made by the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company. Gutta-percha insulation was extruded around strands of copper wire, then iron wire was wrapped around the outside in a continuous process. The heavy armor on the shore ends protected against tidal surges, fishing trawlers, and anchors. This basic design remained standard for almost a century. Also included are a piece of rope and a model of the grapnel used to recover the 1865 cable.
14. SIAHCY_160912_117.JPG: These eyewitness illustrations by artist Robert Dudley depict activities aboard the Great Eastern during the 1865 cable voyage. "Searching for fault after recovery of the cable from the bed of the Atlantic, July 31."
15. SIAHCY_160912_122.JPG: These eyewitness illustrations by artist Robert Dudley depict activities aboard the Great Eastern during the 1865 cable voyage. "Interior of one of the tanks on board the Great Eastern, cable passing out."
16. SIAHCY_160912_128.JPG: Success in 1866: After the 1858 failure the British Parliament, concerned about similar problems with a cable being laid in the Red Sea toward India, ordered a high-profile inquiry. The findings were favorable and showed that better attention to detail would solve the problems encountered. In 1865, new cable was loaded on the Great Eastern, a converted passenger liner. Two-thirds of the way across the ocean, the cable broke. But confidence was high and Field easily raised money to purchase more cable and to improve recovery techniques. The attempt to lay the cable in 1866 went flawlessly. Then the Great Eastern went back to retrieve and repair the 1865 cable. With two lines working trans-Atlantic communication was assured.
17. SIAHCY_160912_132.JPG: Conscious of the event's historic significance, Field heavily revised this draft telegram to his wife informing her of the 1866 success.
18. SIAHCY_160912_140.JPG: This cane made of wood from the Great Eastern was presented to Cyrus Field by Sir James Anderson, the ship's captain and longtime friend of Field and his wife Mary, on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1890.
19. SIAHCY_160912_148.JPG: Field's pivotal role in the cable's success was quickly recognized. Charles Wheatstone, a well-respected British scientist and inventor, credited Field's "indomitable perseverance" for the cable's success in the letter above. Engineer and businessman Cromwell Varley affirmed Field's importance and praised his "excellent judgement" in the 1869 letter at right.
20. SIAHCY_160912_165.JPG: Field's press release describing the success in 1866 led to further celebrations and cemented his personal fame. Later, the US Congress expressed its thanks to Field "for his foresight, courage and determination in establishing telegraphic communications by means of the Atlantic cable."
21. SIAHCY_160912_174.JPG: Commemorative Pitcher with Flags, 1858 Much was made of the literal sense in which Britain and America now were tied together by the cable.
22. SIAHCY_160912_181.JPG: Atlantic Cable Sample with Certificate Tiffany & Company purchased the excess 1858 cable and it into souvenir samples.
23. SIAHCY_160912_184.JPG: First Attempts in 1857-1858 The first attempt to lay a cable, in 1857, was unsuccessful. A year later two ships, each carrying 1,300 miles of cable, met at mid-ocean. Three times they connected the ends and set off toward opposite shores only to have the cable break after a few miles. The ships then returned to port in Ireland having lost over 200 miles of cable.
24. SIAHCY_160912_189.JPG: Gutta-percha, a tree sap from Malaysia, was the miracle substance of the Victorian age. In hot water it could be molded into and shape and was used in everything from furniture to jewelry to golf balls. It became known in Britain in the 1840s, in time to be used as cable insulation.
25. SIAHCY_160912_193.JPG: The exclusive rights granted to the cable company were crucial assets in protecting the cable and its investors from competition.
26. SIAHCY_160912_197.JPG: After the attempt in July 1858 failed, this letter from the company advised Field to give up: "Nothing [is] to be done but to dispose of what is left on the best terms we can." Field was more optimistic and decided that there was enough cable left for one last attempt to cover the 2000 miles.
27. SIAHCY_160912_203.JPG: Field gained support for the cable project at the highest levels. President James Buchanan wrote in July 1857 letter: "I shall find myself most honored, should the first message (as you propose) sent across the Atlantic by the Submarine Telegraph be from Queen Victoria to the president of the United States."
28. SIAHCY_160912_209.JPG: The last try, in August 1858, succeeded. With some encouragement from the company there were widespread celebrations, especially in America. Tributes were held in New York (left) and London (right).
29. SIAHCY_160912_218.JPG: The 1858 cable ceased to function after about a month. Although disappointed, company officers announced they would carry on. "The laying of the first Cable has demonstrated the almost certain success which will attend all future well directed efforts... [This] must be looked upon as a great scientific triumph, out of which... the most valuable commercial result will arise."
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