Group photograph with David Sarnoff at RCA Transoceanic Station at New Brunswick, N.J.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the world's first intercontinental radio transmission. On September 29, 1915, a U.S. naval radio station in Arlington, Virginia initiated a transmission to another naval radio station on Mare Island in San Francisco, California, which then relayed to Honolulu, Hawaii.

The demonstration was a joint public-private venture coordinated through defense contracts with the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. (AT&T) and the Western Electric Co., using equipment installed at radio stations under Navy jurisdiction.

According to an AI search, up to 15% of humans have a fear of spiders. Strangely though, spiders get a pass during the build up to Halloween. Spider-themed decorations adorn many homes and businesses with nary a blink or shudder from passersby. With that in mind as the holiday approaches, I hope, dear reader, that you can put aside your fears for once and show a little pity for the poor spider as I am about to introduce you to a one-of-kind patent model that tortured spiders in a quest to create a new textile industry for formerly enslaved Americans.

My name is Murat Iplikci, and I am a Visiting Scholar in the Department of History at Tufts University. I received my undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and later completed both my M.A. and Ph.D. in History at Bilkent University in Turkey. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University’s Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies in 2023–2024, I am now continuing my research at Tufts.

It is not often that great works of art lost for 70 years can be seen again in some form approximating their original appearance. Yet, that is now the case for several long-destroyed paintings by master Surrealist Salvador Dalí. An artist who certainly needs no introduction, Dalí was one of the most creative figures of the 20th century and left an indelible impression on every medium he touched. Beyond his world-renowned ability as a painter, the Catalan polymath practiced in fashion, cinema, opera, ballet, and writing.

Cover for Store Chat magazine, featuring illustration of falling autumn leaves.

Falling into autumn with a cover from Store Chat magazine this week. Store Chat was the employee magazine of Strawbridge & Clothier, a department store founded by Justus C. Strawbridge (1838-1911) and Isaac H. Clothier (1837-1921) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1906, the company begin publishing and distributing Store Chat to its employees in order to disseminate communications from management, share news about workers' lives, report on company-sponsored activities, issue instructions to employees about fashion trends and consumer preferences, and offer light commentary on matters of local and national import. As the operation grew into a major regional retail chain, the magazine added dispatches from its growing number of suburban branch stores.

You can find the library's 475 issues of Store Chat, including this November 1963 issue, online in our Digital Archives. Just click here!

Industrial site with large structures and chimneys.

What's this? Can it be? IT IS! We're thrilled to announce that the first new digital collection to be Hagley Library's Digital Archive since our relaunch project began last winter has arrived.

The Pennsylvania Railroad exhibit photographs, World's Columbian Exposition (Accession 2022.226) collection contains a selection of photographs that were once featured in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition. This specific photograph shows the grounds of the Great Western Pipe Line Co. of Toronto, Ohio.

The World's Columbian Exposition, named in celebration of the 400th anniversary Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, was a World's Fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893. The Fair covered 690 acres, and featured cultural, industrial, horticultural, architectural, and scientific exhibitions from across the United States as well as forty-five other nations.

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