The National Electric Light Association (NELA) was a national

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. An industry tra ...

that included the operators of electric central

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...

stations, electrical supply companies, electrical engineers, scientists, educational institutions and interested individuals. Founded in 1885 by George S. Bowen, Franklin S. Terry and Charles A. Brown, it represented the interests of private companies involved in the fledgling

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

power

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

that included companies like

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, Westinghouse and most of the country's electric companies. The NELA played a dominant role in promoting the interests and expansion of the U.S. commercial

electric industry Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

. The association's conventions became a major clearinghouse for technical papers covering the entire field of electricity and its development, with a special focus on the components needed for centralized power stations or power plants. In 1895 the Association sponsored a conference that led to the issue of the first edition of the U.S. National Electrical Code. Its rapid growth mirrored the development of electricity in the U.S. that included regional and statewide affiliations across the country and Canada. It was the forerunner of the

Edison Electric Institute The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is an association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Its members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly employ ...

(founded in 1933). Its highly aggressive battle against municipal ownership of electric production led to extensive federal hearings between 1928-35 that led to its demise. Its logo is an early depiction of

Ohm's law Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality, the resistance, one arrives at the usual mathematical equat ...

which is "C equals E divided by R," or "the current strength in any circuit is equal to the electromotive force divided by the resistance," or the basic law of electricity. It was established in 1827 by Dr. G. S. Ohm.

Structure

During its first convention, the NELA set up a formal structure that included a constitution and a governing body made up of elected officers using

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

s to carry out the interests of its members. By 1904, the NELA had 588 members that were broken down into major classes. The membership included all of the major electric suppliers, like Edison Electric Company that later became General Electric as well as most of the larger electric generating companies from the east to west coast. The list of honorary members included Baron

Alphonse James de Rothschild Mayer Alphonse James Rothschild (1 February 1827 – 26 May 1905), was a French financier, vineyard owner, art collector, philanthropist, racehorse owner/breeder and a member of the Rothschild banking family of France. Biography Known as Alp ...

, Charles A. Coffin (the head of General Electric),

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...

, Charles F. Brush,

Thomas A. Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

, Prof.

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He was bor ...

, and

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

By 1921, the NELA had eight different classes of membership with over 11,000 members including companies, associations and individuals from other countries. 1915 NELA Structure

The NELA had nearly 30 different committees in place that came together during its conventions. These committees that included geographical representatives from the industry broken down by region and state-affiliated associations and industry representatives coordinated the distribution of reports on best practices and standards of the industry from the ratings of light bulbs, safety, accounting practices, engineering designs of equipment to advertizing, public relations and legislative campaigns. Each year, the NELA selected a new president to lead the Association from an executive of a major electric power company. For example, in 1898 Sam Insull from the Commonwealth Edison Company was selected the same year that his hometown of Chicago hosted the June 7–9 event. The president would preside over the convention that included an introductory speech that summarized the major events of the year. Part of Insull's speech stunned attendees as he promoted the idea that electric companies were

natural monopolies A natural monopoly is a monopoly in an industry in which high infrastructural costs and other barriers to entry relative to the size of the market give the largest supplier in an industry, often the first supplier in a market, an overwhelming adv ...

that should be regulated at the state rather than local level. Within fifteen years, his idea would sweep the nation. National Electric Light Association Bulletin

National Electric Light Association Bulletin

The Association maintained a modest year-round staff in New York City. They managed the group's budget, produced and distributed its reports and coordinated the conventions along with the host electric company. Prior to 1905, events were three days long but jumped to five-days by 1910. In 1907, the association introduced a monthly Bulletin that was distributed to all members. By 1910, the NELA was approaching 7,000 members, with its main office maintaining an exchange network of 114 trade and company journals being produced by its members in 1922. Each convention was organized to draw prominent media coverage. Exhibitions that included dazzling displays of lighting and the latest electric appliances were modeled after the wildly popular 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It was always held at a high-profile luxury hotel. The convention's publicity included local and national celebrities. Opening ceremonies for the convention and exhibition included a welcome speech by the host city's mayor. Each day would have a morning and evening session that started with a live presentation of a major paper followed by a discussion on the topic by those in attendance. This was followed by entertainment, trips to the exhibition hall or local company's central electric power station.

History

The National Electric Light Association's (NELA) formation and activities parallel the history of the U.S. electric industry and early

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

use via

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

and its role in

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...

. Electric lighting started with the use of Arc lamps, soon followed by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

and

Joseph Swan Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914) was an English physicist, chemist, and inventor. He is known as an independent early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, and is the person responsible for develop ...

incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...

. Most indoor lighting prior to this was done by

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

Whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tears, tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the ...

, or

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

in buildings. While the invention of

arc lamps An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s ...

for

street lighting A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

in larger urban areas date back to the beginning of the 19th century. The first

Power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s used

hydro-electric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

that evolved from

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s and centuries of

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

development. Edison's

Pearl Street Station Pearl Street Station was the first commercial central power plant in the United States. It was located at 255–257 Pearl Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, just south of Fulton Street on a site measuring . The statio ...

was the first commercial

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

powered

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

where

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

-fed

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s were used to produce electricity by

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

s. On February 25, 1885, NELA held its first convention in Chicago Illinois with an estimated 90 people in attendance. Its first president was J. Frank Morrison. The founding meeting was organized by George S. Bowen, Franklin S. Terry, and Charles A. Brown. Franklin S. Terry was known for having organized a number of local and then regional

Incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...

companies that included the National Electric Lamp Company that was merged with

in 1911. Charles Brown was the head of the

Western Electric The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

Company, an

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and manufacturing company that served as the primary supplier to

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

and the Bell Operating Companies. George Bowen was the founder of the Elgin Electric Light Company of Elgin Illinois and the head of the Chicago & Pacific railway company. From its founding, until 1891, the NELA held semi-annual conventions, when it switched to annual events that were hosted by various cities across the United States. These conventions had a number of major goals that included formal presentations by scientists and engineers on the subjects of municipal street lights, residential lights, appliances, central power station construction and operations. The conventions also included major exhibitions of the latest appliances, motors, and equipment being produced by electric supply companies. In addition, the convention was meant to help newly formed electric generating companies discuss the latest innovations in the transmission of electricity. The conventions with its lighting exhibitions quickly became a major promotional tool for the electric industry that NELA would soon represent as membership expanded nationwide over the next few years. The turnout from around the country for the first convention convinced the attendees that this should become a regular event as a constitution was set up along with committees to coordinate future conventions. 1899 NELA Convention NYC

The second convention was August 18–19, 1885 in New York City. At this convention discussions were held about how to run a central power station, what kinds of members could join and debates between

Electric arc An electric arc, or arc discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The electric current, current through a normally Electrical conductance, nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma (p ...

vs.

incandescent lighting An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...

. It was reported that roughly 350,000 arc and incandescent lights were already in operation around the country by 1886. The NELA's earliest public relations concern was with Insurance Companies as a result of Edison's public demonstrations known as the

war of the currents The war of the currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It grew out of two lighting systems developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s; arc ...

. Its conventions were already starting to include exhibitions by supply companies. A number of committees were set up to deal with a broad variety of issues that were rapidly evolving at this early date of the industry's development with a strong focus on statistics, both as internal feedback for the industry but also for promotion. By the third convention at Baltimore, finding a space big enough for all the exhibitors became a problem. The 1887 convention at Philadelphia was the first year the NELA took up the issue of

Alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

as a possible source of long distance transmission and power, while the number of delegates jumped to 344 with its summer convention at Boston. Topics from how to insulate wires to storage batteries and motors were just beginning to be discussed. By 1888, one of the major issues was whether put all electrical wiring underground as was the demand in New York City and the growing problem of competing electric company lines on a single electric pole. During their 1889 convention in Chicago, the NELA statistics bureau pointed out that there were now 2.7 million arc and incandescent lights in the country or nearly a tenfold increase in three years. By 1892 the NELA had 26 Honorary members, 90 active members and 111 associate members in the association. Between 1900 and 1902 the NELA conventions included 16 papers, 4 reports and their first discussions about appliances, standardized accounting practices and consumer complaints. In 1903, however, the number of published papers and reports started to skyrocket with 14 papers and 5 reports that were published in two volumes with major pieces on corporate consolidation and the promotion of electric signs. This grew again in 1904 with 16 papers, 18 reports 3 discussions and 3 additional special reports (appendixes) with the convention expanding to a week-long event. The highlights included presentations on legislation, long distance transmission, electric heating, advertising methods and remote control of appliances. 1905 had 16 papers and 16 reports with more discussions on advertising and networking with alliances as well as a separate report on municipal ownership that was not released as well as the introduction to the idea of co-operation within the industry to organize and promote its agenda across a broad array of issues.

Electric Industry Co-operation 1890–1905

NELA's conventions played a prominent role in bringing manufacturers, engineers and central station companies together to share information about issues the newly emerging industry faced. The three-day conventions would include around five technical papers and debates on lighting, motors, circuits and central station hardware that included the popular exhibits of equipment being produced. During this early period, there were no appliances being produced. In one of its most important early contributions between 1890 and 1897, the NELA led a campaign that brought seven other national associations together, including the Underwriters National Electric Association, known today as the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...

, along with the insurance industry to produce the National Electrical Code. In 1893, NELA's St. Louis convention had its first paper on

Alternating Current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

, a presentation by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

movement that distrusted corporations and how easily a few organized men can disperse mobs. NELA's president then stated that the industry had failed to understand or promote the importance of

Corporate personhood Corporate personhood or juridical personality is the legal notion that a juridical person such as a corporation, separately from its associated human beings (like owners, managers, or employees), has at least some of the legal rights and respons ...

to the public. From 1894 until the end of the century, 42 formal papers and five

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical infor ...

s were presented at NELA conventions on technical subjects from

Lightning arrester A lightning arrester (alternative spelling lightning arrestor) (also called lightning isolator) is a device, essentially an air gap between an electric wire and ground, used on electric power transmission and telecommunication systems to protect ...

s, meter rates, lighting large cities to electrical safety issues. In 1896, a few special topics stuck out like a lecture on

Roentgen Rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

and standardized electric sockets. Besides the usual business of the conventions which was handled by committee, the Association's 1898 president, Samuel Insull introduced the

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

idea of Europe's public regulation of electric companies as a way to legitimize the industry's promotion of its

natural monopoly A natural monopoly is a monopoly in an industry in which high infrastructural costs and other barriers to entry relative to the size of the market give the largest supplier in an industry, often the first supplier in a market, an overwhelming adv ...

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

. Between 1900 and 1902 the NELA conventions included 16 papers, 4 reports and their first discussions about appliances, standardized accounting practices and consumer complaints. In 1903, however, the number of published papers and reports started to skyrocket with 14 papers and 5 reports that were published in two volumes with major pieces on corporate consolidation and the promotion of electric signs. This grew again in 1904 with 16 papers, 18 reports 3 discussions and 3 additional special reports (appendixes) with the convention expanding to a week long event. The highlights included presentations on legislation, long distance transmission, electric heating, advertising methods and remote control of appliances. 1905 had 16 papers and 16 reports with more discussions on advertising and networking with alliances as well as an separate report on municipal ownership that was not released as well as the introduction to the idea of co-operation within the industry to organize and promote its agenda across a broad array of issues.

Electric Industry Co-operation Campaign 1905–07

In February 1905, the light bulb industry's National Electric Lamp Association (not to be confused with the NELA) financed the formation of the Co-operative Electrical Development Association with the goal of making it the coordinator of a public relations campaign for the entire electric industry. In June 1905, J.R. Crouch, a prominent leader of the lamp industry (who helped form

Nela Park Nela Park is the headquarters of GE Lighting, a Savant company and is located in East Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Nela Park is the first industrial park in the world being home to most of the lighting breakthroughs of the last century. The i ...

) took the proposal to the National Electric Light Association's convention in Denver Colorado. After investigating the proposal for a year, NELA agreed to a three year test period that set aside .02% of the industry's national income for the Co-operative plan with Crouse in charge. On March 23, 1906, 65 representatives from major east coast electric companies met to hear Crouse's latest presentation on the Co-operation campaign that had been given a $60,000 budget to proceed for 3 years. Crouse made a 45-page presentation that included 10 papers on major aspects of the plan by the acting president of NELA, General Electric, Westinghouse, Western Electric and other segments of the industry as a whole. NELA then created a new Commercial Section committee with a budget of $30,000 for the Co-operative Electrical Development Association's office in New York City. The next step was to have Crouse announce details of the project at the June 1906 NELA Convention. Crouse's presentation at the NELA convention for the Co-operative Electrical Development Association's goal to promote a dramatic expansion in the consumption of electricity by coordinating a nationwide public relations campaign aimed at the American public was the first step. He then laid out the major parts of the plan: * The distribution of 26 pamphlets on best practices that would eventually go into the formation of a national handbook; * The formation of a national quarterly magazine – the NELA Bulletin that started production in 1907; * The formation of central station commercial departments that integrate their work with national advertising agencies; * A nationwide news clipping and Press Bureau to monitor public opinion and distribute PR pieces to the national media; * Coordinated advertising campaigns between trade journals, appliance wholesalers, manufacturers and electric companies; * Establishment of a statistics department to distribute and promote industry growth and projected goals; * Networking with other trades, the country's magazine industry and the Chamber of Commerce; * Networking with the architectural and engineering communities on electrical designs in new and old buildings. The movement's slogan would be: All Together, All the Time, for Everything Electrical. As part of the plan, one of NELA's largest ongoing campaigns against Municipal ownership which had its own committee was renamed to the Committee on Public Policy during the convention. In 1907 J.R Crouse became seriously ill so the industry partially shelved the larger project, not just because of him but due to the dramatic changes taking place nationwide - The change in how the industry would be regulated.

The electric power industry gets regulated 1907

Prior to 1907, city governments across the country were in charge of electric company's licenses (franchises) and setting rates. The country's central stations were tiny compared to modern electric power companies, with larger cities having a number of competing companies. This politicized situation led to major scandals from New York to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. One public reaction to this was the growing number of cities like

, Cleveland and Seattle that built their own power stations. The other response was

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

reform which was first proposed by Samuel Insull in 1898 at NELA's convention. His proposal was to shift regulatory control from the city to the state in exchange for monopoly control over service territories. In 1905, the

National Civic Federation The National Civic Federation (NCF) was an American economic organization founded in 1900 which brought together chosen representatives of big business and organized labor, as well as consumer advocates in an attempt to ameliorate labor disputes. I ...

did a two-year investigation of municipal vs. private electric stations. They ended up promoting Insull's plan which he'd gotten from Europe. In 1907, model legislation giving regulatory control of all "

public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

" to the state was adopted by Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts. It quickly spread nationwide.

Electric Industry Co-operation Campaign 1912

In September 1912 industry leaders met at the NELA's Association Island (located on Lake Ontario) and agreed to restart J.R. Crouse's national public relations campaign as laid out in 1906. The new organization, known as the Society for Electrical Development Inc., with an initial budget of $150,000 had its first meeting on October 12 at the offices of the National Electric Light Association. A committee led by H.L. Doherty from the Association Island meeting setup its bylaws including the twenty board of governors placed in charge that were selected from across the entire electrical industry. In September 1913, a second meeting chaired by NELA's president J.B. McCall known as Camp Co-operation was held. Attendees included the head of National City Bank,

, Westinghouse,

, Senators, academics, patent lawyers and state regulatory commissioners. Even

sent a letter in support. The four-day retreat's informal settings were similar to the Bohemian Club. Twenty prominent speakers from the industry and government spoke including Samuel Insull and J.R. Crouse. Details of the event were published and circulated to NELA members nationwide. There were four "Camp Co-operation" meetings held at Association Island between 1912 and 1920. The Society held a competition that ended on May 5, 1913 for the best slogan and logo with the winner being "Do It Electrically". James Wakemen was made the manager of the Society with Henry L Doherty president. By June 1913 the Society had 180 members with and $125,000 pledged. During the June NELA convention an example from Cleveland known as the "People's Electrical Page" with a full page of advertisements and publicity pieces three times a week by local companies was demonstrated as a new model for coordinating newspaper content. The ad campaigns for residential and commercial clients included 25 rotating subjects during the year ending with Christmas. By 1917, the Society's annual Christmas campaign that started on November 29 sent its 1,300 members 450,000 pieces of material with their annual Electrical Prosperity Week. One of the most popular items were stamps (see color stamp image below) as well as colorful window posters and movies. The 38th annual NELA convention was held between June 7 and 11, 1915 in San Francisco at the same time as the

Panama Pacific International Exposition Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...

. By 1915, the NELA had 29 standing committees made up of 500 working members that produced 2,500 pages of reports and 17 technical papers. Besides the regular convention where the papers and reports were shared, many other events took place, including daily ceremonies at the Expo with special light shows, parades, tours, and evening balls. A specially lit electric temple was erected in downtown Union Square, while addresses by industry leaders, regulators and politicians covering a wide variety of topics including the state of the west coast's massive hydro-electric development. One of the four major NELA sections on accounting practices demonstrated the latest technique of punched cards and accounting machines to handle large numbers of ratepayers, another section demonstrated the latest electric cars, while an entirely new section was opened up to begin active relationships with technical colleges and institutions nationwide. Reports claimed that NELA's total membership at over 13,000 by the time of the convention with its public relations section being increasingly important.

Goodwin Plan - California Electric Co-operation Campaign

Goodwin Plan - August 1920 Electrical Merchandizing pg 75 V

During World War I, William L. Goodwin conceived of the California Electric Co-operation campaign to coordinate appliance sales between major segments of the electric industry. The campaign spread across California, Australia and then to the rest of the U.S. via the industry's trade journals. The model was first devised in Fresno California using Hoover vacuum cleaners but was used for other appliances as well. The plan started with local newspaper advertisements developed by the manufacturer for use by the electric company. The manufacturer would then also work with the local wholesaler of the product to make sure supplies were in place when the campaign began. Trained door to door salesmen driving company cars with logos of the product used the electric company's database so the

peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used fo ...

s knew the names of the customers when they knocked on their door. The last part of the deal was to sell the appliance on credit. Five dollars down and it's yours for monthly payments. The strategy increased appliance sales five times higher than appliance stores and resulted in increased electric use for the utility company.

1925 San Francisco Convention

NELA's 1925 annual convention was held between June 16 and 19 in San Francisco California. Besides being two weeks later than usual, it just happened to coincide with the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

vote the day after the convention that gave away 30 years of work by the city to build its own municipal power facility. On May 26, 1898, after years of political struggle, San Francisco passed a new city charter calling for the public ownership of all utility services. It was in need of a new water supply and the replacement of the corrupt Spring Valley Water Company. The city identified a candidate site in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

for the construction of a new water and power supply known as

Hetch Hetchy Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...

. It would take years of fighting the water company, private interests and

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

before the dust settled and construction began in 1914. Hetch Hetchy Power (5895300271)

By the spring of 1925, the dam was complete, the city's new water supply was almost done and power lines had been strung within a mile of a newly constructed Pacific Gas & Electric Company substation, when the mayor lied about the city running out of wire. With 4,000 electric company executives from across the U.S. in town, the conservative San Francisco Chronicle filled its front pages with speeches touting the benefits of private ownership of electricity. On June 20, openly defying the 1913 federal

Raker Act The Raker Act was an act of the United States Congress that permitted building of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is named for John E. Raker, its chief sponsor. The Act, passed by ...

that banned private sale of Hetch Hetchy power, the Board of Supervisors voted to lease all power from the facility to the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Attempts to reverse the contract, including a 1940 U.S. Supreme Court decision, and decades of political campaigns have failed to break the agreement.

Federal Trade Commission Investigation

1927 12-18 WES Walsh Resolution calling for utility industry probe

According to the March 21st, 1927 New York Herald Tribune, "Power

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

" opponents met on March 11 in the Washington D.C. office of Nebraska's Republican Senator

George W. Norris George William Norris (July 11, 1861September 2, 1944) was an American politician from the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican, from 1903 until 1913 ...

. Norris, along with former Pennsylvania governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

, U.S. senators, house members, "leaders of radical organizations and movements" came together to plan a government ownership drive. In reality, the group was developing plans for a senate investigation of the electric industry. In June, just as the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

's (FTC) report on the country's most controversial electric holding company, the

Electric Bond and Share Company The Electric Bond and Share Company (Ebasco) was a United States electric utility holding company organized by General Electric. It was forced to divest its holding companies and reorganize due to the passage of the Public Utility Holding Company A ...

was released, Montana Senator Thomas J. Walsh introduced a resolution calling for a Senate investigation of the country's electric utilities. The reasons for Senator Walsh's investigation was clear: *

's (GE) central role in the 1925 global

Phoebus cartel The Phoebus cartel was an oligopoly that controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs. They appropriated market territories and lowered the useful life of such bulbs. Corporations based in Europe and the United States founded t ...

planned obsolescence In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is a policy of planning or designing a good (economics), product with an artificially limited Product lifetime, useful life o ...

of light bulbs * The 1926 U.S. Dept. of Justice light bulb price-fixing lawsuit (

United States v. General Electric Co. ''United States v. General Electric Co.'', 272 U.S. 476 (1926), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court holding (per Chief Justice Taft) that a patentee who has granted a single license to a competitor to manufacture the patented produc ...

) * GE's ownership of over 10% of the country's electric utilities via its Electric Bond and Share Company * GE's leading role with NELA in the long-standing war against municipal ownership of electric stations * State attempts to regulate holding company abuses had failed * while over 95% of America's 6.5 million farmers and most of the country's urban poor had no access to electricity Walsh's initial legislation failed but the coalition did not give up. He reintroduced his resolution on December 17, 1927 that received positive support from newspapers around the country. The electric industry was initially opposed to any investigation but then reversed its strategy, using its senate allies to amend the resolution, transferring the investigation to the Federal Trade Commission. On February 15, 1928 the Walsh resolution, or Senate Resolution 83 passed with the requirement for public hearings. It directed the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the U.S. electric industry and make monthly written status reports to the Senate on the following: * The capital assets and liabilities of gas and electric holding companies or any of its subsidiaries doing interstate or international business; * all financial activities surrounding the above-mentioned corporation's securities or stocks; * all connections between stockholders, holding companies and subsidiaries; * all services, earnings, and expenses between holding companies and its subsidiaries; and * the value or detriment to the public of holding companies and any proposed corrective legislation. And * The utility industry and its association's effort to manipulate opinion of public ownership of electrical generation; and * since 1923, any attempt to influence the outcome of federal elections. The Commission's public hearings started on March 8, 1928 and ended on December 12, 1935, spanning three different presidential administrations. The investigation was overseen by the Federal Trade Commission's Chief Counsel Robert E. Healy and Commissioner Edgar A. McCulloch (former Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court). It was one of the largest federal investigations ever undertaken with a starting budget of $85,000 that increased to over $1 million annually. The seven-year (1928–1936) investigation produced 63,000 pages of testimony and 6,000 exhibits in 94 volumes. The Commission sent out dozens of accountants to all 48 states to inspect the financial records of 29 holding companies, 70 sub-holding companies and 278 gas & electric companies with assets of over $19 billion. In addition to the monthly reports, the Commission also produced annual summaries of the probe. The 94 volumes are broken down as follows: * Volumes 1–19 March 1928 – Jan. 1930: the National Electric Light Assoc., committee members, and affiliated company activities. * Volumes 20–80 Feb. 1930 – Sept. 1935: investigations of specific electric companies. * Volumes 81–84 A-D Oct. – Dec. 1935: the Natural Gas Industry investigation, conclusions and recommendations. * Volumes containing Exhibits Numbers 1-4047. * Volumes 69-A through 81-A Sept. 1934 – Dec. 1935: seven special reports including the FTC's conclusions and Recommendations.
Volume 69-A 9-15 1934: Pros and cons of federal ownership

Volume 71-A 11-15 1934: Propaganda Part I: Efforts by Associations and Agencies of Electric and Gas Utilities to Influence Public Opinion

Volume 71-B 11-15 1934: Propaganda Part II: Index of names and exhibits Vol 1-20

Volume 72-A 6-17 1935: Financial Investigation Phase of Holding Companies

Volume 73-A 1-28 1935: Conclusions and Recommendations for governing holding Companies

Volume 77-A 5-16 1935: Propaganda Index for testimony & exhibits Vol. 21-45

Volume 81-A 11-14 1935: Propaganda Part III Efforts by Electric and Gas Utilities to Influence Public Opinion
1934 11-15 FTC Propaganda Report - Efforts by Associations and Agencies of Electric and Gas Utilities to Influence Public Opinion

1934 11-15 FTC Propaganda Report - Efforts by Associations and Agencies of Electric and Gas Utilities to Influence Public Opinion

The Federal Trade Commission's final conclusions called the electric utility industry's practices "evil" and recommended that holding companies working across state lines be broken up. The industry's decades-old "propaganda" campaign which was led by NELA and the very largest holding companies actively worked to undermine public ownership of power stations, using every conceivable strategy and medium. The report states that "the record establishes that, measured by quantity, extent, and cost, this was probably the greatest peace-time propaganda campaign ever conducted by private interests in this country. The NELA's handbook was used to train thousands of industry proponents of private ownership. Its tactics included fear-based

red-baiting Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging (in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...

attacks that were deployed using every possible medium. The campaign included both free and paid for advertising in the hundreds of thousands of pieces costing ten's of millions of dollars annually, and in most cases paid for out of the ratepayers pocket. Millions more were spent to influence government officials and elections. From ownership of newspapers, and radio stations, all the way to editorial control over the nation's textbooks, the industry promoted itself while leaving no stone unturned in its brutal attack against the country's municipally owned power stations. Once the investigation was underway, most of the country's newspapers went silent on the investigation. On May 5, 1928 Senator George Norris attacked the press for failing to cover the dramatic issues being exposed during the public hearings. One major controversy was the industry's veto power over what was allowed in the country's school text books. As a result, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stud ...

denounced this activity. One of the largest parts of the investigation focused on the industry's decades-old propaganda war hidden behind their deceptive "co-operation campaign". The multiple volumes and thousands of pages of exhibits and testimony on the subject was summarized by Jack Levin in one of the few books to have ever been written about the results of the FTC's investigation. In Chapter twelve, he detailed how NELA's national network of Public Utility Information Committees stigmatized the democrats, republicans and cities supporting public power as un-American, resulting in the country's media freely giving away ten's of thousands of stories mixed in with the $30 million a year advertising budget of the industry. Howard C

The investigation concluded on the last day of 1935. According to the FTC, the investigation resulted in the "enactment of such remedial legislation as the Securities Act of 1933, the

Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), also known as the Wheeler-Rayburn Act, was a US federal law giving the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate, license, and break up electric utility holding companies. It l ...

, the

Federal Power Act The Federal Power Act is a law appearing in Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the United States Code, entitled "Federal Regulation and Development of Power". Enacted as the Federal Water Power Act on June 10, 1920, and amended many times since, its origina ...

of 1935, and the

Natural Gas Act of 1938 The Natural Gas Act of 1938 was the first occurrence of the United States federal government regulating the natural gas industry. It was focused on regulating the rates charged by interstate natural gas transmission companies. In the years prior t ...

.” The Investigation resulted in 94 volumes of reports up to 2,000 pages in length, with its last report issued in 1936. On March 12, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt released a report based on the

investigation he commissioned by the National Power Policy Committee. This report became the template for the

Closure

On April 4, 1932, three major utility groups rejoined NELA after its executive director Paul Clapp resigned. Clapp was associated with Samuel Insull, who was a past president of NELA and one of its most powerful leaders. Four days later, Insull's massive Middle West Utility empire failed to obtain a critical loan from National City Bank. On April 16, Middle West which was made up of 24 holding companies and 239 operating companies, covering 30 U.S. states went into receivership. Two months later, Insull fled to Europe after resigning his chairmanship of Middle West 3 Its bankruptcy was the largest electric company failure in U.S. history until the 2001 collapse of Enron. During NELA's June 1932 convention, a committee was formed to investigate the potential of merging with the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. NELA was dissolved on February 15, 1933, at the end of its 56th convention in New York City. However, on January 12, 1933 the

was formed to take over as the association representing the U.S. electric industry].

Sources

Early Incandescent Lamps

Electric Charges: The Social Construction of Rate SystemsFTC Milestones: Making the case for reform of public utility holding company laws

1928–35 Federal Trade Commission Annual Reports document the 7-year investigation of the National Electric Light Association and the electric industry

External links

NELA Online Books Page

Ontario Hydro. (1922). Re "Murray report" on electric utilities: refutation of unjust statements contained in a report published by the National electric light association entitled, "Government owned and controlled compared with privately owned and regulated electric utilities in Canada and the United States" respecting the Hydro-electric power commission of Ontario. Toronto.

Society for Electrical Development

1909-1922 Proceedings of National Electric Light Association

1924 NELA's role in the Hawthorne Effect Scandal and coverup

1928 NELA Handbook

1931 6-12 NELA: Utilities to Wage War on Political Agitators1935 Federal Trade Commission Report that NELA and utilities spend $25 million a year on advertising and national Propaganda Campaign at public schools nationwide

Merlin Aylesworth and the Saga of NBC

Sam Insull's role in NELA's nationwide propaganda campaign - Origin Power ethics; an analysis of the activities of the public utilities by Jack Levin
*
'Of limited use?': The role of motion pictures in the National Electric Light Association’s campaign against public ownership

Gallery

File:J. Frank Morrison NELA First president.png, J. Frank Morrison First president of National Electric Light Association 1885 File:1892 Franklin S. Terry NELA co-founder.png, Franklin S. Terry Co-founder of the NELA c.1892 File:1892 Our Business is selling coal and making money.png, NELA history article: Our business is making money c. 1892 File:1898 NELA Convention Insull.png, NELA Convention Book Cover of Samuel Insull - June 1898 File:New York utility lines in 1890.jpg, Competing electric company lines in New York City in the 1890s File:New York City NELA Convention at Madison Square Gardens c. 1899.png, New York City NELA Convention at Madison Square Gardens c. 1899 File:1899 New York City - Madison Square Gardens NELA Convention layout.png, NELA Convention Layout at Madison Square Gardens c. 1899 File:1905 Electrical World National Electric Light Association Headquarters.png, United Engineering Building NY City: headquarters for NELA c. 1905 File:25w39.jpg, United Engineering Building today -

Engineering Societies' Building The Engineering Societies' Building, also known as 25 West 39th Street, is a commercial building at 25–33 West 39th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. Located one block south of Bryant Park, it was ...

and is now a historic building File:1906 NELA Convention Atlantic City postcard.jpg, NELA Convention Post Card Atlantic City NJ c. 1906 File:1907 Electrical World - Washington D.C. NELA Convention Floor Plan.png, Washington D.C. NELA Convention Floor Plan - New Willard Hotel - 1907 File:1907 NELA Convention Exhibition Hall.png, NELA Exhibition Hall - Washington D.C. - 1907 File:Willard InterContinental.JPG, Willard Hotel - Washington D.C. File:NELA.jpg, National Electric Light Association members, c. 1912 File:May 1914 Electric Merchandise Journal - NELA Welcome Advertisement.png, Philadelphia Electric Company welcome ad to NELA May 1914 File:Bellvue-Stratford Hotel Philadelphia PA 1914 - location of NELA convention.png, Headquarters for the NELA Convention at the Bellvue-Stratford Hotel in Phialdelpha PA c.1914 File:1914 NELA Convention Philadelphia Exhibitiion Hall.png, NELA Convention Philadelphia PA Exhibition Hall c. 1914 File:1914 NELA Convention Floorplan.png, NELA Convention Floor-plan at the Bellvue-Stratford Hotel c. 1914 File:1914 Electrical Merchandizing Magazine - Electrical Prosperity Week Adverisement.png, Electrical Society for Electrical Development's Electrical Prosperity Week nationwide campaign Advertisement 1914 File:Society for Electrical Development Inc. stamp for 1914 Electrical Propserity Week 11-29 to 12-4 1914.jpg, Society for Electrical Development Inc. stamp for Electrical Prosperity Week 11-29 to 12-4 1914 File:1922 J. Robert Crouse Electrical Merchandising Monthly.png, J. Robert Crouse File:1915 National Electric Light Association San Francisco Ca Convention heaquarters.png, San Francisco NELA convention headquarters c. 1915 File:1915 NELA Convention report on punch cards.png, Annual NELA Report documenting use of punch cards 1915 File:1915 NELA San Francisco Convention Guide and Brochure.png, NELA San Francisco convention guide and brochure c. 1915 File:1915 NELA Convention San Francisco Electric Temple.png, NELA San Francisco Convention Electric Temple c. 1915 File:The story of the exposition; being the official history of the international celebration held at San Francisco in 1915 to commemorate the discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the construction of the (14579551910).jpg, Panama Pacific International Exposition Machinery Hall 1915 File:1916 NELA Convention's Exhibition Hall Chicago.png, NELA's Exhibition Hall in Chicago c. 1916 File:1916 Society for Electrical Development advertisement in Electrial Merchandising.png, Society for Electrical Development Wire your Home month advertisement in Electrical Merchandising 1916 File:1917 W.L. Goodwin's Wheatstone Bridge Diagram of Distribution and Sales In the Electrical Industry.png, W.L. Goodwin's Wheatstone Bridge model for electric appliance sales - 1917 File:Society for Electrical Development Inc. Achievements, Activities Aims.png, Book: Society for Electrical Development Inc. Achievements - Activities - Aims File:Society for Electrical Development Inc. Achievements - Activities - Aims & Outreach.png, Society for Electrical Development Inc. Achievements - Activities - Aims & Outreach mediums File:1918 Electrical Merchandising Ad - 25 points for store managers.png, Society for Electrical Development Store Managers sales hints for women and men 1918 File:1918 NELA Commercial Lighting Bureau structure.png, NELA Commercial Lighting Bureau structure c. 1918 File:Goodwin Platform July 1918 Electrical Merchandising.png, Goodwin Plan Platform July 1918 File:1919 Electrical Merchandising Magazine - Electric Industry Industry Chart.png, Chart showing Electric Industry Network links 1919 File:NELA Exhibition Hall for 1919 Convention at Alantic City.png, Layout for the 1919 NELA convention exhibition hall in Atlantic City File:1919 Electrical Merchandising - Photo of Henry L. Doherty.png, Photo of Henry L. Doherty 1919 File:1920 Merlin H. Aylesworth - Electrical World Executive Director of NELA.png, Merlin H. Aylesworth - Executive Director of NELA and first president of NBC 1920 File:1920 Electrical Merchandising Journal - photo of William L. Goodwin.png, Photo of William L. Goodwin in Electrical Merchandising journal 1920 File:1920 May 8th 1920 Electrical World - NELA Organization Chart.png, National Electric Light Association Organization Chart - Electrical World 1920 File:1920 Electrical world NELA Geographic Divisions.png, 1920 Geographical Divisions of NELA File:1921 June Electrical World Chicago NELA Convention.png, Chicago NELA Convention Collage c. 1921 File:1921 NELA Bulletin Kilo watt booklet.png, NELA - 6 Part promotional Kilo-Watt booklets 1921 File:1921 June NELA Bulletin - 12 million pamphlets in 10 months distributed.png, NELA distributes twelve million pamphlets in ten months June 1921 NELA Bulletin File:1920-22 Collage of Newspaper NELA Advertisements.png, NELA Newspaper Advertisements in U.S. newspapers between 1920–22 File:1921 National Electragist Magazine advertisement from the Society for Electrical Development.png, Society for Electrical Development Advertisement of resources available to electric industry 1921 File:1922 Electrical Merchandizing magazine - Society for Electrical Development chart.png, Electrical Merchandizing magazine - Society for Electrical Development chart 1922 File:National Electric Light Association Atlantic City Convention Exhibition hall 1922.png, Exhibition all at the National Electric Light Association's convention held May 15–19, 1922 in Atlantic City File:O'Shaughnessy Dam.jpg, O'Shaugnessy Dam - Hetchy Hetchy Valley File:Sunset in Hetch Hetchy (4614652908).jpg, Sunset in Hetch Hetchy File:The Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, by Albert Bierstadt, undated - Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA - DSC03988.JPG, Albert Bierstadt painting of Hetch Hetchy Valley File:1929 National Electric Light Association Doherty Medal.jpg, NELA Doherty Medal c.1929 File:Portrait of George W. Norris.jpg, Senator George W. Norris File:Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn.jpg, Samuel T. Rayburn File:Senator Burton K. Wheeler, 3-15-24 LCCN2016848809.jpg, Senator Burton K. Wheeler File:HugoLaFayetteBlack.jpg, Hugo L. Black

References

{{Reflist Trade associations based in the United States