Case Files: William D. Coolidge (Vaccum Tube)

Photograph of Coolidge, Lantern Slide.

Case File Catalog Summary

William David Coolidge grew up on a farm in Massachusetts and obtained a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1891. The 1927 Edward Levy Medal was awarded to Coolidge for his paper on "The Production of High-Voltage Cathode Rays Outside of the Generating Tube." The paper appeared in the December 1926 Journal of The Franklin Institute. A year before, Coolidge was awarded the Potts Medal for his Coolidge Tube, a new and improved vacuum tube for the production of x-rays.

The William D. Coolidge presentation was made possible by support from The Barra Foundation and Unisys.

Photograph of Coolidge, Lantern Slide.
Citation of the Howard N. Potts Gold Medal (photocopy), The Franklin Institute, 6/2/1926.
The Franklin Institute
1st page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
2nd page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
3rd page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
4th page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
5th page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
6th page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
7th page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
8th page out of 8 of US Patent No. 1,203,495 to William D. Coolidge. Vacuum Tube, 10/31/1916.
The Franklin Institute
1st page out of 2 William D. Coolidge to Howard McClenahan, Accepting the Potts Medal award and promising presence and a scientific paper presentation at the ceremony, 7/2/1926.
The Franklin Institute
2nd page out of 2 William D. Coolidge to Howard McClenahan, Accepting the Potts Medal award and promising presence and a scientific paper presentation at the ceremony, 7/2/1926.
The Franklin Institute
From William D. Coolidge, Signed receipt for the Howard N. Potts Medal and Certificate, 10/20/1926.
The Franklin Institute

Read about the Committee on Science and the Arts investigation of William Coolidge’s invention, the Coolidge tube.

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