Theodore Newton Vail Collection

Collection — Box: VMF 15, Folder: 26

Identifier: MS-VMF-vmf173

Staff Only

Autograph notecard signed from Vail to Frederick W. Lehmann with compliments upon presentation of Eliot facsimiles reproduced in John Eliot and the Indians, 1 page

Dates

Creation: undated

Creator

Vail, Theodore Newton, 1845-1920 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

1.00 items

1 folders

Additional Description

Biographical Information

Theodore Newton Vail (July 16, 1845 – April 16, 1920) was a U.S. telephone industrialist. His philosophy of using closed systems, centralized power, and as much network control as possible, in order to maintain monopoly power, has been called Vailism. He served as the president of American Telephone and Telegraph between 1885 and 1889, and again from 1907 to 1919 (the company was named American Telephone and Telegraph before 1894). He convinced President Woodrow Wilson that the telephone as a medium of communication would spread more rapidly if brought under one monopoly so as to ensure uniform provision of services throughout the country.