Of course my first stop in New York had to be 463 West Street. Home to the original Bell Telephone Laboratories. The building was built c.1860 (that’s what the plaque on the wall says - it seems like they hadn’t invented pen and paper back in the 1860s to note down the actual date?!) and sits right on the bank of the Hudson River. Originally it was a planing mill (a woodworking factory) and over the next few years it hosted various factories including of fire escapes, children’s rocking horses, carriages, tanks and paints1. In 1896, Western Electric bought the building and turned it into a telephone factory. At first, they simply produced telephone parts, then more engineering began to happen. Finally, in 1925, Bell Labs was created. The intention was to have a proper research & development facility that undertook fundamental research into telecommunications and the building hosted the Bell Labs headquarters until 1966 when it moved to Murray Hill, New Jersey.
Today the building hosts the Westbeth Artist’s community. It’s largely housing but there’s also a gallery. It featured an exhibition of work by Rutgers graduates. The artwork was varied - vats of wine (that were attracting bugs), a clay drawing of plants where the pigments were all natural and a large image that looked like a very intricate print made from stamps. When asked, the gallery host whipped out a notebook and pen to explain the process. Indeed, the piece was made out of stamps in which the artist had etched his drawings. But how? A process called photolithography, which uses a chemical process to etch limestone into certain patterns.
You cover a block of limestone with an acid. When the acid is exposed to light, it will etch away the limestone underneath. So to ensure that the limestone is etched in the correct places, you can make a drawing on a piece of paper and then use it as a stencil. The parts with ink won’t let the light through, so those parts of the stone stay un-etched (raised). Once the pattern is made, you can roll dye onto the stone and use it as a stamp. The host mentioned how it was a laborious process to get it correct - one small mistake, and the whole stamp would need to be redone. I could relate. This is exactly the same process I used to make devices for my physics research - on a much smaller scale!
“NEW YORK WAS NO MERE CITY. IT WAS INSTEAD AN INFINITELY ROMANTIC NOTION, THE MYSTERIOUS NEXUS OF ALL LOVE AND MONEY AND POWER, THE SHINING AND PERISHABLE DREAM ITSELF.” - Joan Didion
Tracking down stories for my book has taken me down many strange paths. An article in the American Journal of Public Health led me to a 1920s apartment block in upper Manhattan - complete with an art deco elevator. Mary welcomed me in warmly, offered me a seltzer and we sat down to talk about her stepfather, Bill Northover. Bill had worked at Bell Labs for nearly 30 years until his early retirement and death in the 80s. The only reason his name appears on the internet is because the epidemiologist, Mary Northridge, who was interviewed for a profile when she stepped down as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Public Health, had mentioned him as a big influence on her life. Nearly 10 years on from the interview, I showed up, wanting to hear more about Bill. And that’s what she had been waiting for all these years - she wanted to get his name out there, so that his legacy would live on. She started by showing me a photograph of Bill with her mother, embracing and laughing.
“Would you like to have it?” she asked me. And would not take no for an answer.
Mary first met Bill on his wedding day to her mother, Mary Faitoute. Although they had been seeing each other for many years, the relationship had been kept a strict secret. Bill was Black and Mary Faitoute was white. When they got married, they moved into a big house in Morristown, NJ together. Bill brought his five sons and Mary Faitoute brought her five daughters. 10 teenagers, 2 dogs and a biracial marriage in 1970s New Jersey was quite the scene. Mary attributes her career and academic success to both Bill’s academic influence and to Bell Labs itself. The local public school she went to offered a wide range of high quality classes from human physiology to Latin, thanks to the academic parents who had moved to the area on account of Bell Labs.
Why the New York Subway is better than the London Underground:
The trains have aircon
It’s not that loud (totally survived without noise-cancelling headphones which is impossible on the tube)
People are nicer - someone complimented my outfit!
Source: https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2391.pdf
I’m feeling privileged to learn so many things from this article, particularly about the chronological history of Bell Labs.
I’m very touched to know of Bill Northover and the appreciation from Mary Northridge about her stepfather in achieving her academic success
Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom on the journey of writing an illustrated book. Warmest wishes to the path of your writing journey, @Ankita Anirban.