Chester Carlson photographs

Collection

Identifier: D.314

Staff Only

Biographical/Historical note

Chester Carlson, inventor of xerography was born in 1906. His family moved to Seattle, California, Mexico and Arizona during his childhood At times the Carlson family lived in desert huts and mountain cabins. Because his father was nearly an invalid, Chester Carlson supported the family, mostly through odd jobs and manual labor.

When he was 17, his mother died, leaving him the sole breadwinner. The family at one time lived in a former chicken coop with a concrete floor. Chester slept in an alley, in a sleeping bed he made. "It looked very doubtful if I could ever go to college," Carlson had once said. "Invention was the one chance to start with nothing and end up with a fortune."

Carlson earned a spot in Caltech, graduating amid the Great Depression with a pocket notebook of 400 invention ideas such as a raincoat with gutters, a see-through toothpaste tube, and a better bottle cap. Eventually he took a job in New York City patent office.

He studied in the public library, where he was amazed by the amount of labor exerted to hand copy documents. Carlson saw the need for a quick copier. Then in 1937, he discovered photoconductivity, a property in which a material changes electrical characteristics under light. By projecting an image on a photoconductive drum, he could change the static charge on only the black spaces that formed text or images. He would then dust the drum with a dark material and static would hold the dust in place until Carlson could transfer the dust to paper and fuse it into place making a copy. Carlson spent nearly ten years trying to sell his idea to many companies, but was rejected everywhere. Eventually a small photo supply company, Haloid Co. in Rochester, NY bought the idea and developed his invention. Haloid flourished with the new invention, changing its name to Xerox, a term playing on the Greek words for "dry" and "writing."

Chester Carlson married Dorris Hudgins in January 1946. He and Dorris lived in a Rochester, NY suburb and donated to spiritual and parapsychological groups. Carlson was uncomfortable with the sudden wealth his invention brought, and dealt with that by giving the money away, usually anonymously. He made contributions to organizations that promoted world peace. He supported civil rights organizations and bought apartment buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C. and arranged for the buildings to be racially integrated.

Carlson died of a heart attack on September 19, 1968. He was 62. Dorris Carlson lived until 1998 and continued their works in community and religious programs by contributions and service.

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of over 1700 images housed in 11 archival boxes and 4 scrapbooks and one oversized folder. These images depict the lives of Chester and Dorris Carlson, from early childhood through adolescence and young adulthood, and include their extended families. The images also reflect their lives together as husband and wife, and Dorris' life after the death of Chester Carlson in 1968.

Creator

Carlson, Chester Floyd, 1906-1968 (Person)

Dates

Creation: 1906-1998

Language of Materials

English

Extent

11 box(es) (11 boxes, 4 scrapbooks, 1 oversize folder)

Access

The Chester Carlson Photographs is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection of personal and public images of the Carlson and Hudgins families was donated to the department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation of the University of Rochester by the Carlson's daughter, Catherine Carlson in 2004. Two photographs of Dorris Carlson gift of Laura Reynolds, 2018.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Chester Carlson Photographs, D.314, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester