1 10 22 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/b9d31c9accaffa6077f4ab4c155f129d.jpg 911fc00ada1afbfba375088417e5d3e5 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 8" × 10" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource High Voltage Research Laboratory Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource G. Haven Bishop Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Southern California Edison Photographs, Huntington Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1929-01-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://catalog.huntington.org/record=b1868904 Description An account of the resource In 1923, Caltech and the Southern California Edison Company built the High Voltage Research Laboratory, the first university laboratory in the world to feature a million volt transformer. The building, sometimes called High Volts, was only the sixth building on Caltech’s new campus, so it was surrounded more by trees and lawns than by other laboratories. For its time, High Volts was an unusual partnership between a corporation, which supplied electricity and paid most of the $140,000 construction cost, and a university, which provided land. High Volts was architecturally bold: Internally, it was a single large room which held the massive transformer and other electrical apparatus. Edison engineers designed a steel frame, the second constructed in Pasadena. Architect Bertram Goodhue designed the exterior, which used a diamond pattern to provide texture in the absence of windows. Architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie produced a relief over the entry which represented the electrical research performed within. Brought together by members of Caltech’s board of trustees who also served on Edison’s board of directors, the two organizations would share the facility: Edison needed a laboratory in which to test high voltage electrical transmission equipment, including insulators and transmission lines which were later used to transmit electricity to Southern California from the Hoover Dam in Nevada. Caltech physicists, led by Robert Millikan, sought to use high voltage electricity to dismantle the nucleus of the atom. Millikan and his colleagues were not immediately successful in this effort, but in the late 1920s Charles Lauritsen and Ralph Bennett did use the High Volts transformer as a power supply to the world’s first 750,000 volt x-ray tube. A few years later, his student H. Richard Crane modified his own x-ray tube into a particle accelerator, and Caltech physicists joined the founders of the new field of nuclear physics. https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/a8d332a2c7eb29278de96e8dc5c6a768.jpg d9d95286aabd760d25b424025a197114 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/be9472504f31f620a5544f6522b346fe.jpg 03e7662875d9d921d866620f077a5241 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 4" x 6 " Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Millikan-Sorensen Vacuum Switch Description An account of the resource Transmission of power is dangerous when high voltage drives immense amounts of current. When Big Creek finished construction, ultra-high voltage (up to 220 kV) was generated and ready to be transmitted [7]. Thus, significant safety challenges arose, specifically in regards to interrupting electrical arcs. The traditional oil circuit breakers that relied on oil to quench arcs faced growing problems such as fire risk, large size, and high maintenance [7]. Recognizing this, in 1923, Southern California Edison partnered with Caltech to build a high-voltage laboratory [4]. The photo above depicts all three switches that were developed and tested [8]. The bottom center shows the first prototype followed by the second on the left and the third prototype on the right. The large metal caps apart of the second and third switch were used to create vacuum-tight joints for the lead-in conductors [8]. The second vacuum switch was a larger version of the switch Sorensen and Mendenhall first tested [8]. From a 1926 paper by Sorensen and Mendenhall titled “Vacuum Switching Experiments at California Institute of Technology,” high success is reported as “the switch was operated as a single-pole switch to open and close this circuit more than 500 times without showing any burning of the switch contacts” [8]. It was even tested at the Torrence substation of the Southern California Edison Company where it was able to interrupt currents as high as 600 amperes at 12,780 volts [8]. Subsequently, the third switch was brought to Laguna-Bell substation where it was able to interrupt 926 amperes at 41,500 volts [8]! Works Cited [1] “100 Years Young: Big Creek Hydroelectric Plant Still Going Strong.” Edison International | Newsroom, https://newsroom.edison.com/stories/100-years-young:-big-creek-hydroelectric-plant-still-going-strong. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026. [2] “Power Lines Around Los Angeles: Isolation, Interconnection, and Aesthetics.” Boom California, 21 May 2020, https://boomcalifornia.org/2020/05/21/power-lines-around-los-angeles-isolation-interconnection-and-aesthetics/. [3] Fox, Donna, Robert J. McEliece, and Babak Hassibi. “An Electrifying Century: An Early History of the Caltech EE Department.” ENGenious, 8 Oct. 2010, engenious.caltech.edu/articles/history-EE-Department-century. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026. [4] Heilbron, J. L., and Robert W. Seidel. Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California Press, 1990. UC Press E-Books Collection, https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5s200764&chunk.id=[section identifier]. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026. [5] Millikan, Robert A., and Royal W. Sorensen. Brief for Millikan and Sorensen. Robert A. Millikan and Royal W. Sorensen v. Talma T. Greenwood, Interference No. 56557, United States Patent Office, [Year, e.g., 1928], [Collection Name, e.g., Royal W. Sorensen Papers], [Box 3], Caltech Archives, Pasadena, CA. [6] Ornelas, Gabriela. “Big Creek’s Powerhouse 8 Marks 100 Years of Hydroelectric Power.” Energized by Edison, 8 Oct. 2021, energized.edison.com/stories/big-creeks-powerhouse-8-marks-100-years-of-hydroelectric-power. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026. [7] Record, Historic American Engineering. Big Creek Hydroelectric System, East & West Transmission Line, 241-Mile Transmission Corridor Extending between the Big Creek Hydroelectric System in the Sierra National Forest in Fresno County and the Eagle Rock Substation in Los Angeles, California, Visalia, Tulare County, CA. Still image. California -- Tulare County -- Visalia, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca3976/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026. [8] Sorensen, Royal W., and Hallan E. Mendenhall. “Vacuum Switching Experiments at California Institute of Technology.” Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, XLV, Jan. 1926, pp. 1102–07. Semantic Scholar, https://doi.org/10.1109/T-AIEE.1926.5061306. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://digital.archives.caltech.edu/collections/Images/10.33-29/ Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives and Special Collections, High Voltage Research Laboratory Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1924-1926* https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/0ca5d460d4c269e91198b099cac28464.jpg f01c0eb9a1e204c7720c8670dd979a55 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Diagrammatic Elevation Profile Map of Big Creek Subject The topic of the resource Engineering, Map Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bishop, G. Haven Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Huntington Digital Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource undated, probably around 1920s Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photo of a Map Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource Inspired and motivated by the droughts of southern California and the need for clean energy in the early 20th century, the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project was ambitious, as it cleverly utilizes the drastic drop in elevation to lead the water from Sierra-Nevada mountain towards southern California basin. This archived item is from the Huntington Digital Library, a photograph that shows a hand drawn map that describes such change in elevation as a part of the design of the system. Perhaps dated before the completion of Big Creek Powerhouse 3 in 1923, the map is a schematic plan before the construction, as shown in the title of a similar map: “Big Creek Project as envisaged in 1920” (Jackson 82). Although it was common for American engineering maps in the 1920s to be hand-drawn, the majority still aimed to remain relatively close to scale and provide geographic directions, such as the map celebrating the opening of a California highway (Roth 546). Differently, this item does not show geographical clarity or have a sense of direction. The “x-axis” is unclear, as is the placement of the Big Creek Powerhouses. Instead it is more of a scientific / engineering graph that focuses on the change of elevation versus the relative location of numerous Powerhouses and lakes around, where the “y-axis” shows elevation scale. It also has a blend of artistic besides the scientific rigorous, through the intricate hand drawn symbols for the Powerhouses. Even within the series of Big Creek Hydroelectric Project maps, it is still unique in this item for the artistic depiction of the Powerhouses symbols, which perhaps is the unknown map maker’s spontaneous subject of interest. Bishop, G. Haven. Big Creek General - Diagrammatic elevation profile map of Big Creek. The Huntington Digital Library. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll2/id/36923/rec/17 Jackson, Donald C. Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastman and the Control of Water in the West. University Press of Kansas, 1995, pp.59-83. Roth, Matthew W. Mulholland Highway and the Engineering Culture of Los Angeles in the 1920s. Technology and Culture, vol. 40, no.3, 1999, pp.545-575. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25147359 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/692bcca032432c735b053aa0bad70ebe.jpg 29b7499fcf300c3e171124641840534b Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eagle Rock Substation Looking North Description An account of the resource The Eagle Rock Substation was the endpoint of the transmission lines stretching from the Big Creek to Los Angeles, initially spanning 240 miles and operating at 150,000 volts (Cox and Michener, 1). Construction started in February 1913, and this photo was taken in August 1913, when construction was partially complete. The transmission lines became fully operational in December 1913, supplying Los Angeles with 60,000 kilowatts of electricity, or 20% of the city’s electricity (Fredericks, 350). Though 85% electricity went to running Pacific Light & Power’s (PL&P) street railroads, the rest was sold to business and residents (Friedricks, 351). As early as the 1910s, Caltech was already involved in the issue of electricity transmission to Los Angeles, via Professor Royal W. Sorensen, who served as a Consulting Engineer for PL&P from 1913 to 1917 (“Orange and White”). Part of his work as Consulting Engineer involved conducting experiments on PL&P infrastructure, such as the resistance of water jets at Eagle Rock (Royal W. Sorensen). Sorensen’s connection to Eagle Rock extended beyond his official role as Consulting Engineer. In April 1920, Sorensen led a field trip of senior Electrical Engineering students to the substation (“Orange and White”). As reported in the Orange and White book of 1919-1920 (Caltech’s student yearbook at the time), “Mr. Sorensen had done considerable work in the station and on the Big Creek transmission and was therefore able to accurately explain many details of the equipment,” further verifying Sorensen’s extensive work on transmission (“Orange and White”). Sources: <div class="csl-bib-body"> <div class="csl-entry">Cox, H H, and H Michener. GENERATOR EXCITATION PRACTISE IN THE HYDROELECTRIC PLANTS OF THE SOUTH- ERN CALIFORNIA EDISON COMPANY.</div> </div> Friedricks, William B. “A Metropolitan Entrepreneur Par Excellence: Henry E. Huntington and the Growth of Southern California, 1898-1927.” The Business History Review, vol. 63, no. 2, 1989, pp. 329–55. JSTOR,<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3115699"> https://doi.org/10.2307/3115699</a>. “Orange and White : A History of the California Institute of Technology, 1919-1920.” Big T [Pasadena, CA], Caltech Student Yearbook, nos. 1919–1920, 1920,<a href="https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110726-143937916"> https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110726-143937916</a>. Royal W. Sorensen. “Water Jets: Eagle Rock Substation, Undated.” circa 1913, Caltech Archives, Royal W. Sorensen Papers, Box 1, Folder 2. Woodbury, Edward. “150,000-Volt Transmission System.” Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, XXXIII, no. 2, June 1914, pp. 1283–98. IEEE Xplore,<a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/T-AIEE.1914.4765183"> https://doi.org/10.1109/T-AIEE.1914.4765183</a>. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stone & Webster Inc. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Southern California Edison Photographs, Huntington Library https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll2/id/59565 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1913-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll2/id/59648 See P119 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/7c0c4cf631e1d1c1fd25e0f4541f3312.pdf 0d6f8de6d4571699e0bb5457578d1245 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Investigation of Transformer Burn Outs at Kern Substation Description An account of the resource This report describes Professor Sorensen’s experiments on the Kern substation, owned by Pacific Light and Power (PL&P). Sorensen was a Consulting Engineer for PL&P from 1913 to 1917, where he performed troubleshooting experiments at PL&P facilities (“Orange and White”). In 1913, Sorensen was asked to fix the transformer burn outs at Kern substation. Sorensen hypothesized that the cause was the contamination of the oil in the transformer. He based this hypothesis on previous lab experience. As he states in the report, in 1907, he dealt with “transformer trouble” caused by the “notion of sulphur in the oil.” To test this hypothesis, Sorensen chemically confirmed the presence of sulfur. Sorensen also saw this experiment as an opportunity to apply Caltech’s oscillograph (or oscilloscope, in today’s terms) to confirm that no other factors were causing the burn outs. This report demonstrates the importance of Caltech’s technical expertise and equipment to LA’s electrical infrastructure. Without Sorensen’s previous experience, it would have been difficult for PL&P’s engineers to immediately identify the issue. Sorensen’s particular contribution to commercial power transmission was acknowledged in Caltech’s 1920 yearbook, where students credited him with having “designed and installed all the large electrical machinery in California” (“Orange and White”). The impact of Caltech’s EE department as a whole was confirmed by an oral interview in 1978 with Professor William Pickering, a former professor in Electrical Engineering, who stated that the department “had done some very useful work in helping the Edison Company develop the first long-distance transmission lines” from Fresno down to Los Angeles (William Hayward). In Pickering’s words, it was this initial work that eventually helped Sorensen and Caltech obtain Edison’s support in building the High Voltage Laboratory (William Hayward). Sources: “Orange and White : A History of the California Institute of Technology, 1919-1920.” Big T [Pasadena, CA], Caltech Student Yearbook, nos. 1919–1920, 1920,<a href="https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110726-143937916"> https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110726-143937916</a>. William Hayward. “William Hayward Pickering Oral History Interview.” 7 Nov. 1978, Caltech Archives. Transcript. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Royal W. Sorensen Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives, Royal W. Sorensen Papers Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1913-02-28 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Written Report Type The nature or genre of the resource Technical Report https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/74875b67139ddcd5046be44dc25c5b2b.jpg f41cdbd31328391c9755b003407a7b6c Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Theodore von Karman trip to Hoover Dam Description An account of the resource This photograph captures Theodore von Kármán and Raymond Sanger (unknown involvement) during a 1933 visit to Hoover Dam while it was still under construction (1931–1936). Von Kármán's interest in hydraulics dates back to his early career. Following his graduation from the Royal Joseph Technical University in Budapest, von Kármán was appointed as an assistant in hydraulics, working there for three years. While at the University of Göttingen, he used a large hydraulic press for research on the strength of materials, bridging the gap between fluid dynamics and structural mechanics (Altenbach & Bruhns, 2020). The visit documented in this photograph coincided as Kármán was working to establish a hydraulic research focus at Caltech. Observations from visits such as this helped shape the goals and research direction of the hydraulics laboratory created at Caltech later that year. That laboratory would go on to work directly on similar hydroelectric infrastructure development projects using a perspective gained from Kármán's expertise in the aeronautical sciences (Heppenheimer 2007). WORKS CITED Altenbach, H., & Bruhns, O. T. (2020). Kármán, Theodore von. In Encyclopedia of Continuum Mechanics (pp. 1387–1390). Springer.<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55771-6_41"> https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55771-6_41</a> Heppenheimer, T. A. (2007). Facing the heat barrier: A history of hypersonics (NASA SP-2007-4232). National Aeronautics and Space Administration, History Division.<a href="https://archive.aoe.vt.edu/mason/Mason_f/NASASP2007-4232Hypersonics.pdf"> https://archive.aoe.vt.edu/mason/Mason_f/NASASP2007-4232Hypersonics.pdf</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theodore von Karman and Raymond Sanger on a trip to Hoover Dam, TVK163.7-6. Caltech Archives and Special Collections. https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/digital_objects/17663 Accessed February 05, 2026. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Caltech Archives and Special Collections 1200 East California Blvd. MC B215-74 Pasadena California 91125 United States of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1933 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photograph https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/e3a5ba7fa04866b1f2ec088e7a720f5b.jpg f8041e531ac33d55cd887eb7fdcc6ee2 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph (negative) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives and Special Collections; Caltech Images Collection, Identifier: 10.46-10 [Accessed February 5, 2026: <a href="https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/111728">https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/111728</a>] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Circa 1928 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photograph (negative) Available on the archives as a digital image (.jpg) [1935 x 2565 px] Title A name given to the resource Charles C. Lauritsen and Robert A. Millikan Standing Atop the Million Volt X-ray Tube Description An account of the resource This photograph shows a defining moment in the early shape of physics research and study at Caltech: Charles C. Lauritsen and Robert A. Millikan standing atop the million volt X-ray tube at Caltech's High Voltage laboratory (c. 1928). Initially, work at Caltech's High Voltage Laboratory (Hi Volts) powered Los Angeles through long-distance power lines, including lines to the Hoover Dam (Fowler). However, C. C. Lauritsen's move to Caltech in 1926 started a transition towards prolific nuclear physics research at the institute. Using his experience with radios, Lauritsen built the million-volt X-ray tube in 1928, and his electroscope innovation made a statement of Hi Volts' ability to use simple hand-held devices to perform large-scale calculations and phenomenological detections. Lauritsen's high-voltage innovations prompted Millikan to request W. K. Kellogg for financing a new laboratory. (Lauritsen; Fowler) The creation of the million volt X-ray tube brought a paradigm shift in Caltech's physics research. Because these tubes were far more powerful than standard hospital tubes, Caltech was able to explore cancer therapy with high-voltage X-rays. By the 1930s, these medical X-ray technologies moved to the Kellogg Radiation Lab, leaving space for Hi Volts to expand its nuclear physics research and programs prior to World War II. Unfortunately, Kellogg's X-rays were turned off in 1939 due to commercialization of tubes in hospitals. (Lauritsen) While Caltech's labs pivoted towards defense projects during WWII, all war-related work was eventually transferred to China Lake in 1945. With the war did come changes in the goals of the Kellogg lab, with Lauritsen pushing towards low-energy physics, leading towards observation of nuclear reactions in stars. (Fowler) Works Cited <div> <div> Fowler, William A. “Phyphty Years of Phun and Physics in Kellogg.” Engineering & Science, Mar. 1982, resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:45.4.Phowler. </div> Lauritsen, Thomas. “Kellogg Laboratory: The Early Years.” Engineering & Science, June 1969, resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:32.9.kellogg. </div> https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/1a0fa729c431043b97234cb4b9c1e353.jpg 9c362fd86ee75e8b35fa502953a66b7f Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Drawing Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 8 x10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Birdseye View Plan of 18 Powerhouses at Big Creek Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Southern California Edison Company Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Huntington Digital Library https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll2/id/5451/rec/1 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Photograph of drawing Description An account of the resource Starting in October 1900, John Eastwood was set on creating a power plant in the upper San Joaquin River and created Mammoth Power Company (Jackson 60). By early 1902, Eastwood decided to expand his previous design to include a network of power plants rather than a singular one. Eventually, Eastwood managed to cooperate with the Pacific Light and Power Company (PL&P) to build dams and power plants at Big Creek. This image showcases a design of 18 powerhouses to be built at Big Creek. Although it is only known that this image came from the Southern California Edison Photographs and Negatives, it is very likely that Eastwood was the creator as “Eastwood envisioned 18 powerhouses, [though] only half were built” (Johnson). As Johnson mentions, only half of the original 18 planned were built, but Eastwood was gradually removed from the building process as he fell out of favor with the upper management of PL&P (Jackson 78). Currently, the Big Creek Hydroelectric “system consists of nine major powerhouses, six major reservoirs, numerous dams and small diversions, various water conveyance facilities, access roads, electrical transmission lines, and other appurtenant facilities” (California Water Boards). Though it may not be as impressive as the system that Eastwood had designed in this image, it remains a crucial power source and a key player in the development of electricity in Los Angeles. Works Cited: Jackson, Donald C. Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West. University Press of Kansas, 1995. Big Creek Hydroelectric System | California State Water Resources Control Board. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/big_creek/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026. Johnson, John. “Lights Dim in an Edison Company Town.” Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2000, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-21-mn-7792-story.html. https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/4b500d859e635257c13a2d8f7551ba31.pdf 40c68c30137d45eb9696d03b6104dbec Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typewritten and Signed Contract Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource High Voltage Laboratory Lease Between Southern California Edison and Caltech Description An account of the resource This lease contract between SCE and Caltech describes the terms for the High Voltage Lab, which marks the most direct collaboration between Caltech and industry since Caltech’s founding. SCE provided $105,000 to build the million volt transformer, while Caltech provided $34,915 to cover additional costs (D. M. Trott). SCE funded the High Voltage Lab so that they could complete the technical research needed to raise transmission to 220,000 volts (J. L. Heilbron and Robert W. Seidel). The lease states that Caltech “will make available to the Company…the advice and learning of the staff of the Institute” (Southern California Edison and Caltech). As a result, Caltech personnel often helped SCE personnel (Frederick Lindvall). The lease also dictates that research produced at High Volts and profit from patents were “the property jointly” of Caltech and SCE (Edison and Caltech). For example, when Sorensen and Millikan patented their vacuum switch, the patent was jointly sold by Caltech and Edison to General Electric for $100,000 in 1930, which almost repaid the cost of the lab (Heilbron and Seidel). Though the lease guaranteed SCE 25 years in the laboratory, their involvement decreased as they completed their research (Edison and Caltech, Lindvall). Caltech continued to use High Volts for physics research until it was renovated in 1960, solidifying a successful chapter of Caltech’s collaboration with industry. Sources: D. M. Trott. “High Voltage Laboratory Audit Bill.” Audit Bill. Pasadena, CA, 7 Oct. 1924, Caltech Archives, Arthur Fleming Papers, High Voltage Laboratory Building 1924, Box 1, Folder 16. Frederick Lindvall. “Frederick C. Lindvall Oral History Interview.” 17 Nov. 1978, Caltech Archives. Transcript. J. L. Heilbron and Robert W. Seidel. Lawrence and His Laboratory. University of California Press, 1989, http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5s200764/. A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Southern California Edison and Caltech. “High Voltage Laboratory Lease.” Lease Contract. 23 Jan. 1923, Caltech Archives, Arthur Fleming Papers, High Voltage Laboratory Building 1924, Box 1, Folder 16. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Southern California Edison and the California Institute of Technology Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives, Arthur Fleming Papers Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1923-01-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Typewritten Document https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/2666ae867f78b93ac0faeabe08b8e9d7.jpg da106ca86603d2bee11e9e889c277e69 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/ad2c2423daf0f0cafa1d8211fa86596c.jpg b97559b0218295db85aa8b61e3afbc78 https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/e0106baba736ab2bf8b055a49f65af1c.jpg 8893318d28a8dff0ee36dbdada66314c https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/19165f9709ec4a4f7b3d6f2cd0a9e242.jpg ad5d30e65429cc651bfa60ce53c6a22b https://www.electrifying.collopy.net/files/original/c6c3d5f094c65b25c3b15943557eac85.jpg 1075f5cc23f7e5126b366640efb076a0 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Letter Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 8.5"x11" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter From Westinghouse Electric to Royal W. Sorenson Description An account of the resource A decade after the Borel plant began operation, electricity requirements in Southern California had grown drastically. To meet the new demands, Henry Huntington commissioned engineer John S. Eastwood to design a new power plant to be built in the San Joaquin Valley, named Big Creek power plant (Hanson). Royal W. Sorenson, electrical engineer who worked at Caltech (then called Throop Institute) and inventor of the vacuum switch, was a consulting engineer for Huntington's Power Company (Caltech Office of Strategic Communications). This document is correspondence between Sorenson and Westinghouse Electric before the plant opened, who replied after Sorenson sent a report of "hunting" in the generators at Big Creek Station No. 2. Hunting occurs when the generator searches for the right frequency to operate at, causing power output fluctuations and damage to equipment. Westinghouse Electric instruct Sorenson in this letter to increase the voltage of the generators, as they suspect the issues were caused by underload. Big Creek powerhouse No. 2 opened in December 1914 (SCE), a decade after Borel. It marked one of the first major collaborations between Huntington and Caltech, which would eventually lead to the construction of the High Volts laboratory. <div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height:2;margin-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"> <div class="csl-entry">California’s Promethean Past by Victor Davis Hanson, City Journal Summer 2013. 26 Mar. 2014, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140326171900/http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_3_henry-huntington.html">https://web.archive.org/web/20140326171900/http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_3_henry-huntington.html</a>.</div> <div class="csl-entry">Caltech. “Royal W. Sorenson Faculty Portrait.” Caltech Magazine, Caltech Office of Strategic Communications, <a href="https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1250/1/Sorenson.pdf">https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1250/1/Sorenson.pdf</a>. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.</div> <div class="csl-entry">Catren, Robert Charles. A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History University of Southern California.</div> <div class="csl-entry">Southern California Edision Company. “Initial Information Package for the Big Creek Hydroelectric System.” SCE, 2000, <a href="https://www.sce.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2000_iip.pdf">https://www.sce.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2000_iip.pdf</a>.</div> <div class="csl-entry">Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. 23 July 1914, California Institute of Technology Archives, Sorenson Papers Box 1.</div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Caltech Archives, Sorenson Papers Box 1 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 23, 1914 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Physical Letter Big Creek Huntington Sorenson