Charles Townes started at Bell Labs West Street in 1939, but left for Columbia University in 1948 where he continued the microwave spectroscopy projects that he had begun in relation to radar. James Gordon was a graduate student who worked in building the maser under Townes’ guidance. By the mid-fifties Townes was splitting his time between Columbia and Bell Labs.

Image Courtesy of American Institute of Physics, Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Hecht Collection.

Arthur Schawlow transferred from Columbia University to Bell Labs in 1949 after being recommended by Sidney Millman. His ties to Townes ran deeper than colleagues; they became brothers-in-law in the early 1950s. As they were transitioning from masers to lasers, Schawlow worked on the device itself, while Townes focused on theory.

Bell Laboratories / Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc., image courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Hecht Collection.

This was part of one of the first two masers built at Murray Hill in 1955. Masers worked with “stimulated emission,” or by charging up gas or a crystal with electromagnetic energy in the section known as the cavity. The energy is then compacted into a narrow beam.

Courtesy of MIT Collection

“Radar” stands for “RAdio Detection and Ranging” and can determine the distance of an object by pinging it with radio waves. Bell’s war-time research took place at the Whippany lab. Different types of radar devices reflected the different battlegrounds of World War II: at sea, on the ground, or, like this particular model, in the air. It has been said by scientists who worked on radar, that while the atomic bomb ended the war, it was radar that won it.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

“One should never stop studying, never stop learning, never stop searching for answers, never stop trying, and never stop failing and then trying again!”

Clyde Bethea was a member of the Murray Hill Quantum Physics Device Research Department. Here, he stands with the system he invented, an electronically tunable organic color dye laser. A tunable laser allows for adjustments in wavelength. Bethea’s laser was used to measure the speed of electrons traveling through semiconductors.

Bethea’s 35-year career saw recognition as Black Engineer of the Year (1989). He was inducted into NASA Space Foundation’s Hall of Fame (2001) for the Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) Camera.

Image Courtesy of the Bethea Family.

Bethea has long been dedicated to inspiring and encouraging young science enthusiasts. He visited this East Orange classroom as part of a group called Volunteers in Action. Richard Ladson, another Bell participant, said it was important to have black scientists in the program to “...provide the students with models from their own community.” Later in the year, the class took a field trip to Bethea’s Murray Hill lab. Bethea continued to work with students at all levels throughout his career.

Image Courtesy of the Bethea Family.

Lasers organize energy into a tightly focused beam of light. This Helium-Neon model was one commonly used in laboratory experiments. This specific laser was probably used in the Murray Hill location, possibly collected from laser pioneer Kumar Patel’s lab.

Collection of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Bethea’s inspiration to students reached beyond in-person sessions when he was featured in a popular junior high level textbook. His own personal copy, on view here, was signed by actor William Shatner. The first chapter of the book intertwined an introduction to the concepts of physical science with a twelve page interview with the 29-year-old scientist.

McGraw-Hill Book Company

Collection of the Bethea Family