Alexander Graham Bell

PHOTOGRAPH CELEBRATING THE TRANSCONTINENTAL TELEPHONE LINE, SIGNED BY THE MAN THAT MADE IT HAPPEN.

The letter accompanying the photograph marks it as a thoughtful memento to celebrate a Mr. Osborne's part in the historic accomplishment spearheaded by Alexander Graham Bell. The letter reads, in part:

"Mr. Bell has been good enough to let me have his / autograph upon a number of pictures of the opening of the transcontinental line January 25, 1915. I take pleasure in sending you one of these pictures. It will serve as a reminder of a historical occasion in which you took your part. BG - EBW / The people in the picture, from left to right, are: Mr. John J. Carty, Chief Engineer, American Telephone and Telegraph Company; Hon. George McAneny, President of the Board of Aldermen, New York City; Mr. U. N. Bethell, Senior Vice President, American Telegraph Company; Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, inventory of the telephone; Hon. John Purroy Mitchel, Mayor of New York City; Mr. Caspar E. Yost, President of the Northwestern Group of companies (the senior Associated Company President); and Mr. W. A. Prendergast, Comptroller of the City of New York."

The group are posed beneath a portrait of Theodore Newton Vail, the General Manager of Bell Telephone Co. from 1878-1887 who became president of the organization in 1885. A presentation on the wall beside them reads: "The Transcontinental telephone line / 3,400 miles long joining the Atlantic and Pacific is part of the Bell System of 21 million miles of wire connecting 9 million telephone stations located everywhere throughout the United States. Composing the system are the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and associated companies and connecting companies giving universal service to 100 million people."

The presentation and included letter appear to have been gifted to an employee of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in celebration of the momentous occasion. The call, placed from New York to San Francisco during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, was billed as the first transcontinental telephone call, although the line was complete on June 17, 1914 and first tested at that time.