Unpublished memoir of Bell Laboratories in Canada and New Jersey
Ferguson, James G[ordon] (1900 – 1985). Me and My Bell System (As I Remember Us). Mimeographed typescript, ca. 1965. 8½ x 11 in. 61 pp, stapled. There is some insect damage, particularly to the final pages, but the text is intact.
An unpublished memoir by an engineer for Bell Telephone Labs. Born in Ashfield, Ontario, J. G. Ferguson received his BSc. in electrical engineering from Queen’s University in 1923 and accepted a position at Bell Canada that year. In 1926, he moved to Rutherford, New Jersey to join the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he worked for 42 years until his retirement in 1965. The author of a number of technical papers, Ferguson received patents for his innovations at Bell. In the 1940s, he was one of the leads in developing the Number Five Crossbar Switching System (5XB switch), which brought telephone service to rural areas. The 5XB switch was in use until the early 1990s.
J. G. Ferguson in the 1923 Queen's University Year Book
Ferguson’s memoir includes anecdotes of his youth in Ontario and Saskatoon, and his early career at Northern Electric Co. (Bell Telephone of Canada). His lively discussion of his research at Bell Telephone Labs in New Jersey includes stories of working on radar systems during World War II. This is a professional memoir, not a family one: there is very little here on Ferguson's personal life but there are many stories about his colleagues. A unique record.
Reportedly Ferguson copied his memoir for private circulation among friends and family. No copies recorded in institutional collections.
Selected References
- Queens University Year Book, 1923, p. 144
- Queen’s Alumni Review, January-February 1986, p. 36.
- Ferguson, J.G. "A clock-controlled tuning fork as a source of constant frequency," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 145-157, Jan. 1924, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1924.tb01350.x.
- J. G. Ferguson, "Measurement of inductance by the shielded owen bridge," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 375-386, July 1927, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1927.tb00199.x.
- J. G. Ferguson, "Shielding in high-frequency measurements," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 560-575, July 1929, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1929.tb04434.x.
- J. G. Ferguson. "Classification of Bridge Methods of Measuring Impedances," in Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 861-867, Sept. 1933, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1933.tb00405.x.
- J. G. Ferguson and B. W. Bartlett, "The measurement of capacitance in terms of resistance and frequency," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 420-437, July 1928, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1928.tb01234.x.
- W. J. Shackelton and J. G. Ferguson, "High-Frequency Measurement of Communication Apparatus," in Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. XLVI, pp. 519-527, January-December 1927, doi: 10.1109/T-AIEE.1927.5061385.
- W. J. Shackelton and J. G. Ferguson, "Electrical measurement of communication apparatus," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 70-89, Jan. 1928, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1928.tb00341.x.
- E. I. Green, H. J. Fisher and J. G. Ferguson, "Techniques and facilities for microwave radar testing," in The Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 435-482, July 1946, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1946.tb03617.x.
Product tabs
$0
$125
Earn 0Reward points
Recommend this product

Unpublished memoir of Bell Laboratories in Canada and New Jersey
Related products
An analgesic broadside for Horace Wells
Stearns, Henry Putnam (1828 – 1905) and James McManus (1836 – 1920). The discovery of anæsthesia. [s.l. : s.n., c. 1870]. Broadside, 28 cm by 19 cm. ...
view details
$1,500
View details
$8,500
Document Signed by Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, 1793
Hamilton, Alexander (1755 – 1804). Signed Treasury Receipt addressed to Samuel Gerry, Collector at Marblehead. Partially printed document dated June 2...
view details
$8,500
View details
$18,500
Alan Turing and Tony Brooker, Programmers’ Handbook for the Ferranti Mark I computer
Turing, Alan M. (1912 – 1954) and Ralph A. "Tony" Brooker (1925 – 2019). Programmers’ Handbook for the Manchester Electronic Computer Mark II. [Manche...
view details
$18,500
View details
$125
A Whittier between the Devil and Lowell factory girls
Whittier, [ _____ ], letter to William West, July 9, 1832. A lengthy, substantial, and amusing letter written on three sides of a single sheet, 39 cm ...
view details
$125
View details
$3,500
A slave sale mandated by the Louisiana Supreme Court
Sale of Slave by Suc[cessors] of Woodruff to Dr. James G. Belden, dated 1 April 1858. Holograph manuscript on printed form folded to make 4 pages. A ...
view details
$3,500
View details
$25,000
Manuscript Archive for Atomsk, a Cold War novel by intelligence operative Paul Linebarger
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony (1913 - 1966). Atomsk: A Novel of Suspense by "Carmichael Smith." Original manuscript archive for the novel published p...
view details
$25,000
View details
$27,500
George Bernard Shaw ghostwrites a preface for Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence, T[homas] E[dward] (1888–1935) and Shaw, George Bernard (1856–1950). Draft foreword to Revolt in the Desert. Holograph manuscript, [Ayot St. ...
view details
$27,500
View details
$4,500
Manuscript for an unpublished masterwork on American medicinal flora
Havard, Valery (1846–1927). Medical and Economic Botany. Typescript, ca. 1897. 1291 numbered leaves with holograph corrections. Some photocopied title...
view details
$4,500
View details
$1,250
Consumer culture, art, and subjectivity in Kazimierzowo, Chicago
Porembski, Olga V. (1924-2011). Rose Rosinski and Bruno Zidek, April 11, 1942. 96 leaves, 11½ x 14 in. (29 x 26 cm.) Homemade scrapbook comprised pri...
view details
$1,250
View details
Pennsylvania, the Promised Land: emigration songs from the earliest years of the Harmony Society in America
Neff, Jacob (1757–1818). Harmony Society hymnal. [Lancaster, Pennsylvania], 1804–06. Manuscript. 88 pp. of German verse with musical annotations. Smal...
view details
Price on Request
View details
$14,500
Einstein presents a book on Atomic Theory
Einstein, Albert (1879 – 1955). Typed letter signed (TLS) to Theodora Dehon, Princeton, New Jersey, 29 April 1947. 1 page. Creased from having been fo...
view details
$14,500
View details
$8,500
Harold Laski on law, ideology, and social justice
Laski, Harold J. (1893—1950). The Crisis in the Theory of the State. Manuscript, signed on the final page, ca. 1936. 30 pp. With fragments of original...
view details
$8,500
View details
$8,500
Lemuel Cox's labor contract for Londonderry Bridge, 1790
Cox, Lemuel (1736-1806). Articles of Agreement for the construction of a bridge in Londonderry, Ireland. 7 February 1790. Ink on vellum, about 73 x 43...
view details
$8,500
View details
$750
Stan BRAKHAGE. Space as Menace in Canadian Aesthetics (1989), signed typescript.
BRAKHAGE, Stan (1933-2003). Space as Menace in Canadian Aesthetics: Film and Painting. Photocopy of the 25-page manuscript (typewritten, with holograp...
view details
$750
View details
$15,000
Indian Treaty for Catskill Land Purchase, with an Alexander Hamilton Connection
The Catskill Patent. The Indians to Cornelis Van Dyck & Marte Gerretse [Van Bergen]. Dated the 13th June 1684. Copy Deed Translated. A copy in Eng...
view details
$15,000
View details
$350
A Calligraphic Manuscript for a Pioneer in Religious Education
[Athearn, Walter S.] To Our Friend Walter S. Athearn, Dean, Boston University School of Religious Education and Social Service, 1918-1928. Four vellu...
view details
$350
View details
$12,500
Roger Tory Peterson. A Field Guide to the Birds (1934), first issue in dustwrapper, signed.
Peterson, Roger Tory. A Field Guide to the Birds, giving field marks of all species found in eastern North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,...
view details
$12,500
View details
$125
Rockabilly notebook of a teenage fan
[Rockabilly] Lyric Notebook. Manuscript, pencil. [ca. 1960] 11 ff. + [5] blanks. 10½ x8 ¼ in. Spiral bound notebook. Soiling and wear; very good condi...
view details
$125
View details
An important Methodist church register from the Second Great Awakening, recording a shark attack
$1,750
$1,750
An important Methodist church register from the Second Great Awakening, recording a shark attack
Webb, Rev. Daniel (1778-1867), et al. Church Register of the Eastern Methodist Episcopal Church, Lynn, Massachusetts, 1813-1840. 21 x 16½ cm. (8¼ x 6 ...
view details
$1,750
View details