Robert Weitbrecht papers, 1931-1982

Summary

Creators:

Weitbrecht, Robert H.

Abstract:

The papers of Robert H. Weitbrecht, a physicist and electronic design engineer best known for his invention of TTY, also known as the teletypewriter, TDD, or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf.

Extent:

8 cartons, 2 boxes (10.8 linear feet)

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of 5 series: Business and Professional Correspondence, Subject Files, Personal Papers and Correspondence, Publications and Manuals, and Patent Files. The business and professional correspondence is mostly Weitbrecht's work-related correspondence dating from the founding of his company, the R.H. Weitbrecht Company, in the middle of the 1960s to circa 1982. The subject files date from 1953 to 1982 and include files on topics relating to Weitbrecht's research and his personal interests. The personal papers and correspondence consist of a small amount of personal correspondence as well as an autobiographical sketch, some writings, drawings, and school work. The publications and manuals include technical manuals and bulletins. The patent files consist of files of patent documents and correspondence relating to Weitbrecht's inventions.

Biographical / historical:

Robert H. Weitbrecht was a physicist and electronic design engineer best known for his invention of TTY, also known as the teletypewriter, TDD, or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf. Weitbrecht, born deaf in 1920, became interested in amateur radio as a young man, eventually constructing his own ham radio set at the age of 13. The set allowed him to decipher Morse code messages received by means of amplified ear phones that produced vibrations that enabled him to distinguish the codes. By college, Weitbrecht had become licensed as a ham radio operator by the Federal Communications Commission. He was thought to be the only deaf amateur radio operator in the world in the late 1930s. Weitbrecht attended Santa Ana Junior College from 1938 to 1940 and then enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley. He received his bachelor's degree in Astronomy in 1942. During World War II, Weitbrecht worked at UC Berkeley on Cyclotron Hill at the Radiation Laboratory. After the war, he moved to the U.S. Naval Air Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, California, where he spent four years developing electronic timing systems for the missle range instrumentation. It was during these years that Weitbrecht became acquainted with the Teletype Model 15. In 1950, Weitbrecht obtained his own radio teletypewriter and began experimenting with the machine in his amateur radio pursuits. In 1951, Weitbrecht moved to Wisconsin to work at Yerkes Observatory and, in his spare time, continued to develop electronic equipment for radio teletypewriter communication. While in Wisconsin, Weitbrecht obtained a master's degree from the University of Chicago in Astronomy. In 1957, he moved to Stanford University, where he worked as a physicist at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park. He remained with SRI for eleven years. It was during this time that Weitbrecht designed and built cameras and electronic equipment for the Lick Observatory. In 1964, he met some members of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and, with their encouragement, started determining how to adapt the teletypwriter into an assistive-listening device for the deaf community by figuring out how to make it work on a regular telephone line. In 1964, he developed the acoustic coupler that allowed the teletypewriter to be used with a telephone. This coupler eventually became known as the Weitbrecht’s Modem. Weitbrecht's companies specializing in the distribution of TTYs and other assistive listening devices included the R.H. Weitbrecht Company, Applied Communications Corporation, and Weitbrecht Communications.

Acquisition information:

The Robert Weitbrecht papers were given to the Bancroft Library by Mr. Norman Davis in 1985. Additions were made in 1986.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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