TESLA MEMORIAL SOCIETY, INC.

21 Maddaket, Southwyck Village

Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076

Czech Ministry of Education To Produce Video Program On Nikola Tesla

The Czech Republic Ministry of Education has arranged to produce a short video on the life of the famous inventor, Nikola Tesla. The video is to be shown to Czech students at the High School level to familiarize them on the accomplishments of this giant of electrical science who received a substantial part of his higher education in Prague. Just as in the United States, the Ministry had become aware that very few young students knew of Tesla’s fundamental contributions to modern society through his seminal work on electricity and radio.

A crew from Fontis TV Production, Prague, arrived in the United States in early May 2002, to produce segments for the video. Travel details and visit arrangements were coordinated by the Society. Their schedule included location work in Manhattan, Scotch Plains and Niagara Falls (New York and Ontario, Canada).

Society Executive Secretary William Terbo guided the Fontis crew in Manhattan and provided on-camera descriptions of the Tesla sites. Visited were:

• The Radio Wave Building, 49 West 27^th Street, (now a professional office building, but formally The Gerlach a, then new, luxury residential hotel) where Tesla lived from 1892 through 1899. A plaque commemorating Tesla was installed in 1977. The modern lobby features four large photographic murals including two concerning early electric energy themes.
• The Hotel New Yorker, Eighth Avenue at 34^th Street, Tesla’s residence from 1934 to his passing in January, 1943. While the Hotel has had many redecorations and modernizations, the lobby foyer still retains many of the luxury details that were present in Tesla’s time. A large plaque commemorating Tesla was installed on the 34^th Street exterior of the Hotel in 2001.
• Nikola Tesla Corner, Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at 40^th Street, dedicated by the City of New York in 1994. Also visited was 8 West 40^th Street, a modernized office building where Tesla maintained offices from 1915 through 1925. (Bryant Park, between Sixth Avenue and the Main New York Public Library from 40^th to 42^nd Streets, is the site where Tesla most famously fed his pigeons.)
• The Cathedral of St. John the Devine, Amsterdam Avenue at 112^th Street, where the State Funeral for Tesla was held in 1943. Among the over 2,000 attending were prominent representatives the international cultural, scientific and governmental communities. (A New York landmark and still under construction after 110 years, St. John the Devine is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.)

The Fontis crew conducted an on-camera interview with William Terbo, grandnephew of Nikola Tesla, at his home (and Society headquarters) in Scotch Plains, New Jersey (New York City Metropolitan Area). They also reviewed memorabilia, documents and photographs from the Society and Terbo personal collections.

Society Executive Board member Mr. Dan Mrkich guided the Fontis group at Niagara Falls and provided detail background of the sites. Visited were:

• Nikola Tesla statue in the Goat Island State Park, prominently located in an area between the American and International “Horseshoe” Falls. The statue was the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial gift of the Yugoslav Government to the American Government. Tesla is the only personage represented in the Park. Other plaques and structures recognizing the original 1890-96 Niagara Falls AC power construction are located adjacent to the Tesla statue.
• Niagara Falls Ontario for historical markers and superior views of the Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, a proposed tour of the 1905 Canadian power plant in (reserve) operation could not be accomplished at this time due to heightened security measures.
• Niagara River on the “Maid of the Mists.” This boat tour approaches the foot of Niagara Falls from the river level and can provide dramatic effect for the video.

The Fotis crew is scheduled to visit the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade in September to conclude segments on the Czech Republic Ministry of Education video.

By mutual understanding, Fotis TV Productions is to provide several items including appropriate video end credits as specified by the Society and to provide two copies of the completed video (in North American VHS format) for Society archival use.

TMNok