Videos Offer Rare Look At How Thomas Edison Celebrated July 4th

WEST ORANGE, NJ — As West Orange prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July, a historical park in the town is offering a look at how famed inventor Thomas Edison celebrated the holiday with his own family.

The Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange recently partnered with the Library of Congress to digitize footage that originally belonged to Edison's son, Charles. The result? A rare look into the personal life of the inventor and his family.

According to a news release from the park:

“The home movies, which range in length from one to three minutes and were photographed on 16 mm Kodak safety film, were stored in the museum collection of Thomas Edison NHP for decades before park staff worked with the Library of Congress to have them digitally restored. The films include the last known footage of Thomas Edison celebrating the Fourth of July 1931 with members of his family, including his wife, Mina, son, Charles, and his wife, Carolyn, and son, Theodore, and his wife, Anna, at the front door of their home, Glenmont. Thomas Edison died three months later, on October 18, 1931.”

But that’s not all, park spokespeople said:

“Other footage in the collection show visits by Charles and Carolyn Edison to the Grosse Point, Michigan home of Edsel and Eleanor Ford, to Grand Canyon National Park during a vacation in the southwestern U.S., and to the New Jersey shore with friends … The home movies also capture the construction and landscaping of Landmore, the home Charles and Carolyn built in Llewellyn Park near Glenmont, exterior views of George Eastman’s home in Rochester, New York, and a July 1, 1931 visit from King Prajadhipok of Siam to Thomas Edison’s West Orange Laboratory and Glenmont. Later that month the king, who had a keen interest in American science and technology, visited the top of the Empire State Building and rode in the US Navy dirigible Los Angeles at Lakehurst, New Jersey.”

All eight films are available on Thomas Edison NHP’s YouTube channel.

“Home movies can provide a much more accurate view of our past: unrehearsed and unpolished,” said Library of Congress nitrate film vault leader, George Willeman.

“This is especially true of the home movies of the famous,” Willeman said. “You often get to see a side of them they hide from the public lens.”

“We appreciate the relationship with the Library of Congress that made the digitization of these films possible,” park superintendent Tom Ross said. “We thank the Library of Congress for helping us share these unfiltered glimpses of the Edison family with the world.”

SEASON OPENING OF EDISON’S HOME

Thomas Edison National Historical Park recently announced that Edison's home, Glenmont, will open for the season on July 1. New this year, visitors to Glenmont will be able to reserve tickets for specific tour times up to seven days in advance through Recreation.gov.

Park spokespeople offered some important information about scheduling tickets:

• Tickets for the Glenmont House Tours will be released seven days in advance at 10 a.m. and will be available until midnight the day before the tour.
• Glenmont tours are generally available Wednesday – Sunday during July and August. September – December and April – June, tours are available Friday – Sunday. Glenmont is closed January – March.
• This is a 30-minute tour of the first and second floor of Glenmont Estate.
• Advanced, reserved tickets for Glenmont House Tours can be purchased ONLY on the Recreation.gov website.
• All visitors to Glenmont must start their visit at the Edison laboratory unit of the park, 211 Main St. West Orange, NJ 07052
• Although tickets for the house tour are free, all visitors 16 and over must pay the Thomas Edison NHP $15 entrance fee, or show proof of advanced purchase of the entrance fee from Recreation.gov.
• Because the Glenmont is in a private, gated community, a free Visitor Car Pass must be obtained at the Laboratory Complex Visitor Center PRIOR to going to Glenmont.
• When booking your reservation, please remember all adults and children need tickets.
• There is a $1/ticket non-refundable reservation fee for all Rec.gov transactions.

PARK GOES CASH-FREE

On March 12, Thomas Edison National Historical Park stopped accepting cash as a method of payment for entrance fees or the purchase of park passes. Visitors can use a credit or debit card at the park visitor center to pay their entrance fee, or they can purchase their entrance passes ahead of their visit using the recreation.gov website or mobile app.

According to a news release from the park:

“Implementing a cash-free system reduces the contact and wait time at the visitor center especially during peak visitor hours, thus increasing the time for visitors to enjoy the park. For even greater convenience, visitors are encouraged to use the recreation.gov website and mobile app to purchase their entrance passes ahead of time and either print out their passes at home or save to their mobile device to present at the park visitor center.”

Entrance fees to the park are $15 for all visitors ages 16 and older. Children under 16 are free of charge. National Park Passes are accepted for park admission. Park entrance fee payments are by credit or debit card only. Visitors may purchase entrance passes ahead of their visit through recreation.gov.

The Eastern National-managed Museum Stores located in the park are not affected by this change and continue to accept cash, checks and credit cards for all purchases, spokespeople said.

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