Clan William: Super Nerd Television Pioneer George Harvey Seward

C. Fred Wolcott, Chief Engineer of Gilfilan 
Laboratories and Television Engineers'
Institute of America President
George H. Seward, 1939
Electronics Magazine, Jan 1941

One thing about the Munsons and their progeny, there are a lot who were involved in advancements in
science and education generally. Today's fellow, George Harvey Seward, is about the greatest science geek/promoter I've read about yet. Here's the descendency:

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > William Munson II > David Munson > Miranda Munson > Alice Jane Bird > George Harvey Seward m. Jessie Leiba

George Seward was born to Alice Jane Bird and Harvey Seward in New Haven, Connecticut on 17 Feb 1873. The oldest of two sons, George attended the Hopkins Grammar School, built on the New Haven Green and founded in 1660. The prestigious schools continues today. The school's website had an original dedication that read: "breeding up of hopeful youths...for the public service of the country in future times."

Following grammar school, George received a bachelor's in philosophy from Yale in 1895. He worked as a optical cataloguer in 1900. At the age of 33, he married Jessie Lebia of Kentucky in 1905. I couldn't find the pair in 1910, but by 1920, they were located in Hollywood, California.

George was a real estate and insurance man and owned a 3-unit home at 765-767-769 Gower Street  on a 9,000 sq ft lot, right across the street from the storied RKO Studios (it's now Paramount Studios). From the earliest days in Hollywood he was nerding out. He operated a short wave radio station and became one of the earliest pioneers in developing television.

(Left) RKO Studios at the corner of Melrose and Gower
(Right) the Gower St. Entrance right across the street 
from the Seward residence (Click photo to increase size)

Sometime in the 1920s, his wife, Jessie, was sent to the Patton State Asylum for the Insane in Highland, San Bernardino. George then lived alone, with the assistance of an older woman, a housekeeper who made his meals and cared for the home for the amount of $600 per year. She would remain with him until his death.

While George was involved in a lot of community efforts, the thing he is most noted for was getting publicity for his hobbies in the press. He was a leader and organizer on a pretty decent scale and was always formulating ways to connect people with similar interests to advance the cause of his particular interest. He was also very involved in the Southern California Yale Club and was known to present scholarships to students attending Yale.

In 1935, he made time to write a clearly frustrated, but unrealistic plea for people not to take up the parking spaces in front of his house

Seward was a short wave expert and was selected by the War Department to participate in an emergency test to simulate a national emergency. While many, many short wave operators were invited to participate across the country, Seward was deft in getting the publicity to go with it! His channel was W6CCT. He also got press in 1935 when he sent an encoded message via his short wave - to advertise his Federated Radio Clubs banquet. 

Though many people and organizations had been working toward television broadcasts for many years, the first demonstration of television occured in London, England in 1926. From that moment, the modern race was on. In 1930, RCA created its first experimental television station, W2XBS. RCA then created the National Broadcast Channel (NBC) in 1931 and shortly after, Columbia Radio System (CBS) was started). These two experimental stations were broadcasting on a small scale. Enthusiasts across the country began working in earnest to advance the experimental capabilities. RCA would still not start selling televisions until 1956.

In the US, several people had developed home television receivers with varying degrees of success. Seward seemed to have a gift for pulling these people together with a lot of hype and publicity. Some of his more interesting television undertakings were related to communications via radio, short wave, and television.

• Organizing the Hollywood Producers-Consumers Cooperative, the focus of which was sound recording and reproduction. Men with or without sound equipment were invited as were housewives, who'd make baked goodies to sell or barter with other cooperatives. (1934)
• Television Engineers Institute of America, Inc. Organized by George to provided educational and social opportunities in the realm of burgeoning television research and application. (1939)
• He also incorporated the Hollywood Television Society (1938) and the Television Artists and Writers Guild. (1939)

He was a great spokesperson and got a lot of media to draw attention in hopes of getting fellow enthusiasts together to advance the cause of developing a commercial and international ability to broadcast television. 

Dr. Lee DeForrest, the "father of radio"

In 1940, he sponsored a conference of over 200 people which headlined Dr. Lee DeForrest, known as
the "father of radio" and other technical speakers in both radio and television. He too, spoke, and never seemed to be short of things to say about his hobbies.

In the last year of his life, Seward decided to run for the Los Angeles Board of Education. He died before the election was held. 

George was honored by many organizations after his death on 30 Oct 1940 in Hollywood.  He was recognized by a number of organizations for his accomplishments to the burgeoning field of television. 

Seward was honored after his death by
many technical publications

His industry obituary read:

International Photographer
Vol 13, Jan-Dec 1941
(Click to enlarge)

And, though not a robust obituary, the hobbyist's death notice made the AP wire. 

Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA 
31 Oct 1940, Thu, Pg 9

As a side note, Jessie would pass away in 1947, still a patient at the Patterson Asylum for the Insane in Highland, San Bernardino. The house, with it's three units, has been updated and is currently valued at over $1.1 million and is across from what is now Paramount Studios. I wonder if they still have the parking problems?

765-767-769 Gower St