Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Photolab.
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Biographical History
One of the first people hired at GALCIT Project #1 in November 1941 was photographer George Emmerson (1913-1994), an emigrant from Newcastle, Great Britain. Audrey Voice and Mary J. Taylor as photographer's assistants joined Emmerson in 1943. Emmerson took almost all the early photos that became a part of this collection, a collection described in brief as the work product of the JPL Photolab.
As JPL grew, so did the assignments to the Photolab to photograph all Laboratory activities. This resulted in a very diverse set of images, including experimental data images as well as portraits of people and things. The Photolab also collected and filed images from outside sources that related closely to JPL work. By 1961 the Photolab employed 34 people; their names and portraits are found at JPL Negatives P-1780 - 1808.
Emmerson led the Photolab organization from 1941 throughout his professional career until 1977 when he retired as its Section Manager. By then the Photolab had become a group within Emmerson's Section 643 called Repro-Photo. This was after its taking over the responsibility for the Lab's photocopying service. For a brief time after Emmerson's retirement, R.B. Ford was Section Manager but by 1979 John C. Hewitt became Section Manager with the "Photography Group" as part of his Section. By July 1980 the Section number was changed from 643 to 642, with Hewitt remaining Section Manager until after 1993.
Emmerson, more than any other individual, created either directly or administratively the still images that are now a part of this collection. Probably it was he who first numbered and filed its photos. For over thirty-seven years he directed photographers, darkroom technicians and clerical personnel setting a pattern of quality and consistency.
The various organizations at JPL turned to the Photolab for their service needs, and since nearly all organizations needed photos at one time or another, the Photolab had professional contact with almost all parts of the Lab, as well as completing off-site assignments. The breadth of this work made for a comprehensive reflection of all JPL activity in the images created during the 1936-1986 period.
George Emmerson led the JPL Photolab from 1941 throughout his professional career until 1977 when he retired as its Section Manager. By 1977 the Photolab had become a group within Emmerson's Section 643 called Repro-Photo. Its responsibilities had come to include both photographic and photocopying services for the Laboratory. R.B. Ford followed Emmerson for a brief time; by 1979 John C. Hewitt became Section Manager with the "Photography Group" a part of Section 643. By July 1980 the Section number was changed from 643 to 642. Hewitt remained Section Manager until 1993.
Over the years various organizations at JPL turned to the Photolab for their photographic service needs. By the mid-1980's imaging services had dispersed into several venues primarily due to the development of digital imaging that did not use a traditional camera (lens, shutter, silver halide coated film). For example, spacecraft used CCD's, charge-coupled devices during distant planetary encounters to create electronic data that was assembled into images only after being radioed back to Earth. In an increasing number of instances the Photolab collection of images were generated by other than Photolab photographers on assignment.
Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system. JPL spacecraft have visited all known planets except Pluto. In addition to its work for NASA, JPL conducts tasks for a variety of other federal agencies.
JPL's main 177-acre site is at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, 12 miles northeast of Los Angeles. In addition, JPL manages the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia.
In or about June of every year on a Saturday and Sunday, JPL features its annual public Open House. The open house is held on the main site near Pasadena, California. Many of the Laboratory's scientists and engineers are on hand to answer questions about JPL's past, present and future technology. Each year, nearly 50,000 people show up with their families for this event.
Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system. JPL spacecraft have visited all known planets except Pluto. In addition to its work for NASA, JPL conducts tasks for a variety of other federal agencies.
JPL's main 177-acre site is at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, 12 miles northeast of Los Angeles. In addition, JPL manages the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia.
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