One hundred years ago this month, the May 1915 issue of Wireless Age carried this photo of the station of Miss Cecil Powell, 1WX, of Hartford, Connecticut. She owned and operated this 1/4 kW station, and the article notes that she had passed the First Grade Amateur License and was working on the First Grade Commercial License. She was said to be the “only girl wireless operator in Connecticut.”
The accompanying article is written by Miss Powell, who explains that she was a stenographer employed by an inventor, but doesn’t name the inventor. The inventor, it turned out, was Hiram Percy Maxim. She notes that her employer had a station, and that she enjoyed listening to his discussions of the radio art. Maxim and a friend asked if she would like to be the owner of her own station, and she answered in the affirmative. She describes the station and antennas.
Miss Powell, with the encouragement of Maxim and his wife, conducted classes for other women interested in wireless, and every one of her students went on to pass the license exam.
Over the years, Miss Powell served as an officer of some of Maxim’s companies, such as the Maxim Silencer Company. I didn’t find any references to her in QST, other than as the notary in one of the statements of circulation.
References
- Radio Cultures: The Sound Medium in American Life by Michael C. Keith.
- Modern Mechanics, 1915
- dokufunk.org
- 1916 Callbook Listing
Click Here For Today’s Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Cartoon 