Grand Concert Sesquicentennial Electro Music by Telegraph:
On December 29, 1874, Elisha Gray (1835-1901) demonstrated the telephone, transferring synthesized music and other performances from the Presbyterian Manse to a violin at the Church..
The Highland Park Historical Society will launch its 2025 programming with a celebration of this first concert broadcast. Graciously hosted by the Presbyterian Church, the concert will take place, 7:30 PM on January 19, 2025. The Church Choir will perform selections from the original concert program, interspersed with historical presentations. Keeping with the virtual innovation theme, there will be a demonstration of telephony and electro-harmonic device (U.S. Letters Patent No. 186,340) with a replica created and presented by Oberlin Professor Emeritus Roderick Knight.
Lauded as “maker and inventor of some of the most valuable instruments now in use…” (New York Times, Friday, July 10, 1874) and unquestionably the most prolific inventor ever to make his home in Highland Park, Illinois was Elisha Gray. Gray filed with the U.S. Patent Office; February 14, 1876; the same day as Alexander Graham Bell, a caveat for an apparatus to “transmit the tones of a human voice through a telegraphic circuit,” which would become known as the telephone.
Born in Barnesville, Ohio, Gray studied at Oberlin College, where in 1866 he worked out his first great invention — the “self-adjusting relay,” an instrument regulating automatically the motions of the telegraph sounder.
He ultimately received patents for more than 70 additional inventions, including the “Telautograph,” a device, now considered a fax machine, that remotely transmitted handwriting.
Besides devoting his life to the perfection of systems of communication by electricity and founding enterprises (for example, Graybar), Gray was active in local civic activities. He served as a City Alderman (1873-1874), Presbyterian Church Elder, on public and private school boards and on professional boards, including chairman of the First World Electrical Congress at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Gray became an active and generous member of the Presbyterian Church of Highland Park. The financial crisis of 1873 had left the church owing $6,000 for its new building at Linden and Laurel. Gray personally covered that debt.
Support for this events derives from Legacy Funding from YEA! Highland Park.
We thank Highland Park Presbyterian Church (USA) for hosting this event on the grounds of the original demonstration.
Highland Park Historical Society Mission Statement: The mission of the Highland Park Historical Society is to preserve our community’s past, to inspire an appreciation of our history and culture and share with the community and scholars the rich history of Highland Park, Illinois.
Highland Park Historical Society Vision Statement: The Highland Park Historical Society will be deeply engaged in the community, with accessible and visible collections and a variety of initiatives that appeal to and connect with residents of all ages.