Dr. Lee Gray
Dr. Lee Gray, professor of Architectural History and senior associate dean of the College of Arts + Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has written more than 200 monthly articles on the history of vertical transportation (VT) for ELEVATOR WORLD since 2003. He is also the author of From Ascending Rooms to Express Elevators: A History of the Passenger Elevator in the 19th Century. He also serves as curator of theelevatormuseum.org, created by Elevator World, Inc.
1927 Smith, Major & Stevens Specification & Tender (Part 1)
A look at the firm’s origins leading up to 1927 The survival of a 1927 specification and tender for an electric goods lift, prepared by Smith, Major & Stevens, Ltd....
Fred A. Annett’s Electric Elevators (1927) Conclusion
A look at contributions made to the book In the introduction to Electric Elevators: Their Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance by Fred A. Annett (published by McGraw-Hill in 1927), the...
The National Association of Elevator Contractors 1950-1974: Building Community
An association is born. The founders of the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) faced a vertical-transportation (VT) industry dominated by the big two — Otis and Westinghouse — which...
Safety Appliances for Lifts: 1895(Part 3)
This conclusion to the three-part series examines the audience’s commentary on Umney’s paper on lift safeties. On 10 June 1895, Herbert W. Umney (1870-1958) presented an illustrated paper on lift...
Fred A. Annett’s Electric Elevators (1927): Part 1
A critical turning point in American VT technical literature In September 1927, the Journal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers published a brief review of a recently published book...
ELEVATOR WORLD’s Golden Anniversary
The publication’s 50th year is marked by reorganization and expansion. ELEVATOR WORLD’s Golden Anniversary was celebrated over a two-year period. 2002 was technically EW’s 50th year of publication, and each...
The Origin of the Safety Plank
Cyrus W. Baldwin was the first to introduce the VT community — at home and abroad — to this concept. The successful debut of Elisha Otis’ improved safety device in...
Safety Appliances for Lifts: 1895 (Part 2)
A look at the contents of Umney’s paper on lift safeties On 10 June 1895, Herbert W. Umney (1870-1958) presented an illustrated paper on lift safeties to the Society of...
The History of Operatorless Elevators: Traffic Control Systems (Part Two)
by Dr. Lee Gray, EW Correspondent The design team that introduced one of the first automatic elevator traffic control systems included Otis engineers David L. Lindquist, Edward L. Dunn and...
Elevator World: 1993
A look at EW’s 40th year ELEVATOR WORLD began its 40th year with founder William C. Sturgeon recalling the magazine’s beginning: “In early 1953 everything depended upon the response from...
