Skip to main content

Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher

 Collection — Folder: 1
Identifier: UA OH 6

Scope and Contents

Interview by Hollis Scott with Harvey Fletcher, scientist and teacher, concerning his experiences in Provo, Utah, as a graduate student at the University of Chicago, as a teacher at Brigham Young University, and as a bishop and stake president in the New York Stake. Includes sound recording.

Dates

  • 1968

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

Harvey Fletcher (1884-1981) was a prominent physicist, reknowned as the Father of stereophonic sound, credited with inventing the hearing aid and the first audiometer, Director of Research at Bell Laboratories, and Founding Dean of the College of Engineering at Brigham Young University.

Harvey Fletcher was a prominent physicist, reknowned as the Father of stereophonic sound, credited with inventing the hearing aid and the first audiometer, Director of Research at Bell Laboratories, and Founding Dean of the College of Engineering at Brigham Young University. He was the graduate student whose dissertation research was the oil drop experiment to measure the charge on an electron, under the direction of Robert Millikan. His honorary positions included President of the Acoustical Society of America and President of the American Physical Society. In addition, he was a faithful father, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a dedicated gardener, and a fishing enthusiast.

He was born in Provo, Utah, on September 11, 1884. His first wife (Lorena Chipman) was American Mother of the Year in 1965. She passed away in 1967. Harvey and Lorena had 7 children (Phyllis, Steve, Charles, James, Robert, Harvey Junior, and Paul).

In his later years, Harvey married Lorena's sister, Fern Chipman Eyring. Fern's husband (Carl Eyring) passed away as a young scientist, and Harvey and Fern were married for 12 years until Harvey's death in 1981.

Extent

1 folder (0.1 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Appraisal

University history (University Archives collecting policy, February 2010).

General

Recorded in Provo, Utah.

Title
Register of Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher
Status
Completed
Author
Jennifer Kim
Date
2011 August 22
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections. University Archives Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo UT 84602 US