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Kahlson, William (1902 (date of birth) - 1983 (date of death))

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1902 (date of birth) - 1983 (date of death) - 1983

Biography

William Kahlson was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1902. His family moved to Sweden, and Kahlson immigrated to the United States in 1920. He returned to Sweden to pursue a university education, earning a degree in chemical engineering from Chalmers University. He was also an amateur wrestler, and he won the Swedish middleweight wrestling championship in 1923.

He returned to the United States and began working as a physicist for General Electric (G.E.) Company in Niles, Ohio, in 1925. He married Ruth M. Edelberg in 1926, and the couple had twin sons. He then became the plant manager of the G.E. Pitney Glass Works in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1931. There he oversaw the implementation of G.E.’s first Corning Glass Ribbon Machine to produce light bulbs. Kahlson managed the plant until his retirement in 1965; he died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1983.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

William Kahlson Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0231
Scope and Contents This small collection documents the life and career of William S. Kahlson, the General Electric (G.E.) Company Pitney Glass Works plant manager from 1931 to 1965. Of particular interest to glass manufacturing technology researchers are the photographs of G.E. light bulb production after installation of the Corning Glass Ribbon Machine. The photographs depict facilities and machinery, as well as men and women at work producing light bulbs. Post-1940 photographs depict an integrated...
Dates: Circa 1925-2001