Telegrapher Collection

Sender of the S. O. S. Signal for Help, (April 20), 1912. Creator: Unknown
Sender of the " S. O. S." Signal for Help, (April 20), 1912. John George Phillips (nicknamed Jack, 1887-1912) was the ships senior wireless operator who tried to save the Titanic

Telegraph lesson - crippled soldiers, 06 Feb 1919. Creator: Bain News Service
Telegraph lesson - crippled soldiers, 06 Feb 1919. Two soldiers, amputee veterans of World War I, leaning to use a telegraph at a vocational school for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital

Telegraph operator in Irkutsk, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, between 1880 and 1886. Creator: Unknown
Telegraph operator in Irkutsk, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, between 1880 and 1886. Written on verso: Telegraph operator in Irkutsk who spoke the language of Shakespeare's time

E.C. Heasley, Jules A. Rodier and Maj. Montgomery in the telegraph room in the White House... 1898
E.C. Heasley, Jules A. Rodier and Maj. Montgomery in the telegraph room in the White House, set up to receive news of the Spanish-American War, 1898

Field Telegraph, Battery Wagon, September 1864. Creator: David Knox
Field Telegraph, Battery Wagon, September 1864. [Scene from the American Civil War: covered wagon with US Military Telegraph Headquarters written on the side

The Ocean Grave of the Titanic, and photograph of Jack Phillips, April 20, 1912. Sender of the " S. O. S." Signal for Help : John George Phillips (nicknamed Jack)

A Wireless Cabin on an Atlantic Liner, 20 April, 1912. Creator: Unknown
A Wireless Cabin on an Atlantic Liner, 20 April, 1912. The White Star Line ship RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912

Telegraphists, Somme, northern France, c1914-c1918. Photograph from a series of glass plate stereoview images depicting scenes from World War I (1914-1918)

Boer Telegraphists at Tea, 1900. A photograph taken during the Siege of Kimberley, which took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa)

Transmitting a message, 1894. An operator sending a message on a Morse electric printing telegraph. From A Popular History of Science, by Robert Routledge, BSc (Lond.), F.C.S

Antonio Lopez Coloma, (1859-1896), 1920s
Antonio Lopez Coloma, born in Sabanilla in 1859, was settler and telegrapher. Had a farm in the demolished ingenio La Ignacia where he fought on the 24th of February

PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY. The Lightning Steam Press, the Electric Telegraph, the Locomotive, the Steamboat. Lithograph, 1876, by Currier & Ives

PSCI2A-00130
Alfred Vail. Hand-colored engraving of a 19th-century portrait

Optical telegraphy, 1890
Optical telegraphy. 19th-century artwork of French soldiers using optical telegraphy. One such early device was the Mangin projector, invented by a colonel Mangin in the early 1880s

CIVIL WAR: TELEGRAPHERS, 1864. Field telegraph station at Wilcoxs Landing, Virginia, during the Civil War, 1864

CIVIL WAR: TELEGRAPHERS. U. S. Army telegraph operators at City Point, Virginia, August, 1864
CIVIL WAR: TELEGRAPHERS. U.S. Army telegraph operators at City Point, Virginia, August, 1864. Photographed by Mathew Brady

CIVIL WAR: TELEGRAPH, 1863. A telegrapher of the Army of the Potomac at work: wood engraving from an 1863 Northern newspaper

MORSE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR. Line engraving, German, 19th century

TELEGRAPHY, 1873. View of the battery of the Western Union telegraph office in New York. Wood engraving, American, 1873

TELEGRAPH OFFICE in the operating room of the Western Union Company in New York City: American engraving, 1873

FEMALE TELEGRAPHER, 1873. A female telegrapher in the terminal station of a Western Union office. American engraving, 1873

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The telegrapher, a silent hero of communication, played a pivotal role in history. From the sender of the S. O. S. Signal for help on that fateful day of April 20, 1912, to the field telegraph battery wagon captured by David Knox in September 1864, their impact cannot be overstated. In the depths of the ocean lies the Titanic's final resting place, and among its crew was Jack Phillips, immortalized in a photograph taken on that same tragic day. Inside a wireless cabin aboard an Atlantic liner also stands an unknown operator tirelessly working to connect people across vast distances. During World War I in Somme, northern France, telegraphists worked diligently amidst chaos and danger to relay vital information. Even during times of conflict such as the Boer War in 1900, they found solace over tea while fulfilling their duty as skilled operators. Transmitting messages became an art form by 1894 when technology advanced further. Antonio Lopez Coloma exemplified this mastery until his untimely death in 1896 but left behind a legacy that inspired future generations. As progress surged forward throughout the century with inventions like lightning steam presses and locomotives revolutionizing society alongside electric telegraphs; it was clear that these unsung heroes were at the forefront of change. Even optical telegraphy had its moment in history around 1890 when visual signals carried important messages across great distances using light beams instead of wires or radio waves. From distress calls to wartime communications and technological advancements spanning centuries - each snapshot tells a story about those who dedicated their lives to connecting people through unseen lines. The telegraphers may have faded into obscurity over time but their contributions remain etched forever within our collective memory.