James C. Marsters
Encyclopedia
James Carlyle Marsters (April 5, 1924-July 28, 2009) was a deaf orthodontist in Pasadena, California
who in 1964 helped invent the first teletypewriter
device capable of being used with telephone
lines. The device made communication by telephone possible for the deaf. Although Robert Weitbrecht
did much of the actual design work, Marsters promoted the device's use.
to pharmaceutical executive Guy Marsters and his wife Anna Belle, a nurse. When he was very young, Marsters lost his hearing to scarlet fever
and measles
. However, he learned to speak and to read lips. He graduated from Wright Oral School for the Deaf in New York City
in 1943. It was there that he met John Tracy, the son of Spencer Tracy
. In 1947 Marsters received a chemistry
degree from Union College
in Schenectady, New York
.
Marsters married Joan Tausik, an artist who was also deaf (they later divorced), and went to work in her father's tie
factory. It was Tausik's father who suggested he should become a dentist
. Though Marsters' test scores were high, dental schools rejected him because of his deafness. After two and a half years of applying, New York University
agreed to admit him on a provisional basis with the understanding that he would receive no special assistance. He graduated in 1952. He used to claim he could hear some, to help calm the fears of some of his dental school professors. He also flew an airplane between two cities where he practiced, and he would claim his radio wasn't working right and ask air traffic controller
s to use lights to guide him.
John Tracy, whose name is on a Los Angeles
clinic
for hearing-impaired children encouraged Marsters to become an orthodontist, and in 1954, after studies at USC
, he began his Pasadena practice. Soon after that, he married Alice Amelia Dorsey, the director of the clinic at John Tracy Clinic's preschool.
Marsters had three children—James Marsters Jr., a chemist
; Jean Marsters, a doctor; and Guy Marsters, a musician. Alice died in 2003. The couple had two grandchildren.
Marsters died July 28, 2009 of a heart ailment.
, after which he would reply on the telephone. At the time, there was a TTY network for business, but it was too expensive for individuals. Marsters approached Robert Weitbrecht
a deaf physicist of Stanford Research Institute and suggested he look into creating a device that would allow the deaf to communicate with teletypewriters across the phone lines.
Weitbrecht believed an acoustic coupler
(now known as a modem
) could be used to convert electrical signals into tones that could be sent through wires. On the receiving end, the tones changed back to electrical signals so the message could be printed. After communicating with Marsters, Weitbrecht developed an echo suppressing
acoustic coupler in November 1963 for the purpose of using on TTY devices. They obtained old, salvaged teletypewriters machines from Western Union
and the Defense Department and hooked them up to Weitbrecht's prototype modems.
In 1964, Weitbrecht succeeded in using the device to make a long-distance telephone call, to Marsters. It took several tries, until Weitbrecht's words appeared clearly: "Are you printing me now? Let's quit for now and gloat over the success." Together with engineer Andrew Saks
(also deaf), whose grandfather started Saks Fifth Avenue
, Marsters and Weitbrecht created The Applied Communications Corporation of Belmont, California
to manufacture the modem. Marsters persuaded deaf people to try the new device, using donated teletypewriters which deaf volunteers fixed up, delivered and installed in deaf homes. He also went to hospital
s and fire departments, asking them to install the devices for emergency communication. Jean Marsters, his daughter, said her father "was the public speaker, the can-do man who wouldn't take no for an answer."
Before this could be done, the telephone company had to agree to allow the use of the device across the telephone lines. At that time the phone company owned the phone lines and all telephones (which were rented to consumers), and they opposed this new technology. Bill Saks, Andrew's son, said
required AT&T
to allow the use of the devices provided they did not cause problems to the phone company's operations. This removed the last obstacle to what became a deaf telecommunications revolution.
According to Harry G. Lang, a professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf
in Rochester, New York
, "It was a technological declaration of independence for deaf people." Marsters' son Jim Marsters Jr. said that his father was modest, claiming, "The glory is not mine. It was an effort of many." RIT
gave Marsters an honorary doctorate in 1996 and put Marsters' modem used for that first TTY call on display at Wallace Memorial Library. Marsters served on NTID's advisory board and, in 2000, established a scholarship
for persons with hearing impairment
.
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.
(TDI) began awarding the James C. Marsters Promotion Award for those who helped provide access for those with disabilities.
The number of TTY devices increased from 18 in 1966, author Karen Peltz Strauss said, to 30,000 40 years later. The Internet
probably resulted in a decline in the devices' use after a peak in the 1990s, she said.
TTY's could only communicate with other TTY's until the late 1960s when Marsters and Saks developed the idea of having phone company operators take TTY message and relay them by voice to hearing phones, and vice-versa. One early attempt at this did not last because of the cost and the noise the machines made, but the concept led to a requirement of a similar service in the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 which is available nationwide today.
The Internet
has replaced the TTY for the most part, but emergency services continue to use it.
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
who in 1964 helped invent the first teletypewriter
Telecommunications device for the deaf
A telecommunications device for the deaf is a teleprinter, an electronic device for text communication over a telephone line, that is designed for use by persons with hearing or speech difficulties...
device capable of being used with telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
lines. The device made communication by telephone possible for the deaf. Although Robert Weitbrecht
Robert Weitbrecht
Robert Haig Weitbrecht was born in Orange, California in 1920. He was born deaf and his education was mainstream for the most part with the exception of acquiring some signing and lip-reading skills from a deaf school early on. He went on to earn a B.S. in Astronomy from the University of...
did much of the actual design work, Marsters promoted the device's use.
Early life, career and family
Marsters was born April 5, 1924 in Norwich, New YorkNorwich (city), New York
Norwich is a city in Chenango County, New York, United States. Surrounded on all sides by the Town of Norwich, the city is the county seat of Chenango County. The name is taken from Norwich, Connecticut. Its population was 7,355 at the 2000 census.Lt...
to pharmaceutical executive Guy Marsters and his wife Anna Belle, a nurse. When he was very young, Marsters lost his hearing to scarlet fever
Scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
and measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
. However, he learned to speak and to read lips. He graduated from Wright Oral School for the Deaf in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1943. It was there that he met John Tracy, the son of Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
. In 1947 Marsters received a chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
degree from Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
in Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
.
Marsters married Joan Tausik, an artist who was also deaf (they later divorced), and went to work in her father's tie
Necktie
A necktie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the ascot tie, bow tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck...
factory. It was Tausik's father who suggested he should become a dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
. Though Marsters' test scores were high, dental schools rejected him because of his deafness. After two and a half years of applying, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
agreed to admit him on a provisional basis with the understanding that he would receive no special assistance. He graduated in 1952. He used to claim he could hear some, to help calm the fears of some of his dental school professors. He also flew an airplane between two cities where he practiced, and he would claim his radio wasn't working right and ask air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
s to use lights to guide him.
John Tracy, whose name is on a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
clinic
John Tracy Clinic
John Tracy Clinic is a private, non-profit education center for infants and preschool children with hearing loss in Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded by Louise Treadwell Tracy, wife of actor Spencer Tracy, in 1942. It provides free, parent-centered services worldwide...
for hearing-impaired children encouraged Marsters to become an orthodontist, and in 1954, after studies at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, he began his Pasadena practice. Soon after that, he married Alice Amelia Dorsey, the director of the clinic at John Tracy Clinic's preschool.
Marsters had three children—James Marsters Jr., a chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
; Jean Marsters, a doctor; and Guy Marsters, a musician. Alice died in 2003. The couple had two grandchildren.
Marsters died July 28, 2009 of a heart ailment.
Role in developing the Teletypewriter
When Marsters received a phone call, he depended on others to answer the phone and mouth the words to him so he could read lipsLip reading
Lip reading, also known as lipreading or speechreading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face and tongue with information provided by the context, language, and any residual hearing....
, after which he would reply on the telephone. At the time, there was a TTY network for business, but it was too expensive for individuals. Marsters approached Robert Weitbrecht
Robert Weitbrecht
Robert Haig Weitbrecht was born in Orange, California in 1920. He was born deaf and his education was mainstream for the most part with the exception of acquiring some signing and lip-reading skills from a deaf school early on. He went on to earn a B.S. in Astronomy from the University of...
a deaf physicist of Stanford Research Institute and suggested he look into creating a device that would allow the deaf to communicate with teletypewriters across the phone lines.
Weitbrecht believed an acoustic coupler
Acoustic coupler
In telecommunications, the term acoustic coupler has the following meanings:# An interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone instrument....
(now known as a modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
) could be used to convert electrical signals into tones that could be sent through wires. On the receiving end, the tones changed back to electrical signals so the message could be printed. After communicating with Marsters, Weitbrecht developed an echo suppressing
Echo suppressor
An echo suppressor is a telecommunications device used to reduce the echo heard on long telephone circuits, particularly circuits that traverse satellite links...
acoustic coupler in November 1963 for the purpose of using on TTY devices. They obtained old, salvaged teletypewriters machines from Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
and the Defense Department and hooked them up to Weitbrecht's prototype modems.
In 1964, Weitbrecht succeeded in using the device to make a long-distance telephone call, to Marsters. It took several tries, until Weitbrecht's words appeared clearly: "Are you printing me now? Let's quit for now and gloat over the success." Together with engineer Andrew Saks
Andrew Saks
Andrew Saks was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Washington, D.C., to make his fortune. He established a successful clothing business in 1867, and opened a store in New York on 34th Street in 1902 as Saks & Company. Andrew Saks ran the New York store as a family affair with his brother...
(also deaf), whose grandfather started Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Marsters and Weitbrecht created The Applied Communications Corporation of Belmont, California
Belmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
to manufacture the modem. Marsters persuaded deaf people to try the new device, using donated teletypewriters which deaf volunteers fixed up, delivered and installed in deaf homes. He also went to hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s and fire departments, asking them to install the devices for emergency communication. Jean Marsters, his daughter, said her father "was the public speaker, the can-do man who wouldn't take no for an answer."
Before this could be done, the telephone company had to agree to allow the use of the device across the telephone lines. At that time the phone company owned the phone lines and all telephones (which were rented to consumers), and they opposed this new technology. Bill Saks, Andrew's son, said
"people don't realize it, but Ma Bell had absolute control over how her instruments were used, and there were draconian consequences for . . . attaching anything to their devices. The phone companies were the Goliaths. Those three gentlemen were the Davids."Marsters and other deaf advocates had to go to Washington to lobby for TTY communication to become legalized.Four years later in 1968, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
required AT&T
American Telephone & Telegraph
AT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
to allow the use of the devices provided they did not cause problems to the phone company's operations. This removed the last obstacle to what became a deaf telecommunications revolution.
According to Harry G. Lang, a professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing...
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, "It was a technological declaration of independence for deaf people." Marsters' son Jim Marsters Jr. said that his father was modest, claiming, "The glory is not mine. It was an effort of many." RIT
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
gave Marsters an honorary doctorate in 1996 and put Marsters' modem used for that first TTY call on display at Wallace Memorial Library. Marsters served on NTID's advisory board and, in 2000, established a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
for persons with hearing impairment
Hearing impairment
-Definition:Deafness is the inability for the ear to interpret certain or all frequencies of sound.-Environmental Situations:Deafness can be caused by environmental situations such as noise, trauma, or other ear defections...
.
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.
Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc.
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland and was founded in 1968. Its original purpose was to promote widespread distribution of Telecommunications device for the deaf and publish a telephone directory of those that used TTY...
(TDI) began awarding the James C. Marsters Promotion Award for those who helped provide access for those with disabilities.
The number of TTY devices increased from 18 in 1966, author Karen Peltz Strauss said, to 30,000 40 years later. The Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
probably resulted in a decline in the devices' use after a peak in the 1990s, she said.
TTY's could only communicate with other TTY's until the late 1960s when Marsters and Saks developed the idea of having phone company operators take TTY message and relay them by voice to hearing phones, and vice-versa. One early attempt at this did not last because of the cost and the noise the machines made, but the concept led to a requirement of a similar service in the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 which is available nationwide today.
The Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
has replaced the TTY for the most part, but emergency services continue to use it.