Trials and Errors #57: Are We Erasing History? A Profile of Clarence Tuska

This forum discussion is about the early experimenters in radio, and the founding of the ARRL and QST Magazine. Read the article at this link. Please, post your comments here, and they don't have to be about Clarence Tuska. Any topic related to the issues of the "Maxim Mythology" or the birth of QST would be great, thanks! Dave, W7DGJ

 

Hi Dave,

I have read about Tuska a few years ago, quite a fascinating gentleman and quite instrumental in Amateur radio history in his ideas. I think it is great you brought him to light for those that may not know who he was.

Maxim mythology, I like how you said that. If you believe ARRL history, he was the end all when it came to AR. There are many unsung individuals that furthered the pursuit of radio in major ways, such as Wes Schumm whom developed SSSC and opened up the air to a revolutionary mode at that time. Interestingly enough, he did not hold an AR licence. I think the Maxim mythology as you put it is a symbol of a larger issue that seems to be occurring with historical figures. Organisations or even modern history books seem to overlook, whether deliberately or not, people that do not fit their current vision or the way they want their history to be reflected. They may even change or distort the truth.

Rather despicable, in my opinion. The first consideration to telling history is the truth and giving credit where credit is due. Maxim was not a god or the end all, though he was a pioneer. But as is usually the case, pioneers had some or a lot of help along the way. Those individuals do not deserve to be forgotten or wiped away.

73 Dave

Tony
AA7FR

 

Hi Tony, thanks for the nice comments, which certainly fit with the topic. I agree, it's not just with the ARS, but in society so much of history is written by the PR staff as opposed to historians. Dave, W7DGJ

 

> Without the original amateur radio enthusiasts [DGJ - such as ARRL co-founder Clarence Tuska] , there would have been no need for a national organization." - Frank Howell, PhD (K4FMH)

Well, that's an odd statement, not made any less so by the appeal to authority implicit in characterizing K4FMH as a PhD. Of course there wouldn't have been a need for an organization of radio enthusiasts if no radio enthusiasts had existed. But by the mid-19teens a body of radio experimenters did preexist who to a person had experienced the spark transmission/reception techniques of the day (as used by amateurs) as affording only sub-regional communication ranges or worse. Short of someone petitioning the government to allow private stations the use of higher power than the 1-kW power input max authorized for private/experimental stations by the Radio Act of 1912, the creation of a league of radio-relaying Americans to work together in creating a network devoted to overcoming that range limitation was "a natural" -- for Maxim and Tuska, sure, but just as possibly, as likely, for someone/s else.

_ . . . _

Not that it matters, but I've seen Mr. Tuska in person. He visited ARRL HQ during my first stint there (1974-77). We staffers who turned out to greet him in the HQ lobby were very much aware that he co-founded not only the org but also helped create/start up/edit/publish QST beginning in December 1915.

Those interested in reading more of the history will enjoy QST's 25th Anniversary issue (December 1940, available in PDF form from worldradiohistory.com). Start with its editorial "Silver Anniversary," and keep right on reading. You'll soon encounter an article titled "QST's Diary, Volume I," written for that 25th-anniversary QST issue by one Clarence D. Tuska.

 

David, no appeal to authority intended. That's the signature of the author on the article from The Spectrum Monitor that Frank Howell, historian, used in his signature. I copied a quote from the article and used his name and title (PhD) as he did when he wrote it and as it was printed in that journal. I sense nothing wrong with that. With your second paragraph about meeting Mr. Tuska, I think that's cool. But, you also re-emphasize my point by taking us off the ARRL pages and to a different site entirely for an article by or about Tuska. Mr. Tuska may have been remembered in the 1970s by you and your fellow ARRL staffers at the time, but since then the PR folks have had many decades to slowly and subtly make it a one-founder organization. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Since then the current parasitic League of Radio Relaying Americans management has been decoupling the organization from control by and service to its members. "Erasing" Tuska is the least of our concerns.

 

Another good article Dave!
I don't remember if I ever knew about Mr. Tuska, or his contributions to both the ARRL and the art of radio in general.
History is full of people who worked along side the folks who got the credit, but got little themselves.

Certainly there are lots of Amateur Radio related magazines that are no more. Just as Clubs are being slowly replaced by "Groups" with no affiliations. Magazines have been replaced by a host of podcasts and YouTube videos on the subject.

"Without the original amateur radio enthusiasts, there would have been no need for a national organization." - Frank Howell, PhD (K4FMH)
This quote was tough to interpret, but I choose to read it a bit differently. If there were not Radio Enthusiasts before the Great War, and their ability to communicate impinged on by the Government who did not want to allow the public to use radio after the war, there would not have been a need for a National Organization like the ARRL.

 

Thanks for the comment, Ron. I think your interpretation of that quote is about perfect. K4FMH was concerned that history was being erased . . . There's never been much about the other early radio enthusiasts in the ARRL history. Rather a shame.

 

I find one of your post-ers is bitterly anti-ARRL. I'm just interested in the history part.

Nowadays, with the internet and AI, ghosting figures of history is un wise as the truth becomes clear with accessible fact.

I enjoyed your bio on Tuska very much. Quite the guy!

73
'Chip W1YW

 

Hi Chip, thanks for the comments. Yes, that post or two was difficult for me, as I am an ARRL member and often write supportive articles or comments about the League and I hold the moderator keys to dump nasty posts. But QRZ reflects the trend for more and more (primarily older hams) to gripe about the League. It's surprising, really. You'd think that the old timers would be aligned with the organization and it might be the young bucks who are the revolutionaries. I decided to keep it in hopes that it wouldn't start a rush of negative crap about the League and it didn't, so it stayed. Thanks for your thoughts on Tuska - I agree! Dave, W7DGJ

 

I am a LM but do not agree with the direction presently taken. However that does not work its way into posts I make... I expect the same of others, unless they have facts that illustrate something unknown.

73,
Chip W1YW

 

BTW, it seems that Tuska's 'relay' idea is the foundation for our modern day emphasis on 'meshing'. Hard to escape that likelihood

 

Reminds me of Soviet era practices. When someone fell out of grace with those in control history was rewritten and photo's were adjusted appropriately.

 

Hi Dave,
I am just catching up on my reading, and this article caught my attention. I had never heard of Tuska. It is strange that the League does not give him any credit or even remembrance of him. I wonder what he did to get in their bad graces. QST has played a cruicial role in the ARRL and amateur radio in general. My very first exposure to amateur radio was a copy of QST I checked out from the local library in about 1964. I became licensed in 1966 as a result of this exposure, among other factors.
Thank you for giving us this history! Best of Wishes.

 

Thanks Marty. Appreciate the comment, and I agree with you that we're seeing an important figure in amateur radio get "aced" out of the recognition due him at the League. I don't think he did anything to get into their bad graces, I think it was just easier to keep pushing the Maxim story exclusively. Dave, W7DGJ