Charlie Adams—Living Dayton’s History
Kettering told me, “Don’t always believe everything you see firsthand. You have to look up the background.”
—Charles O. Adams
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Charles Otterbein Adams lived Dayton history all his long life. Locally famous as one of the “Flood Twins” — survivors of the 1913 Dayton flood — Charlie encountered Dayton greats like Charles Kettering, and became an innovator in his own right. A member of the Engineers Club of Dayton from 1937 until his death in 2011, Charlie Adams was its oldest living member.
Charlie Adams recalls electric cars in 1920’s Dayton, memories of the Barn Gang and Delco, an airplane ride at Deeds Farm, and a lesson learned from Charles Kettering. Photos include a 1919 Detroit electric car charging, and the Dayton-Wright OW-1 Aerial Coupe . Charlie Adams’ memory of the early electric cars lead to his lifelong passion for electric vehicles. The OW-1 was the airplane in which Charlie rode around Deeds’ Farm and Delco Dell as a child of 12. The OW-1 Aerial Coupe was the first closed cabin aircraft in Dayton, and Orville Wright’s last design.
Oral History Transcript (PDF)
Video Credits
Oral History Transcript (PDF)
Video Credits
Charles Otterbein Adams lived Dayton history all his long life. The many resources on this website, many of them written by Charlie himself, give lively insights into how he survived the 1913 Dayton flood, and encountered Dayton greats like Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds. Charlie Adams became an innovator himself, earning his own patents and designing industrial production lines.
Electric vehicles were a reality of Charlie’s youth, and in retirement he helped bring attention back to this promising technology. Well into his 80s, Charlie organized a multi-year series of symposiums on Electric Cars and Alternate Fuel Vehicles in the mid-90s. Included here is a 2001 presentation on Fuel Cells that Charlie gave to the Engineers Club of Dayton, as well as his recollections of the work at Delco during World War II.
At 98 years young in 2010, Charlie Adams continued to educate us about Dayton’s history as he remembered it.
Electric vehicles were a reality of Charlie’s youth, and in retirement he helped bring attention back to this promising technology. Well into his 80s, Charlie organized a multi-year series of symposiums on Electric Cars and Alternate Fuel Vehicles in the mid-90s. Included here is a 2001 presentation on Fuel Cells that Charlie gave to the Engineers Club of Dayton, as well as his recollections of the work at Delco during World War II.
At 98 years young in 2010, Charlie Adams continued to educate us about Dayton’s history as he remembered it.
The Flood Twins
“The boat capsized, throwing all of us into the cold, muddy water. Mother cried out she was drowning, and lost her hold on me. Dad attempted to help Mother. In doing this, he somehow lost his hold on Lois. She was washed, by herself, on down the rushing floodwaters. Mother lost me, and we followed Lois down the flooded street. Dad spent the whole night thinking that Mother, Lois, and I had been drowned in the turbulent, muddy floodwaters."
Reminiscences
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Related
- Valley of the Giants — Charles Otterbein Adams
- Charles Otterbein Adams—Oral History Transcript (PDF)
- Reminiscences — John H. Patterson, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Edward A. Deeds, Arthur Morgan, and Charles F Kettering
- The Home Front — The Role of Delco in WWII
- My Life's Work — Delco Products, Jack & Heinz, and National Electric Welding Machines Company (Newcor)
- Highlights — 70 Years at the Engineers Club of Dayton
- The Second Barn Gang — Luncheon at the Engineers Club of Dayton
- Dayton Flood Twins and Miami Valley —Autobiographical Account
- Dayton Flood Twins — Reprint from 1914
- Fuel Cells — 2001 Presentation
- Recollections of Decades Past — Engineers Club of Dayton
- Patent for a Laminated Structure
- Patent for a Method and Apparatus for Fabricating a Hinged Mat
- Charles O. Adams — Curriculum Vitae
- Charles O. Adams — Oral History Transcript
- 1611 Emerson Place, “Dayton will arise to flourish” A first hand account of the 1913 flood by John M. McPherson, who was working at NCR at the time of the flood.
Dayton Innovation Legacy is a multimedia website and educational resource about Engineers Club of Dayton members who represent a living history of innovation for over 100 years. Dayton Innovation Legacy was made possible in part by the Ohio Humanities Council, a State affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. |