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Highlights from my 70 years at the Engineers Club of Dayton
By Charles Otterbein. Adams
NOTE: Mentions of images are preserved for archival purposes. However, the original images are missing.
Ivory Room of the Engineers Club, ca. 1930s
This is about the highlights from my 70 years of membership in the Engineers Club of Dayton. First I will show you a brief video of the early years of the Club. I would like you to see and hear Charles F. Kettering, Col. Edward A. Deeds and Orville Wright. They will be in the Library. [Link to Video] You will also see the Ivory Room, now the Wright Room. I want you to see the pool tables, as that is another highlight in my early years. The Ivory Room got its name from the huge tusks on either side of the fireplace. I understand they were from an elephant shot by Col. Deeds.
I joined the Engineers Club September 8, 1937. I was working at Delco Products in the Process Engineering Department. Several of us belonged to the Club. We would rush to the Club at noon, grab a bite to eat in the dining room, and go to the Ivory Room. There we would spend about 20 minutes playing billiards. Several older members had a lock on the pool tables. Woe betide anybody else trying to use the pool tables.
I have to mention my work again for several reasons. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, I was working at Delco on a large drafting board designing large special machines. Milt Feldstein, Master Mechanic, came to my board one morning and said the engineer processing resistance welding machines, suddenly left for California without giving prior notice. Milt said that since I was the only Electrical Engineer in the department, I was elected to be the Welding Engineer. Here is my Professional Engineers plaque in the branch of Electrical Engineer. I spent many hours in the Library of the Engineers Club reviewing our electrical engineering texts, and catching up to date on circuitry and parts in Resistance Welding Controls. This was the start of my career in the welding industry.
I have forgotten the specific date, but early on, the Board of Governors decided to build an adjacent building, for the primary purpose of having a place to bring students to hold engineering meetings and meet older engineers. You can see from my name on the plaque on the wall in this building, that I was one of the major contributors to the cost of this building. Several of us were really upset when the Board decided and did sell this building to the Wright State University Medical Department. This is a recent picture of that building.
While taking that picture, I was close to another highpoint in my 70 years. This is a picture of the aluminum sculpture of the Wright B Flyer with Orville aboard, mounted on a pylon with Wilbur running alongside, now between the Wright State building and the Engineers Club. I had nothing to do with this sculpture being put there. It is great that it is there, and will be even better after the bigger one is mounted on a higher stand at the intersection of I-70 and 1-75.
I spent a lot of time on the Library Committee of the Club. At one time, the technical book explosion took place. We were not able to keep pace with all the books coming out. We had to let our librarian go, I was asked to see if we should get rid of some of our older books. Together our committee determined what we should dispose of. I knew Dr. Ed Garten, Director of Libraries at the University of Dayton. He was happy to take these to augment what they have, as seen here. Now our members have to depend on computers and the Public Library.
Engineers Club Library from a 1964 brochure
Chuck Dempsey was the prime mover in converting the Ivory Room to the Wright Room. The Reception and Dedication of the Wright Room was held November 18, 1988. It contained a sculpture of Orville Wright by Chuck Dempsey, and other Wright Brothers artifacts. Chuck made a small model of the Wright B Flyer, and hung it from the ceiling. It has been missing since the building was refurbished. The dedication notice is shown here.
In 1972, the Engineers Club Foundation was established to assist the Engineers Club to carry the Club’s heritage forward through programs that encourage young people to choose engineering and science careers. I was on the Foundation Board of Trustees. In 1993, the foundation gave a sizable grant to J.E. Prass Elementary School in Kettering to help establish a science laboratory. Here is a picture of students in that Laboratory.
In 1992, Tom Sheets, Chuck Dempsey, Wilson Charbonneaux, and I started the present Barn Gang. I think it was Tom Sheets idea. He was Protocol Officer retired from WP AFB. He is a great idea man. As you will hear later, the Wright B Flyer “Look-a-like” was his idea. As you know, the name "Barn Gang" is a throwback to Kettering and Deeds “Barn Gang,” so called because they developed the ignition system and self-starter in Col. Deeds barn behind his home on Central Avenue in Dayton.
In 1993, General Motors and the Department of Energy sponsored a competition to help promote the electric car. That is one of my main interests. So I got a group from the Barn Gang to enter this competition. It required a large board on which we had to list and show our ideas about promoting the use of electric cars. This is a picture of the board we submitted. Chuck Dempsey and I did most of the work on preparing and submitting our entry. Electric cars at that time had a maximum distance of about 50 miles per charge. We drew a map of Dayton with a 25-mile radius, showed a means of recharging automatically, and travels inside department stores. The judges were artists, so we didn't win anything. But we learned a lot.
On May 3, 1994, the Barn Gang made a trip to Wright State University to see the electric racecar the students were building. This is a picture of some of our group surrounding the unfinished car. I saw this car race other schools’ cars on a track at Indianapolis. It was a little strange watching these cars going around the track without making any noise.
GM EV-1 Wikipedia ca. 1995
Go to Page 2>>
NOTE: Mentions of images are preserved for archival purposes. However, the original images are missing.
Ivory Room of the Engineers Club, ca. 1930s
This is about the highlights from my 70 years of membership in the Engineers Club of Dayton. First I will show you a brief video of the early years of the Club. I would like you to see and hear Charles F. Kettering, Col. Edward A. Deeds and Orville Wright. They will be in the Library. [Link to Video] You will also see the Ivory Room, now the Wright Room. I want you to see the pool tables, as that is another highlight in my early years. The Ivory Room got its name from the huge tusks on either side of the fireplace. I understand they were from an elephant shot by Col. Deeds.
I joined the Engineers Club September 8, 1937. I was working at Delco Products in the Process Engineering Department. Several of us belonged to the Club. We would rush to the Club at noon, grab a bite to eat in the dining room, and go to the Ivory Room. There we would spend about 20 minutes playing billiards. Several older members had a lock on the pool tables. Woe betide anybody else trying to use the pool tables.
I have to mention my work again for several reasons. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, I was working at Delco on a large drafting board designing large special machines. Milt Feldstein, Master Mechanic, came to my board one morning and said the engineer processing resistance welding machines, suddenly left for California without giving prior notice. Milt said that since I was the only Electrical Engineer in the department, I was elected to be the Welding Engineer. Here is my Professional Engineers plaque in the branch of Electrical Engineer. I spent many hours in the Library of the Engineers Club reviewing our electrical engineering texts, and catching up to date on circuitry and parts in Resistance Welding Controls. This was the start of my career in the welding industry.
I have forgotten the specific date, but early on, the Board of Governors decided to build an adjacent building, for the primary purpose of having a place to bring students to hold engineering meetings and meet older engineers. You can see from my name on the plaque on the wall in this building, that I was one of the major contributors to the cost of this building. Several of us were really upset when the Board decided and did sell this building to the Wright State University Medical Department. This is a recent picture of that building.
While taking that picture, I was close to another highpoint in my 70 years. This is a picture of the aluminum sculpture of the Wright B Flyer with Orville aboard, mounted on a pylon with Wilbur running alongside, now between the Wright State building and the Engineers Club. I had nothing to do with this sculpture being put there. It is great that it is there, and will be even better after the bigger one is mounted on a higher stand at the intersection of I-70 and 1-75.
I spent a lot of time on the Library Committee of the Club. At one time, the technical book explosion took place. We were not able to keep pace with all the books coming out. We had to let our librarian go, I was asked to see if we should get rid of some of our older books. Together our committee determined what we should dispose of. I knew Dr. Ed Garten, Director of Libraries at the University of Dayton. He was happy to take these to augment what they have, as seen here. Now our members have to depend on computers and the Public Library.
Engineers Club Library from a 1964 brochure
Chuck Dempsey was the prime mover in converting the Ivory Room to the Wright Room. The Reception and Dedication of the Wright Room was held November 18, 1988. It contained a sculpture of Orville Wright by Chuck Dempsey, and other Wright Brothers artifacts. Chuck made a small model of the Wright B Flyer, and hung it from the ceiling. It has been missing since the building was refurbished. The dedication notice is shown here.
In 1972, the Engineers Club Foundation was established to assist the Engineers Club to carry the Club’s heritage forward through programs that encourage young people to choose engineering and science careers. I was on the Foundation Board of Trustees. In 1993, the foundation gave a sizable grant to J.E. Prass Elementary School in Kettering to help establish a science laboratory. Here is a picture of students in that Laboratory.
In 1992, Tom Sheets, Chuck Dempsey, Wilson Charbonneaux, and I started the present Barn Gang. I think it was Tom Sheets idea. He was Protocol Officer retired from WP AFB. He is a great idea man. As you will hear later, the Wright B Flyer “Look-a-like” was his idea. As you know, the name "Barn Gang" is a throwback to Kettering and Deeds “Barn Gang,” so called because they developed the ignition system and self-starter in Col. Deeds barn behind his home on Central Avenue in Dayton.
In 1993, General Motors and the Department of Energy sponsored a competition to help promote the electric car. That is one of my main interests. So I got a group from the Barn Gang to enter this competition. It required a large board on which we had to list and show our ideas about promoting the use of electric cars. This is a picture of the board we submitted. Chuck Dempsey and I did most of the work on preparing and submitting our entry. Electric cars at that time had a maximum distance of about 50 miles per charge. We drew a map of Dayton with a 25-mile radius, showed a means of recharging automatically, and travels inside department stores. The judges were artists, so we didn't win anything. But we learned a lot.
On May 3, 1994, the Barn Gang made a trip to Wright State University to see the electric racecar the students were building. This is a picture of some of our group surrounding the unfinished car. I saw this car race other schools’ cars on a track at Indianapolis. It was a little strange watching these cars going around the track without making any noise.
GM EV-1 Wikipedia ca. 1995
Go to Page 2>>