A recent article in The Citizen concerning Theodore Case, who is attributed with marrying sound on film, brought me back to some of my experiences at student media conventions. I was faculty advisor to The Collegian, student newspaper at Cayuga Community College, for many years. During that time I had an opportunity to attend journalism conferences with students and meet a number of other publications advisers.

I had a reoccurring conversation with one publications adviser from Illinois who insisted that sound on film actually had been the result of Lee de Forest's perfection of his Phonofilm system. Apparently, there is a museum at the University of Illinois celebrating this. However, The Citizen article notes that Fox Film Corporation in 1925 opted for Case's photoelectric cells invention which would be used two years later in “Sunrise,” the first professional feature film with a soundtrack. Who invented what may be in some contention. However, the credit for Auburn's Theodore Case in this matter is a strong one. It also has not been given the “Oscar” it deserves by showcasing this accomplishment more openly for tourists visiting our city.

Blaine Moody

Auburn