Case Research Lab

Behind the Cayuga Museum stands the Case Research Lab, the Birthplace of Sound Film!

Theodore Willard Case was born in 1888 into a house of wealth and scholarship.  His father Willard Case (1857-1918) was fascinated with the budding field of electricity, and Theodore inherited this love of science.  Ted graduated from Yale in 1912 and in 1914 he and Willard began setting up laboratories in the basement of their homes at 196 Genesee Street and Casowasco, the Case family estate on Owasco Lake.

Willard Case inherited the Willard estate at 203 Genesee Street in 1916.  He remained at 196 Genesee Street, and Theodore moved into the Willard home.  Willard and Theodore converted a greenhouse into a scientific laboratory the same year. They called the enterprise the Case Research Lab (CRL) and hired Earl Sponable as an assistant.

The Case Research Lab exhibits the working spaces of the darkroom, chemistry lab, and recording studio; the first sound camera; experimental recording equipment; and a history of the commercialization of sound film including such ventures as Phonofilms, Fox-Case Movietone, and Fox Films (now 20th Century Studios under the Walt Disney Company).

The Case Research Lab collection contains the equipment, complete lab notebooks, volumes of technical drawings and photographs, extensive business and personal correspondence, manuscripts and reports, patents, receipts, and scrapbooks spanning the 18 year history of the Lab.  The collection also includes archival materials from Earl Sponable, which were donated to the Cayuga Museum by his daughter, Catherine “Mimo” Sponable, in the 1990s.

Abbreviated Timeline of the Case Research Lab

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February 12, 1888

“Ted Case born in Auburn, New York”

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1912

“Case graduates from Yale University”

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1916

“Willard Case, inherits mansion at 203 Genesee Street. Ted moves in, and he and his father convert a greenhouse into a scientific laboratory: the “Case Research Lab.” First employees, Blin Cushman and Earl Sponable, hired.”

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1917

“The U.S. enters WWI. The Lab works with the U.S. Navy during WWI to develop an infrared signaling system utilizing the lab’s photoelectric cells. ”

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1918

“Ted Case and Alice Gertrude Eldred, a laboratorian and glassblower at the lab, married. Beginning of the 1918 Flu Pandemic, resulting in 25-50 million deaths worldwide. Willard Case is one of the casualties.”

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1922

“The Case Lab develops the AEO Light and tests it on December 14, 1922. They record “hello” onto a film strip and realize they have created the most successful sound film recording to date.”

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1924

“Ted Case, Earl Sponable, Blin Cushman, and Dwight Eldred travel to Washington D.C. to meet up with fellow scientist Lee De Forest to film president Calvin Coolidge, creating the first sound film of a US President.”

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1926

“Case partners with William Fox of the Fox Corporation in New York City, forming the Fox-Case Corporation. From this point on, Case's sound-on-film system goes by the name “Movietone” and begins filming newsreels across the world. ”

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1927

“Fox produces the first feature length sound-on-film movie, “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans." The film goes on to win three academy awards in the first year of the ceremony.”

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1929

“Case parts ways with Fox, selling his shares in the company and the rights to his film system patents. Not long after this the stock market crashes and the country descends into the Great Depression. ”

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1936

“Case meets a group of locals, led by Walter Long, looking for a home for Auburn's first art museum. Case sells them the Willard-Case mansion for $1, marking the creation of the Cayuga Museum of History & Art. Following this, Case builds a new mansion in Auburn on South St. which remains the largest private residence in Auburn. ”

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1941

“Case ceases work at the Lab and gives the rest of the property, including his research notebooks and equipment, to the Museum. Case moves into his family's Summer home, "Casowasco." The South St. mansion is given to the City of Auburn. ”

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1944

“Theodore Case dies on May 13, 1944 at the age of 55.”

Check out some of the earliest sound films ever created! All of these short acts were made onsite by inventor Theodore Case. You may recognize the last video, Gus Visser and His Singing Duck, from the earliest days of YouTube.

Explore the History of the Case Lab Further

In 2022, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the technology that made sound film possible. As a part of this celebration, we took an in-depth digital dive in to the story of the Case Lab. Take a deeper look into this story!

Learn More

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