Down to the Wire: Telegrams in the Archives
Long before FaceTime, long even before landline telephones, the primary mode of long-distance communication was the telegraph. You could send and receive telegrams, which were transmitted electronically via Morse Code and then transcribed onto paper. First debuted by inventor Samuel Morse in January 1838, this technology revolutionized how we relay messages forever. This week, we dive into the telegraph’s origins and peruse some of the most important telegrams that reside in the holdings of the National Archives.
Morse did not initially set out to become an inventor. In fact, he spent his early career traveling between the U.S. and France as a painter. When he found his passion for inventing in his 40s, he was particularly intrigued by the potential of the relatively new electromagnet.
After bringing on two associates—Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail—Morse began developing the telegraph in earnest. In front of an audience at Speedwell Ironworks in New Jersey in January 1838, the inventors showcased their revolutionary feat: transmitting a message via two miles of wire through a series of dots and dashes. Five short years later, Morse persuaded Congress to establish the first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. In 1844, Morse successfully sent the first official telegram via the wire, which read “What hath God wrought." By 1846, Morse’s telegraph was fully patented.
After Morse’s machine received its patent, private companies across the country began establishing long-distance lines of their own. One of these companies, Western Union, built the first transcontinental wire in 1861.
Military, government, and business leaders swiftly adopted the telegraph as the official long-distance method of communication in the U.S. The onset of the Civil War was pivotal in the expansion and legitimization of the system. Several key telegrams sent during the Civil War, now housed in the National Archives, show how integral the system was for relaying critical messages, such as General William T. Sherman’s message alerting President Lincoln to the surrender of Savannah as a “Christmas gift.”
Currently on view in The American Story is an urgent telegram from Captain Charles Sigsbee, Commander of the USS Maine, to the Secretary of the Navy. The attack on the Maine in Havana Harbor, which is detailed extensively in the telegram, intensified tensions between the U.S. and Spain, eventually leading to the outbreak of war.
Just a few decades later, the infamous “Zimmerman Telegram” was a major factor in America’s decision to enter World War I. The secret coded telegram, sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann in 1917, proposed an alliance with Mexico. He offered U.S. territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if Mexico joined the war against the United States. Intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence, its publication in the American press galvanized public opinion, leading Congress to declare war on Germany.
The National Archives holds hundreds of thousands of telegrams documenting all corners of American history, from descriptions of Al Capone’s behavior in the Cook County jail to a young Lyndon Johnson singing the praises of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While telegram usage declined steadily in the late 20th century (with the permanent termination of Western Union’s services in 2006), it leaves behind a fascinating paper trail for future generations to continue uncovering. As Peggy Olson, the fictional copywriter in AMC’s Mad Men, once said while brainstorming a tagline to promote Western Union: “You can’t frame a phone call.”
