James E. West

CTL-E-1057 · Institution · other · 1950s-2000s

Verified evidence grade of this record

Bell Labs acoustical scientist who co-invented the foil-electret microphone (1962), the component inside the vast majority of phone, hearing-aid and recorder microphones; also co-founded Bell Labs' Association of Black Laboratory Employees (1970).

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from TECH-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-TECH-001:TECH-E-047; source research type(s): None.

Sources

src-jhu-west
AVNetwork (Shure); Nokia Bell Labs
Baltimore Sun; AVNetwork
The HistoryMakers; Nokia Bell Labs

Record CTL-E-1057 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: Verified · CTL research: TECH-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “James E. West (CTL-E-1057),” October 4, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1057/

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Shoeshine, 47th Street, Chicago's main Negro business street, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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