Western Electric's Reading Works in Berks County, Pennsylvania, was a manufacturer of integrated circuit and optoelectronic equipment for communication and computing. The work force grew to nearly 5,000 by 1985 making the Reading, Pennsylvania, facility one of Berks County's largest industrial employers. As a part of Western Electric and the Bell System, it changed its masthead many times during its life.The Reading Eagle, 6/17/07, Our industrious roots: Western Electric, This was Silicon Valley; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.
1952: From Allentown to Laureldale The origins of Western Electric can be traced back to 1876 when Elisha Gray lost the race to invent the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell submitted a patent application just hours before Gray filed his own. Despite this setback, Gray left a lasting impact on the telephone industry in 1869 by founding Gray and Barton, a small manufacturing firm in Cleveland, Ohio, with Enos N. Barton. By 1872, the firm had moved to Chicago and was renamed the Western Electric Manufacturing Co. By 1880, Western Electric had grown to become the largest electrical manufacturing company in the United States. In 1881, the rapid expansion of the telephone network outpaced smaller suppliers, leading American Bell to purchase a controlling interest in Western Electric Company (WECO), appointing it as the exclusive manufacturer for Bell telephone companies. Western Electric was tasked not only with manufacturing but also with developing Bell equipment. In 1907, Theodore N. Vail merged the engineering departments of AT&T and Western Electric, creating Bell Labs in 1925. Western Electric subsequently became the manufacturing division of the Bell System.
In 1951, just four years after Bell Laboratories invented the transistor, Western Electric opened the Allentown Plant to produce the first transistors.Prescott C. Mabon (1975). Mission Communications: The Story of Bell Laboratories; Murray Hill (NJ), US; Bell Laboratories. Page 181Western Electric Co. (1983). Western Electric Reading Works; Reading (PA), US; Page 3 Under the leadership of Jack Morton, tasked with developing transistors for mass production, Western Electric established branch labs at several plants. These labs, staffed by Bell Labs scientists and engineers, focused on production engineering and maintained close collaboration with Bell Labs headquarters in Murray Hill. Morton refined this innovative approach at the Allentown Plant, which produced electronic devices and components for the Bell System, and placed Eugene Anderson in charge of the Bell Labs semiconductor development group at the site.Michael Riordan (2006). IEEE Spectrum, Volume 43, Issue 12: How Bell Labs Missed the Microchip; IEEE Press, Piscataway (NJ), US; Pages 36–41
In 1952, operations in Reading began when Western Electric converted an old Rosedale knitting mill in Laureldale into a factory for producing electronic components for the U.S. government, particularly for military and space applications.The Reading Eagle, 12/6/98, "Once a wee mill, Western Electric now dominant employer in Berks"; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. On August 22, 1952, Western Electric opened its new electronics manufacturing facility in Laureldale.Reading Eagle Company (1999). Reading Towne: 1748–1998; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. Page 141 Growth was initially modest but steady.Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson (1997). Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age. New York: Norton. Page 204 By the end of 1952, the factory employed 130 workers, and this number grew to 253 by the end of 1953.
On January 12, 1956, a diffused base transistor was unveiled at Laureldale before top military brass at a solid-state diffusion symposium. That was the same year that Bell Labs' scientists Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley received the 1956 Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of the transistor. "Bell Laboratories scientists in Murray Hill, N.J., may have won the Nobel Prizes and gotten most of the press, but Allentown and Reading delivered the goods," notes Stuart W. Leslie, a historian of science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.Michael Riordan (2005). "IEEE Spectrum, Volume 42, Issue 7, The End of "AT&T"; IEEE Press, Piscataway (NJ), US; Page 46-51
In 1958, a group of Bell Laboratories scientists moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, from other locations and started the Laureldale Laboratory in the Laureldale Western Electric Plant. Bell Labs was a division of Western Electric. Initially the Laureldale Laboratory designed electron tubes (vacuum tubes). Eventually, after becoming the Reading Laboratory, it designed semiconductor devices which eventually included integrated circuits, light emitting diodes, and lasers.
1962: From Laureldale to Reading By the late 1950s, the increased demand for its products necessitated Western Electric building a larger facility, so plans were developed for a building at the North 11th Street site. The Greater Berks Development Fund built the Reading plant at the end of 11th street for $2 million to lease to Bell Labs and Western Electric.
Ground breaking took place in November 1960, and on January 2, 1962, Western Electric took possession of the new building, Building 30 (the manufacturing building).
In 1964, Western Electric bought the building. By 1966 all facilities had moved from the Laureldale plant to the Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, site. The new facility was called the Reading Works and the branch of Bell Labs was called the Reading Labs.The Reading Eagle, 2/16/92, AT&T Reading Works plans on growth; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.
In 1967, when the Reading Works celebrated its 15th anniversary in Berks County, it employed about 2,600 employees. Various additions since the mid-1960s increased the manufacturing space to . Construction on the office building (Building 20) began in 1980, and the building was first occupied in 1982.
1984: Western Electric to AT&T Technologies In 1984, the Bell System broke up into the various Baby Bell operating companies and AT&T. As a result of this divestiture in 1984, the Western Electric plant became an AT&T Technology Systems location as part of AT&T, supplying devices for use in the former Bell System's network. By 1984, employment had reached what would be an all-time high of 4,900.The Reading Eagle, 12/31/06, A time of CHANGE:; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. In 1988, microchip and fiber-optic component manufacturing was combined into an AT&T organization called AT&T Microelectronics. In 1989 the AT&T work force nationwide was 297,000 and while employment at the Reading Works was 3,200.The Reading Eagle, 12/14/89, 25 local jobs at risk in AT&T restructuring; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. In 1992, the Reading Works of AT&T Microelectronics had 3,300 workers and provided an annual payroll of $100 million. The product mix included lightwave components, linear bipolar integrated circuits, high voltage integrated circuits, high speed silicon integrated circuits, and gallium arsenide integrated circuits. A satellite manufacturing building, Building 10, was constructed on North 13th Street, just north of the General Mail Facility, in 1992. The same year the Falconer building across the street was also used. AT&T Reading Works was the No. 2 employer in Berks County in 1993,The Reading Eagle, 1/04/04 but that was soon to end. In February 1994, AT&T Reading Works announced that it would be cutting 850 jobs over a 3-year period.Reading Eagle Company (2000). A 20th Century Journey: 1990-1999; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. Page 10 In 1994 the Reading Works' work force was reduced from 2,929 to 2,700 with most of the cuts in the Lightwave unit. The Lightwave unit makes fiber-optic laser transmitters and receivers.The Reading Eagle, 11/09/94, Reading Works to lay off 84 workers; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. In 1995 the Reading Works' work force stood at 2,400 including AT&T Microelectronics and Bell Labs as it prepared for the spin off from AT&T into Lucent Technologies.The Reading Eagle, 9/21/95, Reading Works will be part of manufacturing company; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.
1996: AT&T to Lucent Under the 1996 restructuring of AT&T, AT&T Technologies became Lucent Technologies. The Lucent Technologies' Reading, Pennsylvania, facility became both a Lucent Microelectronics and a Lucent Optoelectronics facility, designing and manufacturing optoelectronic and integrated circuit components for applications in the telecommunications and computing industries.
The Lucent Reading Plant was unique in the semiconductor industry because it manufactured both optoelectronic and integrated circuit components. The facility received a $6 million renovation to boost its optoelectronics manufacturing capacity.
In addition to serving the traditional communications markets, the Lucent Optoelectronics portion of the facility provided a family of transmitters and receivers for use in network computing applications. Lucent was also a leading player in the cable TV and hybrid fiber coaxial markets. In addition to Reading, Pennsylvania, other Lucent Optoelectronics facilities were located in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania; Murray Hill, New Jersey; Alhambra, California; and Matamoros, Mexico.
The Lucent Microelectronics portion of the facility produced linear bipolar, high voltage and gallium arsenide integrated circuits. These microchips were used in tone ringers, data processing, voltage regulators, video distribution, and in the industrial, computer, communication and instrumental markets. In addition to Reading, other Lucent Microelectronics integrated circuit sites included Allentown, Pennsylvania; Orlando, Florida; Bangkok, Thailand; Tres Cantos, Spain; and Singapore.
In 1996, the Reading Works' work force stood at 2,450 including AT&T Microelectronics and Bell Labs as it made the transition from AT&T into Lucent Technologies.The Reading Eagle, 2/6/96, Reading Works to be Lucent Technologies; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. The spin off of AT&T manufacturing units as Lucent Technologies became necessary as these units increasingly found that their prospective customers were AT&T competitors. The divestiture of the manufacturing units made them suppliers rather than competitors, opening up new markets to Lucent and to the Reading Works. At the same time it caused the anxiety that comes with change.The Reading Eagle, 6/23/96, Lucent Technologies to focus on the future; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. On October 1, 1996, Lucent Technologies became independent of AT&T. The Reading Works became Lucent Technologies Reading Facility. It employed 2,177 people, down considerably from 4,900 in 1985.The Reading Eagle, 10/1/96, Lucent is cut loose by parent AT&T; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.The Reading Eagle, 12/7/97, Reading Hospital again has largest local work force; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. By the end of 1997, the Reading Facility workforce had declined and remained stable at 2,000.The Reading Eagle, 12/7/97, Reading Hospital again has largest local work force; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. By the end of 1998, the Reading Facility workforce had rebounded to 2,177. In 1999 a pickup in Lightwave business caused expansion of both the Reading Facility and the Breinigsville plant.The Reading Eagle, 4/22/99, Lucent adding 100 jobs at Muhlenberg plant; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press.
2000: Lucent to Agere