Archives West Finding Aid

Morris Halperin (1913-1998) worked for the Pelton Water Wheel Company of San Francisco, California. Educated as a civil engineer at North Carolina State University, Halperin initially worked for the company as a draftsman. He later joined the company's photography unit as a photographer and remained in this role until the photography unit was disbanded, likely around the time the Pelton Water Wheel Company was acquired by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton company in 1955.

Sources: Information provided by Morris Halperin's niece, Penny Harris; San Francisco Examiner, December 30, 1955, page 24.

In 1880, Lester Pelton (1831-1908) of California patented a new type of water wheel that improved efficiency over earlier water wheel designs. The wheel was first demonstrated at the Idaho-Maryland gold fields that same year, and quickly found a market. In 1888, with the help of A. P. Brayton, Lester Pelton founded the Pelton Water Wheel Company in San Francisco, California. In 1912, company employee William A. Doble was promoted to chief engineer of the company, and he continued to patent and manufacture significant improvements to the original design, including the Doble Water Wheel. The Pelton Water Wheel Company was acquired by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton company in 1955 and subsequently operated as the Pelton Division of Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton.

Sources: "#157 Pelton Waterwheel Collection," The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, accessed March 25, 2024, https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/157-pelton-waterwheel-collection; "Pelton Impulse Water Wheel," The American Society of Civil Engineers, accessed March 25, 2024, https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/pelton-impulse-water-wheel; L. A. Pelton, Water Wheel, United States Patent 233,692, filed July 3, 1880, issued October 26, 1880.