Nan Colton as Mina Miller Edison ... Daughter, Wife and Mother of Inventors

5501 27th Avenue South,Gulfport FL 33707

26 February, 2023

Description

Sunday, February 26, 4 pm matinee Nan Colton’s Performances are Now Part of the Foundation’s Performing Arts Series Proceeds Support the Senior Center Building Fund Campaign Mina Miller, born July 8, 1865 in Akron, Ohio, was the seventh of eleven children. Her father, inventor and industrialist Lewis Miller, was a founder and leader of the Chautauqua Association. In 1886, at age 20, she married the recently widowed Thomas Edison, then 38, who was known the world over as “The Wizard of Menlo Park”. At their homes in Glenmont , NJ and Fort Myers, FL, Mina entertained many famous guests such as Presidents Hoover and Wilson; the kings of Sweden and Siam; environmentalist John Burroughs and educator Maria Montessori; General “Black Jack” Pershing and Helen Keller; industrialists: Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and George Eastman. There were also famed musical artists that Edison recorded on his phonograph records. Mina was witness to the feud between Nikola Tesla and Edison which was bitter and longstanding. As a self-described “Home Executive,” Mina provided a nurturing environment for creative and prolific Thomas and family. Her son Theodore invented a device used in eliminating vibration in machinery. Her son Charles, a businessman, inventor and animal behaviorist, served as 42nd governor of New Jersey.