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Pearsall Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: M419

Abstract

This collection contains information related to Duane Pearsall (1922-2011), a Navy pilot in WWII and famous for inventing the home smoke detector.

Dates

  • 1922-2011

Creator

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright not evaluated: The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. See: https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en

Biographical / Historical

Duane Pearsall was born in 1922 in Pontiac Michegan. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy as a pilot, and was posted to several bases overseas. He married Marjorie Fewel in 1944 and moved to Denver. He is famous for inventing the home smoke detector, and was a valued member of Denver society and Denver business for many years. Pearsall helped found the Small Business Council of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1976, and was chairman of the Colorado Small Business Council in 1979. From 1975 to 1978, he served as a director of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and from 1982 to 1989, he was a director of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, serving as its chairman from 1985 to 1986. In 1983, Pearsall co-founded Columbine Venture Funds, an organisation specializing in new technology located in Denver. Pearsall died in Denver in 2011.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 letter document box)

Related Materials

The Archives at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA, holds Duane Pearsall's research, design work, prototypes, etc. Pearsall founded a program in Fire Protection Engineering at this Institute.

Creator

Source

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections and Archives Repository

Contact:
2150 East Evans Avenue
Denver CO 80208
(303) 871-3428