Nikola Tesla died in 1943, was cremated, and his remains were sent to Serbia, the land of his birth which had become Yugoslavia and is currently Croatia.
The day after Tesla’s body was discovered in his suite in the Hotel New Yorker, Tesla’s nephew, Sava Korsanovic, a Yugoslavian ambassador; and Kenneth Swezey, a journalist and friend of Tesla, entered his room in search of a will. In Tesla’s safe, they found some notes, keys, and certificates of his US citizenship, several of his honorary PhD documents, and the gold Edison medal that had been awarded to Tesla a quarter of a century earlier by the American Institute of Electric Engineers, but they found no will.
The next day, the Justice Department ordered the Office of the Alien Properties Custodian to search his room for any possible war-related documents since it was the height of WWII. This Office had the function of confiscating enemy property in wartime. A few years before, Tesla had announced he had invented a “Particle Beam Weapon” or “Death Ray” that would have put an end to all wars. He had written to President Roosevelt about it and just a week before Tesla died President Roosevelt had made arrangements to meet with Tesla regarding this invention.
After some 60 storage trunks that Tesla had stored around the city were examined, the trunks and safe were shipped to Yugoslavia by order of Tesla’s nephew Sava since Tesla left no will. But when the safe was opened in Belgrade, the Edison gold medal was missing. Ken Swezey failing to recover the missing medal, therefore turned to J Edgar Hoover to have the FBI pay the $400 to recast the Edison medal. Here is what he wrote:
By giving us a system which made electric power universally available, Nikola Tesla — more than any other one man — helped put America on top of the world. …his gold Edison medal was the only material evidence left of this country’s appreciation.
A remarkable and valid statement, but the fact is, the appreciation was not from this country. It
came from Tesla’s scientific colleagues.
What appreciation has been shown to Nikola Tesla since his passing?
Since 1896 AC electricity has flowed from Niagara Falls to North Tonawanda and on to Buffalo
through the genius of Nikola Tesla, but there had been nothing but the indignity of indifference
and neglect for Nikola Tesla.
At Niagara Falls, the birthplace of the electric age for the planet, there was absolutely nothing for
80 years until the communist government of Yugoslavia donated a statue of Tesla. But there was
no mention of who this man was and what he did for humanity. No, only a huge plaque
complimenting the local politicians who allowed the statue to be erected.
How about Buffalo, NY—the first Electric City on the planet? Again, absolutely nothing!
Astonishingly, there was not one iota about Tesla in that city. So, what was done about this?
Four of us did what no one else has done, no nation, no state, no municipality, no scientific
society. We four fellow New Yorkers, private citizens, formed a non-profit group, the Buffalo
Niagara Nikola Tesla Council, Inc and created something we believe is profound, powerful, and
public; it is elegant and educational; it is unique and unprecedented; it is acutely long-overdue;
and above all, it is appreciative!
The Yugoslavian statue of Tesla on Goat Island sat there for 45 years without a word about Tesla
other than his name and dates. So, our non-profit group, (Marty McGee, Paul Swisher, Stephen J
Lestingi, and Francis S Lestingi, PhD) designed and donated an attractive Information Panel
describing who Tesla was and what he did to change civilization. It now accompanies the statue,
so visitors from around the world can learn more about our fellow New Yorker. What about
Buffalo?
For the City of Buffalo, we designed and donated an elegant 7-ft bronze statue along with a
beautiful Information Panel. And we were successful in having the City name the park where the
Statue of Tesla resides as Nikola Tesla Park, the only park named in his honor in the the United
States.
And 3-miles from the original North Tonawanda Transformer House we have designed and have
gifted a monumental, stylized art structure of a Tesla Coil to the City of North Tonawanda. This
completes our Triptych Tribute of Appreciation to Nikola Tesla. It spans from Niagara Falls
through North Tonawanda to Buffalo and we are calling it the Nikola Tesla Legacy Corridor.
For our fellow New Yorker, our fellow American, the man who put New York on top of America,
and America on top of the world, the appreciation is finally here! … right here in western New
York where it all began. Let the appreciation begin!
