Theodore Willard Case

Theodore Willard Case (December 12, 1888 – May 13, 1944) was an American chemist who invented the Movietone sound-on-film system. Early life and education Theodore Willard Case was born in 1888 in Auburn, New York to Willard Erastus Case (1857 – 1918) and Eva Fidelia Caldwell Case (1857 – 1952). He attended a few boarding schools as a youth including The Manlius School near Syracuse, New York and Cloyne House School in Newport, Rhode Island He also attended the St. Paul School in Concord, New Hampshire to finish his secondary education. Following his high school graduation he attended Yale University from 1908 to 1912, where he earned his BA in chemistry. He then attended Harvard University where he studied law. He did not find this as fulfilling as pursuing science so he left after about a year. During the years prior to opening the Case Research Lab he worked with his father in laboratories set up in the basements of their family homes at 196 Genesee Street and their lake property on Owasco Lake, Casowasco. The mansion at 203 Genesee Street that eventually became the home of Theodore W. Case was built by John Seymour in 1836. In 1843 Sylvester Willard and his father-in-law Erastus Case purchased the mansion. Willard Case inherited the property in 1916 when his cousin Caroline Willard passed away and left the property to him. Willard Case gave the property to Theodore W. Case. Willard Case, Theodore Case, and Earl I. Sponable worked together to open the Case Research Lab in the backyard of the mansion in 1916. Personal life Theodore Case was of the well-known Case family in Auburn, New York. He enjoyed playing golf and won a number of tournaments in Auburn. On November 26, 1918, Case married Alice Gertrude Eldred. The couple would go on to have four children. Career