Eagle-Picher

In 1843, the Conkling brothers, Edgar and Stephen J. Conkling, established a white lead factory, in Cincinnati, Ohio to manufacture pigments for commercial paints.[2] They called the partnership the E. & S. J. Conkling Company. In 1847, Edgar took a new partner, William Wood, and the partnership became Conkling Wood & Company.[2] After the American Civil War the firm was incorporated with William Wood as the majority stockholder. In 1906, the Picher Lead Company of Missouri merged with the Eagle White Lead to form Eagle-Picher Lead.[3]

Eagle-Picher, starting with Picher Lead Company, operated lead and zinc extraction facilities in the Tri-State mining district of southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma.[4] Picher, Oklahoma was named for O.S. Picher, the original owner of Picher Lead Company, and large-scale mining started there in 1913.[4] The area became the most productive lead-zinc mining field in the district, producing over $20 billion worth of ore between 1917 and 1947. More than fifty percent of the lead and zinc metals used during World War I were produced around Picher.[4] Extraction ended by 1967.[4]

The battery that powered Mars Lander InSight that launched May 2018, designed and produced by EaglePicher Technologies

EaglePicher Technologies’ history as a battery manufacturer dates back to 1922. The company became a battery supplier to the U.S. Government in the 1940s and was supplying silver-zinc batteries for missiles and rockets in the 1950s. During World War II, EaglePicher used diatomaceous earth and zinc to produce storage batteries for the US military. By 1947 they were among the first to adapt a purification system for Germanium for commercial use in the transistor industry.[5] The production of germanium was the first semiconducting material, essential to the invention of the transistor and the development of solid state electronics. In 1953, EaglePicher sold its metallic products plant in Dallas to Murdock Lead Products.[6]

In 1958, EaglePicher created batteries to power Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in space. When an oxygen tank explosion crippled the Apollo 13 spacecraft during its lunar mission in 1970, the safe return of three brave American astronauts depended heavily upon the EaglePicher batteries on board the spacecraft. EaglePicher’s silver zinc batteries provided electrical power for the life support and guidance control systems after a fuel cell failed on the Apollo 13 landing, thus helping the astronauts return safely back to Earth.[7]

EaglePicher started development work on thermal battery technology back in 1949. In 1974, our company was the first to begin work on large LiAl/FeS batteries for load leveling and electric vehicle application. By 1976, EaglePicher was the first in the world to adapt this rechargeable system to a primary LiAl/FeS2 thermal battery, improving thermal battery performance capability. In 1982, EaglePicher became the first thermal battery manufacturer to produce LiSi/FeS2 thermal batteries for the U.S. Department of Energy on a production basis.

The first Patriot missile was powered by EaglePicher batteries. This work was followed up with the Javelin missile program in 1990 and the Tomahawk Cruise missile in 1991,

In 1990, the Hubble Space telescope was launched with EaglePicher nickel hydrogen (NiH2) batteries. These batteries exceeded their projected 5-year life expectancy by 14 additional years, totaling an amazing 19 years battery life in space.[8]

In 2007, an automated production facility in Pittsburg, KS was brought on-line to increase thermal battery production capability

• 2005 Donald L. Runkle, chairman of the board
• 2006 David L. Treadwell, president (CEO)
• 2007 Randy Moore, president (CEO)
• 2016 Gordon Walker, president and chief executive officer
• 2019 Richard Hunter, chief executive officer