Elliot N. Sivowitch, radio, television historian

Elliot N. Sivowitch, 80, a scholar of television and radio history who worked at the Smithsonian Institution for four decades, died July 20 of cardiac arrest at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.

A former colleague, Melinda Machado, confirmed the death.

Mr. Sivowitch joined the Smithsonian in 1959, then worked for a year at the Library of Congress before returning to the Smithsonian. He spent nearly his entire career in the electricity collection of the National Museum of American History and its predecessor, the Museum of History and Technology....