BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Electric Dr. Franklin

DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Electric Dr. Franklin:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: The Electric Dr. Franklin
November 20, 2021 – TBA
The Electric Dr. Franklin showcase explores the founding father's pioneering electrical work and features objects showing the electrical science of Franklin’s era as well as later devices he influenced. The display allows visitors understand Franklin’s contributions to electrical science and how his research remains relevant today.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] FRANKE_211128_004.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[2] FRANKE_211128_007.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[3] FRANKE_211128_017.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[4] FRANKE_211128_020.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[5] FRANKE_211128_025.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[6] FRANKE_211128_032.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[7] FRANKE_211128_036.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[8] FRANKE_211128_042.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[9] FRANKE_211128_048.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[10] FRANKE_211128_052.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] FRANKE_211128_063.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[12] FRANKE_211128_069.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[13] FRANKE_211128_072.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] FRANKE_211128_081.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[15] FRANKE_211128_093.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[16] FRANKE_211128_102.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[17] FRANKE_211128_105.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[18] FRANKE_211128_109.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[19] FRANKE_211128_118.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] FRANKE_211128_125.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[21] FRANKE_211128_127.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[22] FRANKE_211128_133.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] FRANKE_211128_137.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[24] FRANKE_211128_140.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[25] FRANKE_211128_143.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] FRANKE_211128_153.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[27] FRANKE_211128_158.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FRANKE_211128_004.JPG: The Electric Dr. Franklin
2. FRANKE_211128_007.JPG: Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky by Benjamin West
3. FRANKE_211128_017.JPG: The Electric Dr. Franklin Benjamin Franklin was not just a Founding Father, but a scientist. From 1746 to 1752, he conducted experiments that changed peoples' understanding of electricity. The sparks of his inventive mind drove research and led to new inventions. Those sparks crackle with complications of his time. Enslaved people helped build his fortune, and may have participated in his research. We still have much to learn about that part of his scientific work. The discoveries he made, and the circumstances in which he made them, continue to affect us today. Wondering how? Look no further than the smartphone in your hand.
4. FRANKE_211128_020.JPG: There's a lot of complicated history inside your smartphone. Check out The Electric Dr. Franklin.
5. FRANKE_211128_025.JPG: Benjamin Franklin A Busy Life 1706 -- born into a large family of white artisans in Boston. 1723 -- flees indentured servitude and becomes a printer in Philadelphia. 1727-1736 -- establishes civic organizations 1730s -- begins publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette, a newspaper partly funded by advertisements for the sale of enslaved people and capture of escapees 1735 -- first record of an enslaved person living in his household 1737 -- becomes postmaster for Philadelphia, giving him a royal office and free access to distribute his newspaper 1743 -- owns printshops in three colonies 1746-1752 -- actively conducts electrical experiments 1748 -- retires from printing business, with wealth and other business income to pursue many ventures 1751 -- elected to Pennsylvania Assembly 1756 -- elected fellow of the Royal Society, London, in recognition of his electrical research 1757-1775 -- advocates for four colonies, mostly in London 1762 -- receives honorary doctorate, University of Oxford 1776 -- serves in Continental Congress and signs Declaration of Independent; conveys to his daughter ownership of George, the last person he enslaved 1776-1785 -- serves in France as American ambassador 1785-1788 -- serves as Pennsylvania's governor and delegate to the Constitutional Congress 1787 -- elected president of Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery 1790 -- dies in Philadelphia
6. FRANKE_211128_032.JPG: Franklin's Reception at the Court of France, 1778 Franklin's study of electricity made him famous. He leveraged that fame to gain entry into the royal court of France and even to secure support for American independence.
7. FRANKE_211128_036.JPG: Enslaved People in Franklin's Research? Franklin's remarkable scientific accomplishments were enabled by the social and economic system he worked within. Franklin enslaved people, perhaps as many as seven. Their labor helped to build his fortune. They may have directly assisted his research, although we do not know for certain. Franklin's involvement with slavery is complicated. He published anti-slavery articles in his newspaper while also profiting from the sale of enslaved people and printed notices seeking the capture of escapees. Later in life he took an overt stand against slavery, becoming president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1787, supporting gradual emancipation. But Franklin never emancipated any of the people he enslaved. Franklin's place in the nation's history of slavery is part of his legacy, as is his electrical research that led to the smartphone.
8. FRANKE_211128_052.JPG: Set of electrostatic spirals, around 1820 Glass rod and fur pad, undated Franklin began experimenting with static electricity when he received a glass tube from a friend in London. Rubbing the tube with fur or buckskin generated a static charge that could levitate pieces of paper or give a shock.
9. FRANKE_211128_063.JPG: This 1770s engraving shows a static electric experiment in France. The charge from the hand-cracked generator passes through the white woman on the stool, Countess du Barry (who feels a mild sensation), to a glass Leyden jar held by an enslaved Black child, Zamor. He will sharply feel the spark that leaps from the rod to his finger. Electrical researchers, including Franklin, used human subjects in experiments and demonstrations. His records are not clear but Franklin himself, his family, friends, indentured servants, and enslaved people in his household likely participated in his work.
10. FRANKE_211128_069.JPG: Set of electrostatic spirals, around 1820 Understanding how charges move and interact challenged Ben Franklin's imagination. This device was made 30 years after his death, but he probably read about an earlier, similar one. When a rod charged with static electricity is balanced on the center spike, it spins as it is alternatively attracted and repelled by the surrounding columns -- each one flashing with sparks as the rod passes.
11. FRANKE_211128_072.JPG: English-made electrostatic generator, around 1750 Franklin knew that researchers in Europe used friction machines to generate static electricity for their experiments and soon acquired on similar to this. Turning the crank caused the glove to rub against the pad, generating a charge in the brass rod. The charge could be stored in the Leyden jar (invented in 1746) or used for physical effect -- for example, to ring bells.
12. FRANKE_211128_081.JPG: Electrostatic generator, about 1749 Seeking a larger apparatus that could generate a more powerful electrostatic charge, Franklin designed one. Although Franklin didn't use this particular device, it was based on his design. He worked with local artisans who made equipment for him. Cranking the wheel spins the glass globe against a greased leather pad, generating the charge.
13. FRANKE_211128_093.JPG: Battery of connected Leyden jars, around 1880
14. FRANKE_211128_102.JPG: Leyden jar used by Franklin, around 1749 Although Leyden jars, which store powerful charges, were invented in Europe, Franklin determined how they work. His experiments revealed that electrical charges reside on the jars surfaces, positive on one side and negative on the other. He also discovered that connecting multiple jars increased the amount of the charge they could store.
15. FRANKE_211128_105.JPG: This 1763 engraving is one of dozens that bolstered Franklin's fame as a scientist. It shows two of Franklin's inventions: alarm bells that alerted him when the atmosphere became charged with electricity, and a lightning rod. Missing from the image are the people whose labor freed Franklin to conduct his research: the women, indentured servants, and enslaved people who maintained his household, assisted him, or made or operated equipment.
16. FRANKE_211128_109.JPG: Insulated reel with a brass wire used in repeating Franklin's experiment, undated
17. FRANKE_211128_118.JPG: Decorative panel from a fire engine, 1835 Franklin also researched static electricity that occurred naturally. To test a theory that lightning was electrical, he flew a kite in a thunderstorm in 1752 -- with a key attached to the kite string. Static electricity in the atmosphere -- not a lightning bolt -- charged the kite, string, and key. When a spark jumped from the key to Franklin's outstretched knuckle, he had his proof. He used the length, power, and pain of the spark to measure the strength of the electrical charge.
18. FRANKE_211128_125.JPG: Ben Franklin's contributions to electrical knowledge underlie critical components in a smartphone.
19. FRANKE_211128_127.JPG: Voltaic pile, about 1805 Franklin showed how Leyden jars stored static electric charges generated by friction. In 1799 Alessandro Volta took Franklin's work on charges in a new direction. Volta placed discs of zinc and silver between saltwater-soaked pads and created a battery. A steady, flowing electrical current resulted from the chemical action in the battery. Two hundred years later, smaller and stronger batteries would power smartphones.
20. FRANKE_211128_133.JPG: Capacitor microphone that converts sound waves to electric signals, around 1928
21. FRANKE_211128_137.JPG: Enlarged view of DX4 processor chip.
22. FRANKE_211128_140.JPG: Radio capacitor with three glass plates, around 1925 Franklin learned how Leyden jars store and release electrostatic charges. Inventors later extended his theories and designed capacitors used in radios, computers -- and smartphones. Your smartphone's glass-plate touchscreen, microphone, and integrated circuits all rely on capacitors.
23. FRANKE_211128_143.JPG: DX4 Over Drive Processor that uses capacitance as part of the circuit design, 1994
Multi Column: Number of columns of thumbnails to appear per page (normally defaults to 3): [1 col] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: ) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2023_DC_SIAH_Mirror: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Mirror, Mirror for Us All: Disney Parks and the American Narrative / Experience (146 photos from 2023)
- 2023_09_26C2_SIAH_More_Perfect: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time (23 photos from 09/26/2023)
- 2023_09_26C1_SIAH_Latinas_Report: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Latinas Report Breaking News (85 photos from 09/26/2023)
- 2023_09_19A5_SIAH_More_Perfect: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time (134 photos from 09/19/2023)
- 2023_09_17D2_SIAH_Holzer: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Jenny Holzer, THE PEOPLE (22 photos from 09/17/2023)
- 2023_07_13B1_SIAH_Weatherbreak: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Reconstructing ‘Weatherbreak’ in an Age of Extreme Weather (17 photos from 07/13/2023)
- 2023_06_30D1_SIAH_Trouble: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Treasures and Trouble: Looking Inside a Legendary Blues Archive (42 photos from 06/30/2023)
- 2022_DC_SIAH_Sense: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things (87 photos from 2022)
- 2022_DC_SIAH_Remembrance: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: War and Remembrance (8 photos from 2022)
- 2022_DC_SIAH_Rallying: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Rallying Against Racism (8 photos from 2022)
- ...More (List all 132 pages)...
Sort of Related Pages: Still more pages here that have content somewhat related to this one :
- 2022_DC_SIAH_Muppets: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Muppets Take American History (11 photos from 2022)
- 2021_DC_SIAH_Muppets: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: The Muppets Take American History (27 photos from 2021)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) American History Museum (Everything)] [(Smithsonian) American History Museum (Non-Events)] [Museums (History)]
2021 photos: This year, which started with former child president's attempted coup and the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, gradually got better. Trips this year: (May, October) After getting fully vaccinated, I made two trips down to Asheville, NC to visit my dad and his wife Dixie, and (mid-July) I made a quick trip up to Stockbridge, MA to see the Norman Rockwell Museum again as well as Daniel Chester French's place @ Chesterwood. Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: about 283,000, up slightly from 2020 levels but still really low.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].