The SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention (formerly the American Museum of Radio and Electricity) is an interactive

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located in Bellingham,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, United States, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that changed the course of human history. The museum features a collection of artifacts showcasing four centuries of human innovation from 1580 into the 1950s.

Museum history

The museum began in 1985 as an informal collection of

radio set An antique radio is a radio receiving set that is collectible because of its age and rarity. Types of antique radio Morse receivers The first radio receivers used a coherer and sounding board, and were only able to receive CW continuous wave (C ...

s, spare parts,

schematic A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the sc ...

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, and vintage

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s and manuals owned by a Bellingham resident, Jonathan WinterHistory of the Spark Museum
from the museum's website Winter's collection continued to grow, and by 1998, the Bellingham Antique Radio Museum was officially established, with the more than 800 radio sets from Winter's collection forming the core of the museum's collection. The museum took on the name "American Museum of Radio and Electricity" in 2001 when it moved into its facility and John Jenkins, a former sales and marketing executive at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

, retired and became co-curator of the museum. Jenkins added his extensive collection to the museum, which included early wireless and electrical devices, and rare books with first editions dating back to

1560 Year 1560 ( MDLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 7 – In the Kingdom of Scotland, French troops commanded by Henri Cleutin and ...

and written by

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

C. F. du Fay C. or c. may refer to: * Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years * Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of many currencies * Caius or Gaius, abbreviated as ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani (, also ; ; la, Aloysius Galvanus; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher, who studied animal electricity. In 1780, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs ...

, William Gilbert,

Joseph Henry Joseph Henry (December 17, 1797– May 13, 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smith ...

Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's Maxwell's equations, equations of electrom ...

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

Pieter van Musschenbroek Pieter van Musschenbroek (14 March 1692 – 19 September 1761) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy. He is credited with the inven ...

Georg Ohm Georg Simon Ohm (, ; 16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854) was a German physicist and mathematician. As a school teacher, Ohm began his research with the new electrochemical cell, invented by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta. Using equipment of his o ...

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity ...

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the ...

, among others.Spark Museum President John Jenkins Thomas Edison Lightbulbs 1879-1880

Early in its history, the museum was featured on ''

An American Moment ''An American Moment'' was a syndicated short-form television series, created by Dr. Prentice Meador, James R. Kirk and Neal Spelce, initially hosted by newsman Charles Kuralt and later by actor James Earl Jones. The show consisted of 90-second vi ...

''. In 2012, the American Museum of Radio and Electricity became Spark Museum of Electrical Invention.

Collections

The museum's collections include: * Dawn of the Electrical Age (1600–1800) * Electricity Sparks Invention (1800–1900) * The Beginning of Radio and the Wireless Era (1863–1920) * Radio Enters the Home (1920–1927) * The Golden Age of Radio (1928–1950)

Notable exhibits

Exhibits include: * an extensive "

War of the Currents The war of the currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It grew out of two lighting systems developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s; arc ...

" exhibit, featuring one of a kind artifacts. The exhibit also includes a working replica of Tesla's "

Egg of Columbus An egg of Columbus or Columbus' egg ( it, uovo di Colombo ) refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact. The expression refers to an apocryphal story, dating from at least the 16th century, in which it is sai ...

". * a reproduction of the radio room of the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

complete with original Marconi wireless apparatus * a working

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

and a modern Moog Theremin that visitors can playTheremin
from the museum's website (RCA Theremin Model AR 1264, No. 200085 * a complete collection of

Atwater Kent Arthur Atwater Kent Sr. (December 3, 1873 – March 4, 1949) was an American inventor and prominent radio manufacturer based in Philadelphia. In 1921, he patented the modern form of the automobile ignition coil. Biography Arthur Kent was born ...

"breadboard" radios * one of the largest collections of 19th century electromagnetic apparatus in the country, including early

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

s and

induction coil An induction coil or "spark coil" (archaically known as an inductorium or Ruhmkorff coil after Heinrich Rühmkorff) is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current (DC) supply. p.98 To ...

s * a collection of electric lighting and related apparatus, including several lamps from the laboratory of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

. * Demonstration

Tesla coils A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer, resonant transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is used to produce high-voltage, low-electric current, current, high-frequency alternating current, alternating-curren ...

including the "MegaZapper, an 8' tall 4MV coil used in the Museum's Electrical Show. * a Collins 1909 wireless telephone * a 1930s living room diorama * a static electricity learning center * a working RCA

CT-100 The RCA CT-100 was an early all-electronic consumer color television introduced in April 1954. The color picture tube measured 15 inches diagonally. The viewable picture was just 11½ inches wide. The CT-100 wasn't the world's first color T ...

Television * a 1915 telephone used by Henry L. Higginson in the first transcontinental telephone call.

Science education program

The museum's education program includes outreach and community education. The outreach program augments the regular science curriculum of public schools, private schools and home-school networks in Western Washington through assemblies, in-class science courses and special focus tours. The community education program holds regular Science Saturday classes, summer camps, lectures and special events illuminating core facets of radio, electricity and physics. Hands-on classes include topics such as

static electricity Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material or between materials. The charge remains until it is able to move away by means of an electric current or electrical discharge. Static electricity is na ...

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

motors An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, circuits, and

crystal radio A crystal radio receiver, also called a crystal set, is a simple radio receiver, popular in the early days of radio. It uses only the power of the received radio signal to produce sound, needing no external power. It is named for its most impo ...

s. In 2018, the SPARK education program served nearly 2,000 students.

Events

Aside from normal operations, the museum utilizes its Tesla Performance Center to host various events. Past events include: * The Chuckanut Radio Hour * Midnight Mystery Players * Art Of Jazz Series * Sustainable Connections *

LinuxFest Northwest LinuxFest Northwest is an annual technology conference and expo held in Bellingham, Washington. It is a Saturday and Sunday weekend event held in late April or early May. The event is dedicated to discussion and development of the Linux operating ...

* Bellingham Robot Festival *An Evening with Benjamin Franklin *Lectures, including "The roots of radio", "The untold story of the telephone", "The untold story of the telegraph", and "The war of the currents" by Museum President John Jenkins

References

External links

SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention website
{{Museums in Puget Sound 1998 establishments in Washington (state) Museums established in 1998 Technology museums in the United States Science museums in Washington (state) Industry museums in Washington (state) Museums in Bellingham, Washington Telecommunications museums in the United States