Alexander Graham Bell honors and tributes
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275px, Alexander Graham Bell honors and tributes include honors bestowed upon him and awards named for him. Alexander Graham Bell received numerous tributes during his life, and new awards were subsequently named for him posthumously.Dr. Bell, Inventor of Telephone, Dies: Sudden End, Due to Anemia...: Notables Pay Him Tribute
The New York Times, August 3, 1922;
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 16, 1847.


Major awards and tributes

Among those tributes: * Chief George Henry Martin Johnson (Onwanonsyshon) of the aboriginal Six Nations Mohawk Reserve, near Bell's home in
Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, awarded him the title of Honorary Chief for his work in translating the unwritten
Mohawk language Mohawk (; ''Kanienʼkéha'', " anguageof the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in current or former Haudenosaunee territories, predominately Canada (southern ...
into Visible Speech symbols (c. 1870); * The National Association of Teachers of the Deaf elects Bell its president (1874); * The
United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
awarded Bell the master telephone patent, No. 174,465, dated March 7, 1876. It becomes the foundation asset of the Bell Telephone Company, which later evolved into
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
, at times the world's largest
telephone company A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
. The patent is considered by many to be the most valuable ever issued in history (1876); * The U.S. Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in June 1876, made Bell's newly created telephone a featured headline worldwide just a few months after it had been patented. Among the exhibition's judges were the notable Emperor Dom Pedro II of the
Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...
and the eminent British physicist William Thomson (later made
Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...
). Upon hearing Bell's voice through the telephone's receiver, the emperor reputedly exclaimed: ''"My God! It talks!"'' Thomson described the telephone as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph". Thomson and Emperor Pedro, who was equally amazed that the telephone could 'speak' in Portuguese, later recommended the device to the ''Committee of Electrical Awards'', which voted Bell its ''Gold Medal for Electrical Equipment''. Bell also won a second Gold Medal for his additional display of Visible Speech at the exposition, and further won an order of 100 telephones from Emperor Pedro for his country. Ironically, Bell—then occupied full-time as both a private teacher and as a professor at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
—hadn't planned on attending the exhibition due to his heavy work schedule, and left Boston only at the last moment to attend the exposition at the stern insistence of his then-fiance and future wife Mabel Hubbard, aged 18. Gray, Charlottebr>Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell
HarperCollins, Toronto, 2006, pp. 137–138, , . Note: Mabel understood Bell's reluctance to go to the exhibition, so she secretly bought his train ticket, packed his bag, and then took the unknowing Bell to the train station where she told her shocked fiancé that he was going on a trip. When Bell started protesting Mabel turned her sight away from him, thus becoming literally deaf to his utterances; she additionally threatened to cancel their marriage engagement. Note: some of Bell's honorary degrees received on p. 346;
Dom Pedro's chance viewing of the invention at the fair was pivotal to the awards and world headlines Bell earned, helping the telephone gain public acceptance (1876); * The
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
elected Bell a Fellow of the Academy (1877); * Bell received the James Watt silver medal for the telephone from the
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (commonly known as The Poly) is an educational, cultural and scientific charity, as well as a local arts and cinema venue, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Society exists to promot ...
(1877); * The
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (est.1795) of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence." Founders included Paul Revere, Jonathan Hunnewell, a ...
(a.k.a. the ''Association of the Mechanics of Boston'') awarded two gold medals to Bell, as exhibitor #626 registered to the New England Telephone Company of Boston, MA, for both the telephone and Visible Speech, twinning the results of the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia two years earlier (1878); * The Society of Arts in London awards him his first Royal Albert medal, a silver, for his paper on the telephone (1878); * The Third Paris
World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
, called the Exposition Universelle, awarded Bell (along with Elisha Gray and Thomas Edison) a ''Grand Prize'' for the telephone (1878); * Gallaudet College, earlier chartered as the Columbia Institution Of The Deaf, and at the time called the National Deaf-Mute College, of Washington, D.C., awarded Bell an Honorary Ph.D.'' 'in recognition of his work for the Deaf' ''(1880).
Interference Case in the U. S. Patent Office, THE AERIAL EXPERIMENT ASSOCIATION versus MYERS: Deposition of Alexander Graham Bell
Reprinted from The Beinn Bhreagh Recorder Vol.XVII No.10, pp. 195–221, retrieved from the U.S.
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
2009-04-05.
* The
French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
, representing the French government, awarded Bell the ''
Volta Prize The Volta Prize (French: ''prix Volta'') was originally established by Napoleon III during the Second French Empire in 1852 to honor Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist noted for developing the electric battery.John L. Davis. Artisans and savan ...
'' with a purse of 50,000 francs (approximately $10,000) for the invention of the telephone (1880). Since Bell was becoming increasingly affluent, he used his prize money to create endowment funds (the 'Volta Fund') and institutions in and around the United States capital of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
They included the prestigious'' 'Volta Laboratory Association' ''(1880), also known as the'' '
Volta Laboratory The Volta Laboratory (also known as the Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory, the Bell Carriage House and the Bell Laboratory) and the Volta Bureau were created in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. by Alexander Graham Bell.(19/20th-century scientist an ...
' ''and as the'' 'Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory', ''as well as creating the Volta Bureau (1887) as a center for studies on deafness. The Volta Laboratory became a permanently funded experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery, and the very next year invented a wax phonograph
cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
that was later used by
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 inventi ...
; * The
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of the
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,
Jules Grévy François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known as Jules Grévy (), was a French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of the Moderate Republicans, and given that hi ...
, on the recommendation of his
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire (19 August 1805 – 24 November 1895) was a French philosopher, journalist, statesman, and possible illegitimate son of Napoleon I of France. Biography Jules was born in Paris. Marie Belloc Lowndes, in th ...
and with the presentations of the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs Louis Cochery, designated Bell with the '' distinction'' of an'' ' Officer Of The Legion of Honour' ''(
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
) by decree on 10 November 1881, in recognition of his inventions (1881); File:French Presidential Decree -Award of Legion of Honour to Helholtz, Bell and Edison -10 November 1881 Pg. 1.jpg File:French Presidential Decree -Award of Legion of Honour to Helholtz, Bell and Edison -10 November 1881 Pg. 3.jpg File:French Presidential Decree -Award of Legion of Honour to Helholtz, Bell and Edison -10 November 1881 Pg. 5.jpg * The Society of Arts issues their second Royal Albert silver medal to him for his paper on his proudest achievement, the
Photophone The photophone is a telecommunications device that allows transmission of speech on a beam of light. It was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's laboratory at 1325 ...
, invented a year earlier (1881); * The
University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
,
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
granted Bell an honorary (Ph.D.) (1882). * The
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
elected Bell as a member (1882). * The National Academy of Sciences elected Bell as a member (1883);
The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers: Time Line of Alexander Graham Bell, 1880–1889
retrieved 2009-04-30 from
The Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Manuscript Division, Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers.
Osborne, Harold S. (1943
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
, National Academy of Sciences: Biographical Memoirs, Vol. XXIII, 1847–1922, presented to the Academy at its 1943 annual meeting.
* The
American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...
, predecessor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers elected Bell as one of its founding vice presidents, and later elevated him to its president (1884, and president 1891–1892); * The Rupert Charles University of
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
awarded him an ''Honorary Doctor of Medicine'' degree, for Bell's invention of an ultrasound metal detector, used in a bid to save the life of President James Abram Garfield (1886).
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: BELL, ALEXANDER GRAHAM
1921–1930 (Volume XV), retrieved March 6, 2009.
* The
American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...
(AIEE) appointed Bell its president (1891–1892); *
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
granted him an honorary Doctor of Laws degrees (LL.D.) (1896); *
Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...
awarded him an LL.D. degree (1896): N.B.: there are two different years cited for this degree –the college's data is shown. * The
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
appointed him President (1898–1903). * The
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
granted him several appointments as a regent of the world famous
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
(1898–1924);
Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers: Biographical Notes
Library of Congress, retrieved 2009-04-05.
* The Washington Academy of Sciences, founded by a group of scientists which included Samuel Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, elected Bell its President (c.1900); * The U.S. Census Bureau appointed him a special agent to the bureau in order to determine the extent of the Twelfth Census that applied to the deaf of the United States (1900);
Scots and Scots Descendant in America, Part V - Biographies, Alexander Graham Bell, LL.D. Ph.d., Se.D., M.D.
ElectricScotland.com website. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
* The
Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England, awarded him the '' Albert Medal'' for his invention of the telephone (1902). *
St Andrew's University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
awarded Bell a ''
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
'' degree (Ph. D.) (1902). * The
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
granted him an honorary
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
degree (1906); Bruce, Robert V. (1990) ''Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude'', pp. 477, 483, Cornell University Press, , . *
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
granted him an honorary ''
Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
'' degree (D.Sc./Sc.D.) (1906). * The ''American Association of Engineering Societies'' awarded him the John Fritz Medal (1907). * Bell and the other four members of the
Aerial Experiment Association The Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) was a Canadian-American aeronautical research group formed on 30 September 1907, under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. The AEA produced several different aircraft in quick succession, with eac ...
are awarded the Scientific American Prize for the ''First public airplane flight greater than one kilometer in the United States'' (1908); * Queen's University in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...
, presented an honorary Doctor of Laws degrees (LL.D.) to him (1909). * The ''Bell Homestead Museum'', part of the Bell Homestead National Historic Site in
Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indepen ...
, was the Bell family's first home in North America and the site where Bell invented the telephone in the July 1874. Bell's parents and extended family lived on the 10 acre site for 11 years, with the homestead being sold when his parents moved to Washington, D.C., to join their son. The museum was opened to the public in 1910. The farm, carriage house and its principal building, Melville House were earlier obtained from its last private owner by the Bell Telephone Memorial Association in 1909. Its rooms were restored to their original condition and many of its furnishings are original Bell possessions. Butorac, Yvonne. "Bell's Brantford Homestead Celebrates Phone Invention", ''Toronto Star'', June 29, 1995, p. G10, ProQuest document ID 437257031. The site also later added the Henderson Home, Canada's first telephone company office opened in 1877 and a predecessor of Bell Canada, which was moved to the museum from its original location in downtown Brantford. In the present day the museum is operated by the Bell Homestead Society, and has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada (1910). * Upon its inception at its first meeting on November 2, 1911, in Boston, the fraternal Telephone Pioneers of America organization made Bell its first charter member. The organization has since grown to more than 600,000 individuals (1911). * The
Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
awarded Bell the '' Elliott Cresson Medal'' in the field of Engineering for'' "Electrical Transmission of Articulate Speech"'' (1912). * George Washington University awarded him an Honorary Degree (1913). * The
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
awarded him the '' David Edward Hughes Medal'' for'' 'an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications', ''citing Bell'' "...for his share in the invention of the telephone, and more especially the construction of the telephone receiver" ''(1913). *
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
awarded Bell an honorary ''
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
'' degree (1913); * The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers awarded him the '' Thomas Alva Edison Medal "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts"'' (1914). * ''Bell, the celebrity'', in New York, ceremonially inaugurated the United States' first ''transcontinental telephone system'' with a widely reported telephone call to his former assistant Thomas Watson in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, during which Watson quipped to Bell that he could hear him ''"much better now"'' (1915);
Invitation from Theodore N. Vail to Alexander Graham Bell to Attend Ceremonies Marking the Completion of the Transcontinental Telephone System
Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Bell Family Papers;
* Dr. John H. Finley, founder of the Junior American Red Cross and New York State Commissioner of Education, presented Bell with the ''Civic Forum Medal of Honor for Distinguished Public Service'' at Carnegie Hall (1917); * The
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
, Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, unveiled the
Bell Telephone Memorial The Bell Memorial (also known as the Bell Monument or Telephone Monument) is a memorial designed by Walter Seymour Allward to commemorate the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell at the Bell Homestead National Historic Site, in Bra ...
(photo below) erected in Bell's honor in The Telephone City's (Brantford, ON) ''Alexander Graham Bell Gardens'' as part of the City of Brantford's public parks system (1917). Whitaker, A.J
Bell Telephone Memorial
City of Brantford/Hurley Printing, Brantford, Ontario, 1917.
image:Alexander Graham Bell Brantford Monument 0.98.jpg, 700px, center, The
Bell Telephone Memorial The Bell Memorial (also known as the Bell Monument or Telephone Monument) is a memorial designed by Walter Seymour Allward to commemorate the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell at the Bell Homestead National Historic Site, in Bra ...
, commemorating the
invention of the telephone The invention of the telephone was the culmination of work done by more than one individual, and led to an array of lawsuits relating to the patent claims of several individuals and numerous companies. Early development The concept of th ...
by Alexander Graham Bell. The monument, paid by public subscription and sculpted by Walter Seymour Allward, W.S. Allward, was dedicated by the
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
, Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire with Dr. Bell in The Telephone City's Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in 1917. Included on the main tableau are figures representing ''Man, the inventor'', ''Inspiration whispering to Man, his power to transmit sound through space'', as well as ''Knowledge, Joy,'' and ''Sorrow''. (Courtesy: ''Brantford Heritage Inventory, City of Brantford, Ontario, Canada''), alt=A majestic, broad monument with figures mounted on pedestals to its left and right sides. Along the main portion of the monument are five figures mounted on a broad casting, including a man reclining, plus four floating classical female figures representing Inspiration, Knowledge, Joy, and Sorrow. * Bell inaugurates the Alexander Graham Bell School (Chicago, Illinois), Alexander Graham Bell School in Chicago, Illinois. The elementary school was founded in 1917 with 24 classrooms for hearing students and 15 classrooms for deaf students, after the Chicago School Board allocated US$285,000 for it in 1915 (approximately $ in current dollars). The school, one of the largest built in the Chicago Public School system at the time, was opened one year earlier. (1918); * The City of
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
made him a Burgess and honored Bell with its Freedom of The City award during his final "farewell visit" to Europe (1920). He was being accompanied by his wife Mabel, and his granddaughter and secretary Mabel H. Grosvenor.


Other citations, honours and awards

* Bell received numerous other awards and honorary degrees during his life. Among them were: **''Doctor of Philosophy'' degree (Ph. D.) from
Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...
in recognition for his work for the deaf. Note that this may be an erroneous item, as the College's website only lists a single degree to Bell ––his LL.D in 1896. ; ** ''Doctor of Laws'' degree (LL.D.) from Amherst College;Interference Case in the U. S. Patent Office, THE AERIAL EXPERIMENT ASSOCIATION versus MYERS: Deposition of Alexander Graham Bell
Reprinted from The Beinn Bhreagh Recorder Vol.XVII No.10, pp. 195–221, retrieved from the U.S.
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
2009-04-05. Note: Although ''Queen's University'' (in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...
) is cited, Bell inaccurately identified it as'' 'Kingston' ''University (or College) during his legal deposition.
* Bell additionally received the Karl Koenig von Württemberg gold medal; * At the age of eighteen, Bell was nominated for membership in the scholarly London Philological Society, by linguist and mathematician Alexander Ellis, on the basis of a study Bell had written on
overtone An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...
s.Shulman 2008, p. 46. Ellis also lent him a work by German scientist
Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...
, with Bell's incorrect translation of that work becoming the basis of his enduring research into transmitting speech telephonic-ally (1865); * Bell was also nominated as a ''Resident Member'' of the
Boston Society of Natural History The Boston Society of Natural History (1830–1948) in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the s ...
(1876).


Other posthumous tributes

* Upon Bell's death, during his burial,'' "....every phone on the continent of North America was silenced in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct communication at a distance" ''; * When he heard of his death,
Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such ...
Mackenzie King cabled Mrs. Bell, saying: :" he Government expressesto you our sense of the world's loss in the death of your distinguished husband. It will ever be a source of pride to our country that the great invention, with which his name is immortally associated, is a part of its history. On the behalf of the citizens of Canada, may I extend to you an expression of our combined gratitude and sympathy." * U.S. President Warren Harding also telegram Mrs. Bell, saying: :"The announcement of your eminent husband’s death comes a great shock to me. In common with all of his countrymen, I have learned to revere him as one of the great benefactors.... and among the foremost Americans of all generations. He will be mourned and honored by human kind everywhere as one who served it greatly, untiringly and usefully" * A large number o
Bell's writings, notebooks, papers and other documents
were established at the United States
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Manuscript Division, as the ''Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers''. The collection is currently available for online viewing; * Another large collection of Bell's documents reside at th
Alexander Graham Bell Institute
at Cape Breton University,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
; * The
US Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
declared Bell first on its list of the country's greatest inventors (1936);Beauchamp, Christopher
Who Invented the Telephone?: Lawyers, Patents, and the Judgments of History
''
Technology and Culture ''Technology and Culture'' is a quarterly academic journal founded in 1959. It is an official publication of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), whose members routinely refer to it as "T&C." Besides scholarly articles and critical ...
'', Vol. 51, No. 4, October 2010, p. 878 (of pp. 854–878), DOI: 10.1353/tech.2010.0038.
* The '' bel'' (B), and the smaller '' decibel'' (dB), units of measure of ''
sound intensity Sound intensity, also known as acoustic intensity, is defined as the power carried by sound waves per unit area in a direction perpendicular to that area. The SI unit of intensity, which includes sound intensity, is the watt per square meter (W/m2 ...
'' were invented by the
Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...
, and were named in his honor. The units are widely used in science, technology and engineering (1937); * The
United States Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postma ...
issued a 10 cent commemorative postage stamp of Bell, part of its 'Famous Americans Series' of 1940. This particular stamp was so popular it sold out in little time and became, and is to this day, the most valuable stamp in that series. * The
US Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
ship ''S.S. Alexander Graham Bell'' (hull #583) was launched and commissioned for service in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
(18 October 1942); * The Telephone Pioneers of America dedicated a plaque on the wall of the Franklin School at 13th & K Streets NW in Washington, D.C., honoring Bell's invention of the
Photophone The photophone is a telecommunications device that allows transmission of speech on a beam of light. It was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's laboratory at 1325 ...
, the precursor of fibre-optical communications, and which he referred to as his'' 'greatest invention'.'' The plaque read: :''"From the top floor of this building • Was sent on June 3, 1880 • Over a beam of light to 1325 'L' Street • The first wireless telephone message • In the history of the world. • The apparatus used in sending the message • Was the Photophone invented by • Alexander Graham Bell • inventor of the telephone • This plaque was placed here by • Alexander Graham Bell Chapter • Telephone Pioneers of America..."''; (1947) * The Charles Fleetford Sise Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America commissioned and dedicated a large statue of Bell in the front portico of
Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...
, Ontario's new Bell Telephone Building plant on Market Street. The Pioneers raised over $5,000 across North America for the work in 1948–1949 (more than $ in current dollars). Attending the formal ceremony were Bell's daughter, Mrs. Gillbert Grosvenor, Frederick Johnson, President of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, T.N. Lacy, President of the Telephone Pioneers, and Brantford Mayor Walter J. Dowden. The statue had been designed and crafted by A.E. Cleeve Horne in his Toronto studio in the style of the Lincoln Memorial, and cast in bronze in New York. Pioneers president T.N. Lacy spoke at the unveiling comparing the Cleeve Horne work to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, saying that sculptor "....has accomplished in this memorial to Alexander Graham Bell what Daniel Chester French created for the Lincoln Memorial... ...he has caught and reflected the conviction that Bell, like Lincoln, was an emancipator... egave freedom and range to the human voice." On each side of the monument is the engraved inscription, "In Grateful Recognition of the Inventor of the Telephone". Its dedication was broadcast nationally by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
"Daughter Unveils Inventor's Statue: Bronze Figure Is Dedicated By Phone Pioneers", ''
Brantford Expositor The ''Brantford Expositor'' is an English language newspaper based in Brantford, Ontario and owned by Postmedia. It provides the readers with coverage of local news, sports and events to the community as well as coverage of provincial, national a ...
'', 18 June 1949;
(17 June 1949) * The Hall of Fame for Great Americans inducted Bell by 70 votes (1950); * The Canadian Government also established the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, which also includes the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, in
Baddeck, Nova Scotia Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
(1952); * The
Salem, MA Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the ...
Essex Institute The Essex Institute (1848–1992) in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society." It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications. In 1992 th ...
presented a plaque (originally dedicated in 1922) honoring Alexander Graham Bell and his financial supporters Thomas and Mary Ann Brown Sanders to the
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company was a very early, short lived company set up to develop the then-new telephone. It should not be confused with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company that was formed a year later and was one ...
, located on Essex Street on the YMCA Building (1958); * At the age of 19, Bell wrote a report on his studies of tuning fork resonance and sent it to
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
Alexander Ellis, a colleague of his father. Ellis would later be portrayed as Professor Henry Higgins in
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's famous play, Pygmalion, in 1913. Pygmalion was later adapted into the
Oscar Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning movie
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
, where in hommage to Bell's work teaching the deaf to speak, the movie's central character, Prof. Higgins (played by famed actor Rex Harrison) refers to the use of "Bell's Visible Speech" (1964). * The
National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...
(NAHF) enshrined him as a member for his extensive pioneering research in aeronautics (1965); * The
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
(IAU) named a crater on the moon
Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
, in his honor (1970); Gazetteer Of Planetary Nomenclature
International Astronomical Union website, retrieved July 2010;
*
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...
released an eight cent commemorative issue stamp on July 26, 1974, honouring the centenary of the
invention of the telephone The invention of the telephone was the culmination of work done by more than one individual, and led to an array of lawsuits relating to the patent claims of several individuals and numerous companies. Early development The concept of th ...
at Bell's parent's home, Melville House, now called the Bell Homestead National Historic Site. The stamp feature's three phones: a (then) modern Contempra telephone by
Nortel Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec, ...
, a much earlier daffodil phone, plus Bell's very earliest experimental model of 1875, the Gallows telephone (1974); The Telephone, 1874–1974
(Postage Stamp Press Release, Postal Source: 0621), at Canadian Postal Archives Database, Canada Post Office Department, 1974. Retrieved from Library and Archives Canada website on 21 August 2013.
* The
National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
(NIHF) inducted Bell as a member, describing his works: ''...Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for hydroairplanes, and two for a selenium cell'' (1974); * The
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring ''"exceptional contributions to communications and networking sciences and engineering"'' in the field of telecommunications. The medal is one of the highest honors awarded by the Instit ...
was created in his honor by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (currently sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs), to annually award outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications (1976); * Parks Canada dedicates the a park as part of the
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a property in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes. The site is a unit of Parks Canada, the national park system, and includes the Alexander Graham Bell Nat ...
in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, which contains the Alexander Graham Bell Museum opened earlier in 1956, not far from Bell's estate, Beinn Bhreagh (1976); * The Royal Bank of Scotland issued a £1 commemorative banknote to mark the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics (3 March 1997); *
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
honored Bell with a $100 CAD gold coin in tribute to the 150th anniversary of his birth (1997), and with a silver dollar coin celebrating the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada (2009); *
Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame (french: link=no, Allée des célébrités canadiennes) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a ...
in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, awarded a special star to Bell as part of its new ''"Innovators' Category"''. The star (photo at right), with an early model telephone engraved in its very center, is located on Simcoe Street in Toronto (2001); * The Ontario Government's
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
, MPP Dave Levac, along with Bell's descendants, dedicated the
Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The ...
section of Provincial Highway 403 as "''The Alexander Graham Bell Parkway''", as well as an outdoor stage named the "''Bell Heritage Stage''" in
Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indepen ...
(2005); *
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
created a special web page on his birthday, with links to informational websites on him (2008); * The Aegis School of Business in India established the Aegis Graham Bell Awards in 2010, covering the fields of Telecom, Internet, Media, and Edutainment (TIME). The awards are held in association with the Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI) and Convergence India, and were created in tribute to Bell (2010); * Numerous other countries also issued coins, of both nominal and high value, as well as stamps dedicated to him and his inventions. Among the stamp releases are multiple definitive and commemorative issues by both Canada and the United States.


Honorary names of schools, organizations, awards, and placenames

A number of schools, institutes, organizations, academic scholarships, awards, and places have been named in honour of Bell. A number of historic sites and other marks also commemorate both him and the first
telephone company A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
buildings. Among them are:


International

* Bell Crater, a large crater on the
moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, named in his honor by the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
in 1970; * The
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring ''"exceptional contributions to communications and networking sciences and engineering"'' in the field of telecommunications. The medal is one of the highest honors awarded by the Instit ...
, created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to annually honor outstanding contributions in the field of telecommunications (since 1976);


Canada

* The City of Brantford, Ontario, dedicated a major monument to Bell in 1917, the
Bell Telephone Memorial The Bell Memorial (also known as the Bell Monument or Telephone Monument) is a memorial designed by Walter Seymour Allward to commemorate the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell at the Bell Homestead National Historic Site, in Bra ...
within its ''Alexander Graham Bell Gardens'', its inscription reading: ''"This Monument, the work of Walter S. Allward, R.C.A., Sculptor, was placed here through International subscription by the Bell Telephone Memorial Association to mark the invention of the Telephone at Brantford by Alexander Graham Bell in 1874"''. Additionally a large monument of a seated Bell is found at the entrance to Brantford's newer ''Bell Telephone Company of Canada'' building; * The
Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships
' for Masters and Doctoral studies in engineering and the natural sciences is awarded annually by Canada's
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...
(NSERC) of Ottawa,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
(note the double usage of ''"Bell"'' in the award name); * The ''Canadian Acoustical Association'' (CAA) annually awards the ''Alexander Graham Bell Student Prize in Speech Communication and Behavioral Acoustics'' for graduate research, named in tribute of Bell's lifelong research of speech and deafness;
Alexander Graham Bell Institute
a part of Cape Breton University in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
-and searchable o
its website here

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
maintained by Parks Canada, which incorporates the ''Alexander Graham Bell Museum'', in
Baddeck, Nova Scotia Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
. The site is close to Bell's original Beinn Bhreagh estate. The National Historic Site in Baddeck, in conjunction with the Bell Museum are open to visitation;
''The Bell Homestead''
also known as ''Melville House'', overlooking
Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indepen ...
and the Grand River, was Bell's first home in North America. Both the Bell Homestead and the historic ''Bell Telephone Company Building'' (see below) are open to visitors;
The Bell Homestead Society
maintains two historic buildings related to the extended Bell family: the first being their private residence (see item above) and the other one being ''The Henderson Home'', Canada's first telephone company building of the nascent Bell Telephone Company of Canada. The Henderson Home was originally built on Sheridan Street within the city of Brantford, Ontario, and was then carefully relocated in 1969 to its current site at the historic Bell Homestead site. Both the ''Bell Homestead'' and the ''Bell Telephone Company Building'' are open to visitation; * Th
Alexander Graham Bell Memorial Park
featuring a broad neoclassical monument depicting mankind's ability to communicate across the globe instantly; * The ''Alexander Graham Bell Museum'' (opened in 1956), which is part of the
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a property in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes. The site is a unit of Parks Canada, the national park system, and includes the Alexander Graham Bell Nat ...
(completed in 1978) in
Baddeck, Nova Scotia Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
. Numerous museum artifacts were contributed by Bell's daughters; * The '' Alexander Graham Bell Club'' (founded 1891), Canada's oldest continuing women's club, which grew out of a social organization started at
Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia ( ) is the name of the former estate of Alexander Graham Bell, in Victoria County, Nova Scotia. It refers to a peninsula jutting into Cape Breton Island's scenic Bras d'Or Lake approximately southeast of the village of Baddeck, forming the ...
, by Mabel Bell, Alexander's wife. Bell's granddaughter and former secretary, Dr. Mabel Harlakenden Grosvenor, was its former Honorary President, until her death in 2006. The club, originally created as The Young Ladies Of Baddeck Club, was renamed in 1922 after Bell's death, and after Mabel Bell declined the use of her name.Bethune, Jocelyn
Historic Baddeck: Images Of Our Past
Nimbus Publishing, Halifax, N.S., 2009, pp. 112–113, 117, , .
* ''Graham Bell-Victoria School'', a public school in Brantford, ON (an amalgamation of two different public schools); * ''Alexander Graham Bell Public School'', in Ajax, ON; * ''Alexander Graham Bell High School'', in
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
; * ''Graham Bell Court'', in
Milton, Ontario Milton ( 2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in popu ...
; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Drive'' in Sydney, Nova Scotia, which intersects two other historically named streets associated with Bell: Douglas McCurdy Drive and Silver Dart Way, adjacent to J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport; * ''rue Graham-Bell'' (street), in the city of Boucherville; and in Sainte-Foy,
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
; in Saint-Bruno; in
Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...
plus also in St-Hubert, Quebec; * Th
Graham Bell Museum Gift Shop & Tea Room
on Big Baddeck Road,
Baddeck, Nova Scotia Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
, B0E 1B0. * A statue of Alexander and Mabel Bell by Peter Buston was unveiled on the waterfront in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in 2008.


China

* ''Bei'er Road'' (street and Metro station), in the Longgang district of
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
City. Note that the name was using
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
notation and not the original surname.


France

* ''rue Graham Bell'' (street), in the city of
Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
,
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
; and in La Roche-sur-Yon in western France; and in the town of
Mérignac Mérignac may refer to : ;Places * Mérignac, Charente, a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Gironde, a commun ...
, Gironde,
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...
; plus also in the community of
Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée ...
,
Marne-la-Vallée Marne-la-Vallée () is a new town located near Paris, France. Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park, Val d'Europe, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, ESIEE Paris, and École des Ponts ParisTech are located in Marne-la-Vallée. St ...
,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
; * ''avenue Alexander Graham Bell'', in ''Parc Léonard de Vinci'', Marne La Vallee, Paris.


India

* ''Alexander Graham Bell Road'', in
Malabar Hill Malabar Hill (ISO: Malabār Hill ələbaːɾ is a hillock and upmarket residential neighbourhood in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Malabar Hill is the most exclusive residential area in Mumbai. It is home to several business tycoons and f ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
.


Germany

* ''Alexander Graham Bell Straße'', in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
; * ''Graham-Bell Weg'', in Garbsen,
Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
; * ''Graham-Bell Straße'', in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...
.


Mexico

* ''Graham Bell Street'', in Residencial Los Robles, Apodaca.


New Zealand

* ''Graham Bell Avenue'', in
Mount Roskill Mount Roskill is a suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is named for the volcanic peak Puketāpapa (commonly called "Mount Roskill" in English). Description The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to ...
,
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
.


Russia

* Graham Bell Island, in the Franz Josef Archipelago.


South Africa

* ''Graham Bell Street'', in Despatch, Eastern Cape, a small town near Port Elizabeth.


Switzerland

* ''Graham Bell Strasse'', in Reinach.


Spain

* ''Graham Bell Street'', in Campanillas, Málaga.


The Netherlands

* ''Graham Bell Straat'', in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
; * ''Graham Bell Straat'', in Heerlen.


United Kingdom

*'' Alexander Graham Bell Birthplace'', at a house on 14 South Charlotte Street in
Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of ...
, where there's an inscribed stone beside the doorway of his birth home, and additionally one within its entrance way; * The ''Alexander Graham Bell Building'', at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, which was named after him; * The ''Alexander Graham Bell Apartment'', an apartment-hotel also in Edinburgh.


United States

* The Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory in Washington, D.C., the informal name of the Volta Laboratory established by the Volta Associates in 1881; * Two historic tablets plus a minor monument near Exeter Place in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, MA mark the location of the Alexander Graham Bell's first successful telephone and the words he first transmitted to his assistant, Thomas Augustus Watson. The monument's inscription reads: ''"• Birthplace of the Telephone • Here, on June 2, 1875, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson first transmitted sound over wires. This successful experiment was completed in a fifth floor garret at what was 109 Court Street and marked the beginning of world-wide telephone service • The First Telephone •". The separate historic markers were erected by The Bostonian Society and the
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company was a very early, short lived company set up to develop the then-new telephone. It should not be confused with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company that was formed a year later and was one ...
in 1916, and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2006; * The ''Alexander Graham Bell Professorship of Health Care Entrepreneurship'' was established by
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
in his memory;
The Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship
is awarded to Boston University College of Engineering students; * Alexander Graham Bell School (Chicago, Illinois), Alexander Graham Bell School, a public grammar (K–8) school on the north side of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, providing programs to deaf, blind, mentally disabled, gifted as well as standard students; * Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, headquartered in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and with chapters across the United States, as well as internationally. The Association also sponsors the AG Bell College Scholarship Awards Program for a number of deaf or hard of hearing full-time students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees. In 2010, 18 awards were granted ranging from $1,000 to $10,000; * ''Alexander Graham Bell School PS 205Q'', a public (K–5) school in Bayside,
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School Academy'', a (PK-8) public school on Larchmere Blvd. in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, serving regular and hearing-impaired students; * ''Alexander Graham Bell School'', a preschool and kindergarten center for the Columbus Public Schools Hearing Impaired Program (CHIP) in Columbus, Ohio; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School'', a (K–1) public school in Columbus, OH; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School'', a (PK–1) public school for regular, gifted and deaf students in Chicago, IL; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Montessori School'', in Wheeling, IL. N.B.: Both Alexander and his wife
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard Mabel Gardiner Hubbard (November 25, 1857 – January 3, 1923) was an American businesswoman, and the daughter of Boston lawyer Gardiner Green Hubbard. As the wife of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the first practical telephone, she took t ...
were significant supporters of the Italian Montessori early childhood teaching method and helped established early Montessori schools in North America; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School'', in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, MI; * ''AG Bell Accelerated Academy'', a school in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Middle School'', in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language
at 3417 Volta Place, NW, Washington, D.C., an independently governed, subsidiary corporation of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which provides certification of listening, verbal and spoken language therapists, specialists and educators; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Hall'', one of the residences at
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...
(RIT), adjacent to the
National Technical Institute for the Deaf The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. As one of nine colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rocheste ...
(NTID) building, was named in honor of Bell and dedicated in 1979 (Bell had spent significant amounts of his personal fortune creating institutions for the deaf). A brass plaque mounted at the entrance noted that Bell was ''"a brilliant and innovative teacher of the deaf who dedicated a great portion of his life to help deaf children develop the potential for listening, speaking and lipreading. Today, NTID emulates the ideals for which Alexander Graham Bell worked"''. However those opposed to Bell's sole reliance on oralism, as well as his advocacy in the prevention of deafness via eugenics, protested the use of his name for the institutes's residence. In July 2008, the RIT president and its board of trustees approved the removal of the "Alexander Graham Bell Hall" name, along with its plaque. The RIT action is apparently the only known instance of a removal of Bell's name for ideological reasons; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Boulevard'', in Lehigh Acres, Lee County,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
; * ''Alexander Graham Bell Drive'', in
Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...
, and in Reston, Virginia.


Alexander Graham Bell in popular culture


In fiction

* Eric Walters' ''The Hydrofoil Mystery'' (1999) sets a novel in Alexander Graham Bell's workshops, casting the hydrofoil as a new weapon of war being readied for use against German U-boats during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.


In music

* In the early 1970s, the UK rock group
The Sweet The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer M ...
recorded a tribute to Bell and the telephone, suitably titled "Alexander Graham Bell". The song gives a fictional account of the invention, in which Bell devises the telephone so he can talk to his girlfriend who lives on the other side of the United States. The song reached the top 40 in the UK and went on to sell over one million recordings worldwide. * Another musical tribute to Bell, ''Alexander Graham Bell'' (2006) was written by the British songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson. The chorus reminds the listener that "of course there was the telephone, he'd be famous for that alone, but there's 50 other things as well from Alexander Graham Bell".


In film and TV

*
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell ''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 biographical film of the famous inventor. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mab ...
, (reformatted for VCR)
Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...
playing Bell, (1939); * ''Biography –Alexander Graham Bell'', A&E DVD biography based on historical footage and still pictures of Bell, (2005);
The Sound and the Silence: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
(TV miniseries) with
John Bach John Bach (born 5 June 1946) is a British-born New Zealand actor who has acted on stage, television and film over a period of more than four decades. Though born in the United Kingdom, he has spent most of his career living and working in New Z ...
as Bell; Vanessa Vaughan and Elizabeth Quinn portrayed Bell's fiancé and wife respectively; Canada / New Zealand / Ireland (1992) ; * . * Bell has been honoured on numerous television programs, including programs in three different countries to determine their "greatest citizens": #57 on The 100 Greatest Britons (2002), #9 on
The Greatest Canadian ''The Greatest Canadian'' is a 2004 television series consisting of 13 episodes produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, according to those who watched and p ...
s (2004), and The 100 Greatest Americans (2005) (only the Top 25 on American list were numbered). The nominees and rankings of these programs were determined by popular vote.


Other references to Bell's corporate namesakes


Corporate namesakes

The "Bell" trademark has been used, and is still in use, with a variety of telephone companies in North America and around the world, including: * Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, which since 2009 is the new name of the former (since 2001), which was originally created as the Shanghai Bell Manufacturing Co. in 1983; *
American Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company – the New Englan ...
, the new name of the former ''National Bell Telephone Company''. It obtained its new name on March 20, 1880, and was then later absorbed into its own subsidiary
American Telephone and Telegraph AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...
(AT&T) on December 30, 1899; *
Bell Atlantic Corporation Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
, the former name of Verizon Communications Inc., which is still currently part of the
Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...
; * Bell Canada, the new name of the ''Bell Telephone Company of Canada''; * Bell Communications Research, or
Bellcore iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...
, the name formerly used by today's
Telcordia Technologies iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...
prior to 1997. The Bellcore lab was a consortium established by the
Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...
(RBOC) upon their separation from AT&T in 1984; * Bell Patent Association, technically not a corporation but a trusteeship and a partnership first established verbally in 1874 to be the holders of the patents produced by Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson. Approximately 30% interests were to be held by
Gardiner Greene Hubbard Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897) was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Tel ...
, a lawyer and Bell's future father-in-law, Thomas Sanders, the well-to-do leather merchant father of one of Bell's deaf students, and finally Bell himself. The last 10% interest of the association was assigned to Bell's assistant Thomas Watson, in lieu of salary. The verbal Patent Association agreement was first formalized in a memorandum of agreement on February 27, 1875. The Patent Association's assets later became the foundation of the '' Bell Telephone Company'', a common law joint stock company created in July 1877 by Gardiner Hubbard; * Bell Telephone Company founded on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law
Gardiner Greene Hubbard Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897) was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Tel ...
and a partner. It was renamed the ''National Bell Telephone Company'' on February 17, 1879; * Bell Telephone Company of Canada, the forerunner of today's Bell Canada which owns its 'Bell' trademark outright in Canada; * Bell Telephone Company of Illinois; * Bell Telephone Company of Michigan; * Bell Telephone Company of New Jersey; * Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania; *
Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...
, the former name of the ''Bell Laboratories'', the research and development arm of the Bell System, and also formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories. Bell Laboratories is now the research organization of
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a s ...
; * Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company of Belgium, created as a subsidiary of the ''International Bell Telephone Company'' in 1882, and which was sold to International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) in 1925. ITT later divested all its international telecommunication assets to
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a s ...
in 1989; * Bell System, which referred to a popular name used to describe the group of companies which operated initial telephone services in the United States and Canada; * BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation, publishes telephone directories for AT&T customers served by BellSouth Telecommunications. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T founded in 1984 to undertake the operations of the Bell System Yellow Pages owned by Southern Bell and South Central Bell. BAPCO published its directories under the "Real Pages" name; * BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., currently part of the
Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...
of AT&T, serves the southeastern United States (Alabama/Florida/Georgia/Kentucky/Louisiana/Mississippi/North Carolina/South Carolina/Southeast/Tennessee). BellSouth Telecommunications was formed on January 1, 1992, when BellSouth merged its operating companies, Southern Bell and South Central Bell, into one entity; * Cincinnati Bell, Inc., a former independent Bell System franchise Cincinnati Bell, which was not part of the 1984 divestiture from AT&T; * Compagnie Belge du Telephone Bell, of Antwerp, Belgium, formed in 1882 as a subsidiary of the ''International Bell Telephone Company''; * Edison Gower-Bell Telephone Company of Europe, Ltd., which held telephone patents for Bell, Edison and Frederic Gower (see next item below) in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, and was responsible for sales to all European countries outside Britain, France, Turkey and Greece; * Gower Bell Telephone Company was a European company created by Frederic Allan Gower of the United States, who previously had a Bell franchise in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
in the early 1880s. In the UK he created a telephone of his own design, free of Bell's patents, that became the common British Post Office telephone; In 1881 Gower Bell joined with the ''United Telephone Company'' (an amalgamation of the Edison and Bell companies in London) and created the ''Consolidated Telephone Construction and Maintenance Co. Ltd.'', to manufacture telephones;Gower Bell
Bob's Old Phones website. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
*
Illinois Bell Illinois Bell Telephone Company, LLC is the Bell Operating Company serving Illinois. It is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, formerly Ameritech. Their headquarters are at 225 West Randolph St., Chicago, IL. After the 1984 Bell System ...
Telephone Company, operating as ''AT&T Illinois''; * Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc., operating as ''AT&T Indiana''; *
International Bell Telephone Company The International Bell Telephone Company (IBTC) of Brussels, Belgium, was created in 1879 by the Bell Telephone Company of Boston, Massachusetts, a precursor entity to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), initially to sell imported t ...
, formed in 1880 to help promote Bell's business outside of North America; * Japan Bell Telephone, as well as Japan Bell Telephone Laboratories;Bell of Japan Launched Network Videophone Project in Shenyang
AsiaInfo, August 23, 2003;
*
Malheur Bell Malheur Home Telephone Company, commonly known as Malheur Bell, was a rural telephone company operating in Oregon. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qwest Corporation, the Bell Operating Company of Qwest Communications International. History T ...
, the common name of the ''Malheur Home Telephone Company'', a rural telephone company operating in
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
that is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Qwest Corporation Qwest Corporation is a former Regional Bell Operating Company owned by Lumen Technologies. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 t ...
; *
Michigan Bell Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1984, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United St ...
Telephone Company, operating as ''AT&T Michigan''; * National Bell Telephone Company, the new name of the former Bell Telephone Company. It obtained its new name in March 1979, and was then later renamed to the
American Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company – the New Englan ...
in March 1880; * Nederlandsche Bell Telefoon Maatschappij of the Netherlands, formed in 1881 as a subsidiary of the International Bell Telephone Company; *
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company was a very early, short lived company set up to develop the then-new telephone. It should not be confused with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company that was formed a year later and was one ...
, which merged with the Bell Telephone Company in 1877 to become the National Bell Telephone Company; *
New Jersey Bell Telephone Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
, a currently existing regional LEC; * Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, which provides services just north of the Southwestern Bell area, including: Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska; *
Nevada Bell Nevada Bell Telephone Company, originally Bell Telephone Company of Nevada, is a Nevada telephone provider and it was the Bell System's telephone provider in Nevada. It only provides telephone services to 30% of the state, essentially all of the ...
Telephone Company, operating as ''AT&T Nevada''; *
Ohio Bell The Ohio Bell Telephone Company, now doing business as AT&T Ohio, is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio and parts of West Virginia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Ro ...
Telephone Company, operating as ''AT&T Ohio''; * Oriental Bell Telephone Company of New York, which later became the
Oriental Telephone Company The Oriental Telephone Company was established on January 25, 1881, as the result of an agreement between Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Oriental Bell Telephone Company of New York and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company, Ltd. The company ...
which itself was established on January 25, 1881, as the result of an agreement between Alexander Graham Bell,
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 inventi ...
, and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company, Ltd.. The company was licensed to sell telephones in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Japan, China, and other
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
n countries; * Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company was the name of the Bell System's telephone operations in California; * Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, which provides telephone service in the states of
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
,
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 o ...
, and northern
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
; *
Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...
(RBOC), which after 1984 included ''Southwestern Bell Corporation'', ''BellSouth Corporation'', and ''Bell Atlantic Corporation'' (which later evolved into Verizon Communications Inc.), along with several other non-"Bell" companies; * Shanghai Bell Telephone Equipment Mfg Co., in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, China, formed with ITT's Belgium subsidiary BTM in 1983.Harwit, Eri
China's Telecommunications Revolution
Oxford University Press, 2008, , ;
In 1987
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to: * Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia * Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
purchased BTM and subsequently changed the Shanghai Bell Telephone name to Alcatel Shanghai Bell in 2001, and then Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell in 2009; * South Central Bell Telephone Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was the name of the Bell System's operations in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. South Central Bell was created in July 1968 when the Bell telephone operations in those states were split off from Southern Bell; *
Southern New England Telephone The Southern New England Telephone Company (commonly referred to as SNETCo by its customers), doing business as Frontier Communications of Connecticut, is a local exchange carrier owned by Frontier Communications. History It started operations o ...
, started operations on January 27, 1878, as the District Telephone Company of New Haven. It was the founder of the first telephone exchange, as well as the world's first telephone book. It currently does business as AT&T Connecticut; *
Southwestern Bell Corporation AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
, currently part of the
Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...
; * ''The Telephone Company (Bell's Patents) Ltd'' was registered in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 4 June 1878. It opened in London 21 August 1879, becoming Europe's first telephone exchange. * Wisconsin Bell Inc., operating as ''AT&T Wisconsin'';


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Bruce, Robert V. ''Bell: Alexander Bell and the Conquest of Solitude''. Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in t ...
, 1990. . * Grosvenor, Edwin S. & Wesson, Morgan
Alexander Graham Bell: The Life and Times of the Man Who Invented the Telephone
Harry Abrams, 1997, , . * Pizer, Russell A.
The Tangled Web of Patent #174465
AuthorHouse, 2009, , .


Further reading

* ''Alexander Graham Bell'' (booklet). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Maritime Telegraph & Telephone Limited, 1979. * Bruce, Robert V. ''Bell: Alexander Bell and the Conquest of Solitude''. Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in t ...
, 1990. . * Black, Harry. ''Canadian Scientists and Inventors: Biographies of People who made a Difference''. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Limited, 1997. . * Dunn, Andrew. ''Alexander Graham Bell'' (Pioneers of Science series). East Sussex, UK: Wayland (Publishers) Limited, 1990. . * Eber, Dorothy Harley. ''Genius at Work: Images of Alexander Graham Bell''. Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was found ...
, 1982. . * Grosvenor, Edwin S. and Morgan Wesson. ''Alexander Graham Bell: The Life and Times of the Man Who Invented the Telephone''. New York: Harry N. Abrahms, Inc., 1997. . * Groundwater, Jennifer. ''Alexander Graham Bell: The Spirit of Invention''. Calgary: Altitude Publishing, 2005. . * Mackay, James. ''Sounds Out of Silence: A life of Alexander Graham Bell''. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing Company, 1997. . * MacKenzie, Catherine
''Alexander Graham Bell''.
Boston: Grosset and Dunlap, 1928. . * Matthews, Tom L. ''Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell''. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1999. . * Micklos, John Jr. ''Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the Telephone''. New York:
Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
Publishers Ltd., 2006. . * Parker, Steve. ''Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone''(Science Discoveries series). New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995. . * Petrie, A. Roy. ''Alexander Graham Bell''. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1975. . * Phillips, Allan. ''Into the 20th Century: 1900/1910'' (Canada's Illustrated Heritage). Toronto: Natural Science of Canada Limited, 1977. . * Ross, Stewart. ''Alexander Graham Bell'' (Scientists who Made History series). New York: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, 2001. . * Shulman, Seth. '' The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Bell's Secret''. New York: Norton & Company, 2008. . * Town, Florida. ''Alexander Graham Bell''. Toronto: Grolier Limited, 1988. . * Tulloch, Judith. ''The Bell Family in Baddeck: Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel Bell in Cape Breton''. Halifax: Formac Publishing Company Limited, 2006. . * Walters, Eric. ''The Hydrofoil Mystery''. Toronto:
Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...
, 1999. . * Webb, Michael, ed. ''Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the Telephone''. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1991. . * Wing, Chris. ''Alexander Graham Bell at Baddeck''. Baddeck, Nova Scotia: Christopher King, 1980.


External links


Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Park
in Baddeck, Victoria County,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
;
''The Bell Homestead Society''
which maintains two historic buildings in Brantford, Ontario, related to the extended Bell family;
Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Cape Breton University


at the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
Manuscript Division, containing approximately 140,000 documents and photographs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Honors Alexander Graham Bell