Primary Source Spotlight: Inventors & Inventions
Inventor primary source sets
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Thomas A. Edison
- Benjamin Franklin
- Elias Howe
- Elisah Graves Otis
- The Inventive Wright Brothers
- Inventor image set
- Books about inventors 1844-1939
- Inventor related legislation
More inventor primary sources
Invention primary source sets
- Elevator
- Ice cream cone
- Kinetographic camera
- Photophone
- Sewing machine
- Snowplow (Evolution of)
- Steamboat
- Telegraph
More invention primary sources
- Experiments & inventions selected images
- More invention-related images
- Books about inventions
- U.S. legislation related to inventions
Primary source collections
- America’s First Look into the Camera: Daguerreotype Photos
- Emile Berliner & the Birth of the Recording Industry
- Origins of American Animation
- The Samuel F. B. Morse Papers
- Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers
Exhibitions & special presentations
- Benjamin Franklin: Scientist & Inventor
- Leonardo’s Workshop learning guide
- Buck Sanders the Inventor American Memory Timeline primary source analysis activity
- The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention
- John Bull & Uncle Sam: Inventions and Discoveries
- Dream of Flight
- Everyday Science: Inventions
- Flight and Early Aviators
- The Invention of the Telegraph
- Notes on the Origin of American Animation, 1900-1921
Library blog posts
- Inside Adams blog posts related to inventions
- Alexander Graham Bell and the Iterative Kite Design Process Teaching with the Library of Congress July 16, 2019
- Caught My Eye: Nagra Field Recorder Folklife Today February 1, 2017
- Edward Avery McIlhenny: Spicy Folklorist Folklife Today February 8, 2018
- Empowering Your Students to Identify Problems by Connecting with Inventors from the Past Teaching with the Library of Congress May 16, 2019
- From Thread to Fabric to Art Folklife Today March 29, 2017
- Imagination and Invention Library of Congress Blog August 30, 2013
- Kites Rise on the Wind: The Origin of Kites Folklife Today March 16, 2017
- Researching Aerial Locomotion – Kites and Alexander Graham Bell Teaching with the Library of Congress June 13, 2019
- The Role of Inventions in Changing Our Daily Lives Teaching with the Library of Congress February 4, 2020
- Scientist and Inventor Thomas Edison Teaching with the Library of Congress February 9, 2017
- What’s in a Whistle? The Curious Beginnings of an Ending Trope Folklife Today October 16, 2017