SHOPJOINMAIN
KIDSEDUCATORSNEWSGET INVOLVED
Smithsonian
Electric Streetcar, Capital Traction Co. # 303 Columbian Press
Lewis and Clark Expedition Pocket Compass Watercolor Painting Depicting the Bennet Family Record
Electric Streetcar, Capital Traction Co. # 303
Columbian Press
Lewis and Clark Expedition Pocket Compass
Watercolor Painting Depicting the Bennet Family Record
Events and Programs
African American Culture
American Popular Song
Dibner Library
Historic Theatre
Interactive Carts
Jazz Appreciation Month
Latino History and Culture
Page Lemelson Center
Meet Our Museum
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
Spark!Lab
Past Events
How did you hear about that event?  Sign up for our e-mail newsletter
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation

Building on the Museum’s unique resources, the Lemelson Center follows three key avenues of exploration into invention and innovation: finding new ways to record the past by preserving and increasing access to records and artifacts; broadening our understanding of history through research, discussion, and dissemination of ideas; and looking toward the future by developing programs aimed at encouraging young people to invent.
Featured programs include the Invention at Play exhibition; Innovative Lives, bringing inventors and children together for interactive programs; annual symposia on topics addressing the history of invention and innovation; Spark!Lab, the newest hands-on space for families and others visiting the National Museum of American History which shows the real story behind an inventor’s work; and other smaller exhibitions at the Museum.

The Lemelson Center also publishes a monthly electronic newsletter, Prototype, with stories about inventors, history of innovation, some trivia, activities for families and students, and much more. The Center also produces a regular podcast series, Prototype Online: Inventive Voices, featuring many first-person stories from inventors themselves.  Listeners to Prototype Online can gain a better understanding of inventors - their motivations, successes, and failures - and the processes involved in creating an invention.

The Lemelson Center was founded in 1995 through generous gifts from Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson and the Lemelson Foundation.

Contact
E-mail: Contact form

Related Links

 
Learn More on the Lemelson Center Web site
 
Smithsonian National Museum of American History