The Library of Congress

Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress, 1862-1939

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Go directly to the collection, Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.

The large quantity of documents in Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers are a valuable resource for the development of historical thinking skills. Through the study of these papers, students can track the development of Bell's inventions over time and can gain an understanding of what life was like at the time of Bell's work. By reading the papers in the collection with a critical eye, students can discern the point of view of the variety of authors of these papers. In considering Bell's work with deaf people, students can investigate culture and expectations of assisting another person. In addition, students can use the materials as a launching point into researching other inventors and comparing the lives, inventions, and influences of these people to those of Bell.

Chronological Thinking

By using the Time Line in this collection, students can follow the chronology of Alexander Graham Bell’s inventions and key scientific discoveries. In addition, the special presentation Alexander Graham Bell as Inventor and Scientist will assist students in understanding Bell's many inventions.

From Journal by Alexander Graham Bell, from November 25, 1878, to July 22, 1879.

Students can also create a timeline to understand the development of a single invention. For example, they can search on telephone and construct a time line highlighting Bell’s work, from his first notes on the concept to his first success on March 10, 1876. The time line can be used to show the slow, diligent work that resulted in the development of the telephone. Encourage students to illustrate the time line using Bell’s sketches and blueprints to reflect the evolution of the invention. Students can be directed to the special presentation The Telephone and the Multiple Telegraph as a point of embarkation. Students also can examine Bell’s journals in order to reconstruct the chronological development of experiments with flight. Search Journal by Alexander Graham Bell 1901 to find the 1901 and 1902 journals which deal primarily with aeronautical subjects. Through an analysis of these journals students can see the steady progression of his experiments with kites. Given the proper tools, could someone reconstruct his experiments from his journals? Students can find a good chronology of Bell’s work in aeronautics by examining the 1909 article written by Mabel Hubbard Bell. The article traces Bell’s experiments from the tetrahedral man-carrying kite through the flight of the Silver-Dart, the first successful powered flight in Canada in 1909--six years after the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

By searching on flying machine, students could be directed to the disposition given by Alexander Graham Bell in the 1914 patent case, The Aerial Experiment Association versus George Francis Myers (Interference case in the U. S. Patent Office N ^o 34455 regarding Flying Machines). In his disposition, Bell explains his long interest in heavier than air flight.

A Man-Carrying Kite

A: I found, upon increasing the dimensions of my compound tetrahedral structures, that the weight of the whole compound structure was not proportionally greater than the weight of the individual units of which they were composed. So I went on making larger and larger compound forms, until at last I constructed a kite known as the "Frost King", which successfully carried a man on the flying line. I then determined to build a still larger structure, put a man in the structure and propel it, if possible, by an engine. It was my intention to make it so large that it would fly as a kite carrying a man, an engine and all. Start the propeller while it was in the air, drive it against the wind, and when the towing line should become slack, drop the towing line and leave it to pursue its way through the air as a free flying machine, or aerodrome.

From The Aerial Experiment Association versus George Francis Myers, January 15, 1915.

Historical Comprehension

Reading Bell's journal entries and letters about particular inventions will aid students in gaining an historical comprehension of this time period. For example, students can search photophone to read why Bell thought this invention would aid society. On July 28, 1880 Bell was asked what he believed to be the future of the photophone. He responded:

"It is too soon to speak of that yet....but I look for its future in a practical use among navigators. For communication of ships at sea; for communication between a lighthouse and a ship, or between a ship that is being wrecked and the people on shore. I also look for it as a means of transmitting messages in times of war, when telegraph lines are down and the country is desolated, and where other electric forms would fall."

From Clippings, from August 31, 1880, to September 1, 1880

In the late 1800s,

• What form of communication was commonly used to transmit information long distances? How quickly could people receive information? Did everyone have the means for receiving long-distance news in their home? How did Bell's inventions change the transmission of information over long distances?
• How was information moved among armies during the American Civil War? How did this experience inspire Bell?
• Were there disasters at sea that could have been aided by the use of the photophone?

Ask students to write an evaluation of the usefulness of the photophone, based on their investigation.

Historical Analysis and Interpretation

The collection offers students many opportunities to analyze documents to determine what it tells of the point of view and interests of its author. Have students browse the Family Papers and General Correspondence series and choose one person to study: Bell, his father, mother, wife or father-in-law. Students can then read the letters this person wrote to determine his or her point of view on various issues. By reading the letters in chronological order, students can note how the author's views changed and developed over time. What might have influenced these changes of perspective? Other people's opinions? Life experiences? What else?

Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Alexander Melville Bell, Eliza Symonds Bell, Carrie Bell, October 23, 1874

In addition to the statements a person makes and the ideas he or she expresses, the language used can also be revealing. What kinds of words are being used in these documents? What do they suggest about the writer's background, interests, attitudes, and character?

Historical Issue-Analysis and Decision-Making

A study of any number of the thousands of documents relating to Bell’s work in the field of elocution discloses his sincere concern for improving education for persons with impaired hearing. Have students browse the Subject Index for papers related to educating the deaf. Analyze selected documents to discern reasons for his interest in this topic and circumstances that contributed to his work in speech therapy. Evaluate the impact he made on improving the quality of life for the deaf. Students could also investigate the degree to which Bell’s exploratory work is still used in speech therapy.

Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Edward M. Gallaudet, undated.

From their analysis of Bell's education of deaf people, students can consider the issue of culture and assimilation. Deaf culture has distinct characteristics that make it differ from that of the hearing world. The differences may seem obvious at first, but there are subtleties, too, to the differences in these cultures. Why might a deaf person not wish to speak? Students can consider what it means to be part of a culture: What support do we gain from those within our culture? And what does it mean to be a culture living in the world of another? What does it mean to always feel and be identified as "different" from the mainstream culture?

This discussion may lead to a consideration of how people give and receive assistance. Hearing people might assume that all deaf people would want to speak and, therefore, the best thing a hearing person can do is teach a deaf person to speak. However, what challenges can arise when the giver and receiver make assumptions? What benefit is there in the giver and receiver discussing what they each hope to gain from their interaction and how best to achieve those goals?

Historical Research Capabilities

The Bell Family Papers provide a number of opportunities for research. Have students use documents in the collection to investigate Bell’s experiments. Then have them conduct outside research on other scientists and inventors that were following similar pursuits.

For example, students could be directed to search on phonautograph to investigate Bell’s interest and experimentation with "making speech visible," and compare and contrast Bell’s research with that of Thomas Edison. To learn about Edison's life, students can browse the collection Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies.

Similarly, direct students to search on aeroplane and compare Bell’s pursuit of manned flight with that of the Wright Brothers, using the following questions.

What was each man's family background? Where were they educated? Where did they live and perform their experiments? What do we know of their characters and personalities? What were their interests? Who funded their research? What careers did they pursue? How did their inventions influence society? What impact did they have on their professions and on an average American's daily life? Alternatively, students can examine Bell’s illustration of a proposed Vacuum Jacket and research the context in which Bell began work on the invention, following the death of his infant son, Edward, from a breathing difficulty. Search on Vacuum Jacket to learn of his experimentation.

Daisy trying to resuscitate drowned lamb, Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Gleason, August 1882.