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A wall of SparkLab displaying artifacts, props, and text for Produce, Protect, and Perform themes.
Exploring invention and innovation through stories, activities, and research.
Learn more!

The object wall in Spark!Lab introduces the year’s themes through artifacts, props, text, and images. © 2019 Smithsonian Institution; photo by Tim Pula

Explore

Behind every invention, there is a story. Discover those stories here.

 

3 Sparky stick figures tumbling around a drawing of a light bulb.
Blog

How Many People Does It Take to Rotate a Spark!Lab?

Counting heads and hands that took part in the August transition.

Detail of drawing for Edison's "Autographic Printing" patent, 1876
Blog

What’s Edison Got to Do with Tattoos?

Sorry Mom! At least my tattoos are helping me with something work-related!

Detail of Print ad for the Traver Circle Swing, “The Best Park Attraction,” includes a photo of the swing tower in operation in Rockford, Illinois.
Blog

A Swinging Amusement

The Traver Circle Swing Company, builders of the world's greatest amusement, brought thrills to the masses.

Study

Scholars and students, join us in studying our passion: invention! Apply for a fellowship, travel grant, or internship. Explore our collections. Consult our research reports and best practices for documenting and collecting inventors’ materials. And check out our Lemelson Center/MIT Press book series.

Montage of book covers published in the Lemelson Center Studies series
Lemelson Center Books

Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation

Books in the interdisciplinary Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series explore the history of invention and innovation and the work of inventors and the technologies they create.

Detail of Handprints on Hubble book cover, showing astronaut Kathy Sullivan looking out the window of the space shuttle.
Lemelson Center Books

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention

In the newest book in the Lemelson Center series with MIT Press, the first American woman to walk in space recounts her experiences as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope.

Images of a letter from the archives center.
Research Opportunities

Lemelson Center Travel to Collections Awards

The Lemelson Center offers support in the form of short-term travel awards for researchers to come to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and use the Archives Center's 20,000 feet of archival materials.

Try

Get hands-on with the history and the process of invention! Try all sorts of ways to get creative!

Three-quarters profile view of a free-standing stereoscope. It has curved ornamental metal legs and a carved upright support. A stereograph is in place in the holder.
DO Try This at Home!

D.I.Y. Victorian Virtual Reality

Make your own stereoscope and experience the nineteenth-century predecessor to today’s virtual reality technology.

A young girl works on the Invent a Skate Park activity
Spark!Lab

Current Spark!Lab Activities

Draper Spark!Lab visitors can enjoy inventing while exploring the history and process of invention.

An adult man is working with a young girl on an activity in SparkLab
Spark!Lab

About Spark!Lab

Draper Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors.

Surprise me!

Events

  • Dec 04, 2019

    Innovative Lives: Kathryn D. Sullivan

In the news

  • Sep 03, 2019

    Smithsonian Institution Career Opportunity: Spark!Lab Facilitator (PART-TIME), Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation

  • Nov 08, 2018

    Spacewar! Creators Honored at Smithsonian “Innovative Lives” Event

  • Nov 08, 2018

    Spacewar! Creators Honored at Smithsonian “Innovative Lives” Event

  • Sep 14, 2018

    Lemelson Center Moves Women Inventors to the Front in New Display

On view

Visit the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation

The Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation features:

  • Places of Invention, an exhibition that explores what can happen when the right mix of inventive people, untapped resources, and inspiring surroundings come together.
  • Draper Spark!Lab, our hands-on invention workshop for children and families.
  • Inventive Minds, a changing gallery that highlights the Lemelson Center’s work on documenting inventors.

Location and Hours:

The Lemelson Center and the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation are located at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

  • Draper Spark!Lab is open daily (except Tuesdays and Dec. 24 and 25) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Places of Invention and Inventive Minds are open daily (except Dec. 25) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Click for visiting information. Hours are subject to change for holidays, inclement weather, and urgent maintenance issues. Please check the museum calendar for updates.

Learn more about our exhibitions

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Twitter

Tweets by @SI_Invention

VIEW 2387 Matching Results

Found 2387 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.3623795559279%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.6191872643486%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 2.8487641390867%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 2.8906577293674%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.3732718894009%)
  • Maritime (Relevance: 2.8906577293674%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.3988269794721%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.351487222455%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.5609551738584%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 12.107247591119%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.5609551738584%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.8542103058232%)
  • Research and development (Relevance: 3.0582320904902%)
  • Telegraph, telephone, and telecommunications (Relevance: 3.1839128613322%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.2677000418936%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 6.1164641809803%)
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