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Woman speaking at the front of a filled meeting room, with a Powerpoint slide of a Ouija board projected behind her.
Exploring invention and innovation through stories, activities, and research.
Learn more!

Maryann Feldman presents to the participants of our workshop, “Can Innovators Be Made?” at the National Museum of American History, 21 March 2015. © 2015 Smithsonian Institution; photo by Chris Gauthier

Explore

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

 

Detail of poster featuring colorized images of Thomas Edison listening to his first phonograph; a young girl working at a hands on activity; and inventor James McClurkin holding one of his robotic ants.
Blog

Making a Book about Making Innovators

Historian Eric Hintz describes the five-year collaboration that went into the publication of Does America Need More Innovators? in our Lemelson Center book series.

A graffiti artist is bent over, holding a spray paint can, finishing his colorful artwork that looks like a green slime monster with sharp teeth and bloodshot, bugged-out eyes, with its tongue flapping in the wind. The monster holds a skateboard reading, “Gums and Tongue.”
Blog

Innoskate London

The Smithsonian and skateboarding? In England? Sick.

Article from The Woman Inventor, 1890, titled “Colored Woman Inventor,” with the story of Ellen Eglin who invented a clothes-wringer but was afraid that white women would not buy the wringer if they knew it had been invented by an African American woman. Eglin sold her invention to an agent for $18 in 1888 and made no further profit from it.
Blog

Who Invents and Who Gets the Credit?

The complex story of an African American woman inventor, hidden behind a simple clothes wringer.

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.

The cover of the book, with the title, “Does America Need More Innovators?” in white letters against a dark royal blue background. 3 rectangular “thought bubble” outlines in yellow (upper left), red (center), and white (lower right) overlap beneath the title, and 3 triangular arrows, like a fast forward button, are superimposed across the upper and middle bubbles. “Edited by” is within the yellow bubble and the editors’ names are within the red bubble.
Lemelson Center Books

Does America Need More Innovators?

The newest book in the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series with MIT Press is a critical exploration of today's global imperative to innovate, by champions, critics, and reformers of innovation.

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.

Screenshot of Spacewar! video game
Lemelson Center Research

Videogame Pioneers Initiative

A project to document and preserve the legacy of video game pioneers

Try

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

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

About Spark!Lab

Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors.

An outline of a gear, pictured in solid orange, with the words (in white lettering): Think about a new invention that enhances the daily lives of older adults.
DO Try This at Home!

The 2019 Spark!Lab Dr. InBae Yoon Invent It Challenge

It's time for the annual Invent It Challenge!

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

Current Spark!Lab Activities

Spark!Lab visitors can enjoy inventing ways to ADAPT people, places, and things while exploring the history and process of invention.

Surprise me!

Events

In the news

  • 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

  • Jul 26, 2018

    2018 National Trademark Exposition Highlights the Important Role Trademarks Play

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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Tweets by @SI_Invention

VIEW 2292 Matching Results

Found 2292 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.1483420593368%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 7.2425828970332%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.1413612565445%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 2.9232111692845%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.4607329842932%)
  • Maritime (Relevance: 3.1413612565445%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.4502617801047%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.5776614310646%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.9267015706806%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 12.085514834206%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.2722513089005%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.7085514834206%)
  • Research and development (Relevance: 3.0541012216405%)
  • Telegraph, telephone, and telecommunications (Relevance: 3.4467713787086%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 2.9232111692845%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 6.239092495637%)
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