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.jpg) The Franklin Institute in March 2024 | |
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| Established | 1824; 201 years ago (1824) |
|---|---|
| Location | 222 North 20th Street,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Type | Science museum |
| President | Larry Dubinski |
| Public transit access |   SEPTA bus:7,32,33,38,48,49Philly Phlash,Suburban Station |
| Website | fi |
| www | |
The Franklin Institute Science Museum | |
| Area | 4.4 acres (1.8 ha) |
| Built | 1931 |
| Architect | Windrim, John Torrey; Day & Zimmermann |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 85000039[1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 3, 1985 |
TheFranklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist andstatesmanBenjamin Franklin. It houses theBenjamin Franklin National Memorial. Founded in 1824, the Franklin Institute is one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States. Its chief astronomer isDerrick Pitts.
On February 5, 1824,Samuel Vaughan Merrick andWilliam H. Keating founded the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of theMechanic Arts. The opening was chronicled byThe Literary Chronicle for the Year 1824:
With a view further to develop the resources of the union, increase the national independence, call forth the ingenuity and industry of the people, and thereby increase the comforts of the community at large.[2]
Begun in 1825, the institute was an important force in the professionalization of American science and technology through the nineteenth century, beginning with early investigations intosteam engines andwater power. In addition to conducting scientific inquiry, it fostered research and education by running schools, publishing the influentialJournal of The Franklin Institute, sponsoring exhibitions, and recognizing scientific advancement and invention with medals and awards.[3]
In the late 20th century, the institute's research roles gave way to educating the general public through its museum. The Bartol Research Foundation of the Franklin Institute, founded in 1924 to conduct research in the physical sciences, now is part of theUniversity of Delaware and namedBartol Research Institute.[4] The Franklin Institute Laboratories for Research and Development operated from the Second World War into the 1980s.
Many scientists have demonstrated groundbreaking new technology at the Franklin Institute. From September 2 to October 11, 1884, it hosted theInternational Electrical Exhibition of 1884, the first great electrical exposition in the United States.[5] The world's first public demonstration of an all-electronic television system was later given byPhilo Taylor Farnsworth on August 25, 1934.[6]
The first female member, Elizabeth Skinner, was elected to membership in 1833. The Franklin Institute wasintegrated in 1870, when Philadelphia teacher and activistOctavius Catto was admitted as a member.
The institute's original building at 15 South 7th Street, later the home of the (now-defunct)Atwater Kent Museum, eventually proved too small for the institute's research, educational programs, and library. The Institute moved into its current home on theBenjamin Franklin Parkway, near the intersection with 20th Street, in 1934. The new facility was intended from the start to educate visitors through hand-on interactions with exhibits: "Visitors to this museum would be encouraged to touch, handle, and operate the exhibits in order to learn how things work."[7] Funds to build the new Institute and Franklin Memorial came from the Poor Richard Club, the City Board of Trust, the Benjamin Franklin Memorial, Inc., and the Franklin Institute. John T. Windrim's original design was a completely square building surrounding the Benjamin Franklin Statue, which had yet to be built. Despite the effects of theGreat Depression, the Benjamin Franklin Memorial, Inc. raised $5 million (equal to $94,113,546 today) between December 1929 and June 1930. Only two of the four wings envisioned by Windrim were built; these face the Parkway and share design elements with other cultural and civic structures aroundLogan Circle.
On March 31, 1940,press agent William Castellini issued a press release stating that the world would end the next day. The story was picked up byKYW, which reported, "Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 p.m.Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is noApril Fool joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of theFels Planetarium of this city." This caused a panic in the city which only subsided when the Franklin Institute assured people it had made no such prediction. Castellini was dismissed shortly thereafter.[8]
On December 21, 2017, during a party hosted by the museum, a partygoer with his companions slipped into a closed-off exhibit of tenTerracotta Army warriors on loan fromChina. After his companions left, the partygoer broke off and stole a thumb from one of the warriors. Law enforcement agents later recovered the stolen thumb. The vandalized cavalryman is valued at US$4.5 million, and is considered a "priceless part of China's cultural heritage". The vandalism stoked outrage in Chinese media, such asXinhua. The Franklin Institute blamed its external security contractor, and stated it had reviewed its security measures and procedures to prevent such situations from recurring.[9][10] The defendant was charged both with theft, and with concealment of an item of cultural heritage.
The defense argued that the defendant was being "overcharged" under statutes applicable to professional art thieves. An April 2019 trial ended in ahung jury with seven of the 12 jurors in favor of acquittal. A February 2020 retrial was postponed due to travel restrictions related to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[11][12][needs update]
In 2021, the institute housed the work of Dyymond Whipper-Young as she broke theGuinness world record for the "world's largest drawing by an individual".[13][14]
In 2006, the Franklin Institute began fundraising activities for the Inspire Science! capital campaign, a $64.7 million campaign intended to fund the construction of a 53,000 sq ft (4,900 m2) building addition, new exhibits, and upgrades and renovations to the existing Institute building and exhibits.[17]
In 2011, the Franklin Institute received a $10 million gift from Athena and Nicholas Karabots towards the Inspire Science! capital campaign. This gift is the largest gift in the institute's history, and put the Franklin Institute within $6 million of the $64.7 million capital campaign goal. The Nicholas and Athena Karabots Pavilion will house not only a $10 million multiroom exhibit on neuroscience, but also a conference center, classroom space, and additional room for traveling exhibitions.[18]
The most recognizable part of the Franklin Institute's Science Center is theFranklin Institute Science Museum. In the spirit of inquiry and discovery embodied by Benjamin Franklin, the mission of the Franklin Institute Science Museum serves to inspire an understanding of and passion for science and technology learning. Among other exhibits, the Science Museum holds the largest collection of artifacts from theWright brothers' workshop.
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The Science Center includes many pertinent attractions that are not museum exhibits. TheBudd BB-1Pioneer flying boat, in front of the museum, was the world's first stainless steel airplane, built by Philadelphia-basedEdward F. Budd Manufacturing Corporation, and has been on display since 1935.[24]
A mock-up which would eventually become the Lunar Module in the Apollo space program, first shown on display in the 1966–67 World's Fair, held in the New York Hall of Science, is also located on the grounds. (Seephoto.)
In 1933,Samuel Simeon Fels contributed funds to buildThe Fels Planetarium, only the second built in the United States afterChicago'sAdler Planetarium. Fully reconstructed in 2002, the Planetarium's new design includes replacement of the original 40,000-pound stainless steel dome, originally built in 1933. The new premium dome is lighter and is 60 feet (18 m) in diameter. It is the first of its kind in the United States. The planetarium is also outfitted for visitors who are hearing impaired.
The Tuttleman IMAX Theater was anIMAX dome theater that was 180° encompassing and tilted at 30 degrees. The seating placed the audience up in a dome over 70 ft (21 m) across and 4.5 stories tall. The theater had 20,000 watts of amplifier power and over 50 speakers. It was closed in 2020 due toCOVID-19, and did not reopen with the rest of the museum. In 2023, the Franklin Institute confirmed that the theater would remain closed permanently, citing that it was financially unviable and had outdated equipment, and that the museum would be investing in other new exhibits instead.[25][26]
Early in 2008, extensive renovation of the museum's auditorium was completed. Previously a lecture hall, the space was renamedFranklin Theater, and features 3-D and hi-defBlu-ray digital projection capabilities. The Franklin Theater shows educational films during daytime hours while also including mass release feature-length films.
In the past, the Science Center has hosted many traveling exhibits includingStorms,Titanic,Grossology,Body Worlds,Darwin, andRobots. In the summer of 2007, the Franklin Institute hostedTutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs, in the Mandell Center of the Franklin Institute Science Museum. The exhibit began its United States Tour inLos Angeles, and went toFort Lauderdale, andChicago, before coming to Philadelphia for its final American appearance. When the exhibit left Philadelphia on September 30, 2007, it traveled toLondon.
This exhibit was nearly twice the size of the originalTutankhamun exhibit of the 1970s, and contained 50 objects directly from Tut's tomb, as well as nearly 70 object from the tombs of his ancestors in TheValley of the Kings. The show also featured aCAT Scan that revealed what the Boy King may have looked like.
The Franklin Institute is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)[27] and theAmerican Alliance of Museums (AAM).[28]
The Franklin Institute is also a member of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative with theFort Worth Museum of Science & History; theMuseum of Science, Boston;COSI Columbus, formerly known as theCenter of Science and Industry inColumbus, Ohio;OMSI inPortland, Oregon; theScience Museum of Minnesota inSaint Paul, Minnesota; and theCalifornia Science Center, formerly the California Museum of Science & Industry, inLos Angeles.
In July 2025,Comcast NBCUniversal andUniversal Destinations & Experiences announced that a new interactive experience would open at The Franklin Institute from February 14 to September 7, 2026. The exhibition will span 18,000 square feet and feature eight themed galleries, 25 interactive experiences, and over 100 original artefacts.[29]
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial features a 20-foot (6.1 m) high marble statue, sculpted byJames Earle Fraser.[30] Originally opened in 1938, the Memorial was designed by architectJohn T. Windrim and modeled after thePantheon inRome. The Hall is 82 ft (25 m) in length, width, and height. The domed ceiling is self-supporting and weighs 1600 tons. The floors, walls, columns, pilasters, and cornices are made of marbles imported from Portugal, Italy, and France.TheUnited States Congress designated the Hall and statue as the official Benjamin Franklin National Memorial on October 25, 1972 (Pub. L. 92–551). The Memorial was dedicated by Vice PresidentNelson Rockefeller in 1976.
On December 30, 2005, Congress authorized the institute to receive up to $10 million in matching grants for the rehabilitation of the memorial and for the development of related exhibits.[31]
In the fall of 2008, the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial was re-opened after a summer-long restoration that included multimedia enhancements. Philadelphia's most famous citizen is featured inBenjamin Franklin Forever, an hourly 3.5-minute multimedia presentation utilizing the entire rotunda.
Also noteworthy is the Franklin Institute's Frankliniana Collection, some of which is on rotating display in the Pendulum Staircase. Highlights include Franklin's 1777 Nini Medallion, thescale model of the bust from the statue in the Memorial, thefigurehead of Franklin's bust from thefrigateUSS Franklin, his ceremonial sword used in the court of King Louis XVI, and the odometer that Franklin used to measure the postal routes in Philadelphia. Additionally, the institute'sElectricity exhibition highlights one of Franklin's lightning rods, his electricity tube, aFranklin Electrostatic Generator, the 1751 publication of Franklin'sExperiments and Observations on Electricity, andThornton Oakley's two 1940 historical murals of Franklin and the"Kite and Key" experiment.
In 1826,The Journal of The Franklin Institute was established to publishUS Patent information and to document scientific and technological achievements throughout the nation. It is the second oldest continuously publishedscientific journal in the country, and is now primarily devoted toengineering andapplied mathematics.[32]
Since 1824, the Franklin Institute has maintained the longest continuously awarded science and technology awards program in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. The first issue of theJournal of The Franklin Institute, dated January 1826, makes the first written reference to these awards. Before 1998 several medals were awarded by the Franklin Institute, such as (year indicates when the award was first presented):[33] theElliott Cresson Medal (1875), the Edward Longstreth Medal (1890),[34] theHoward N. Potts Medal (1911), theFranklin Medal (1915), theGeorge R. Henderson Medal (1924),[35] the Louis E. Levy Medal (1924),[36] theJohn Price Wetherill Medal (1926),[37] TheFrank P. Brown Medal (first awarded in 1941),[38]Stuart Ballantine Medal (1947), and theAlbert A. Michelson Medal (1968).[39] Past winners includeHenry Ford,Frank Lloyd Wright,Marie Curie, andThomas Edison.[40]
In 1998 all of the endowed medals were reorganized as theBenjamin Franklin Medals. Multiple medals are given every year, for different fields of science and engineering. The fields awarded today are "Chemistry", "Computer andCognitive Science", "Earth andEnvironmental Science", "Electrical Engineering", "Life Science", "Mechanical Engineering" and "Physics". In the past also the fields "Earth Science", "Engineering" and "Materials Science" were rewarded.[40][41]
Additionally since 1990, the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science (Bower Science Award) and the Bower Award for Business Leadership have been awarded annually. They are funded by a $7.5 millionbequest in 1988 from Henry Bower, a chemical manufacturer in Philadelphia. The Bower Science Award contains $250,000 of cash, one of the largest amounts for a science award in the US.[40][42]
The institute's Committee on Science and the Arts determines the winners of these awards. Recipients and related information can be found in the laureates database.[40][41]
| Award | 2012 | 2013[43] | 2016[44] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry | see Bower Science Award | Jerrold Meinwald[45] | Nadrian C. Seeman |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science | Vladimir Vapnik[46] | William Labov[47] | Yale Patt |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science | Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Stone Mosley-Thompson[48] | Robert A. Berner[49] | Brian F. Atwater |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering | Jerry Nelson[50] | see Bower Science Award | Solomon W. Golomb |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science | Sean B. Carroll[51] | Rudolf Jaenisch[52] | Robert S. Langer |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering | Zvi Hashin[53] | Subra Suresh[54] | Shu Chien |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics | Rashid Sunyaev[55] | Alexander Dalgarno[56] | N/A |
| Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science[42] | Louis E. Brus (Chemistry)[57] | Kenichi Iga[58] | William J. Borucki |
| Bower Award for Business Leadership[42] | John Chambers[59] | Michael S. Dell[60] | Patrick Soon-Shiong |
The Franklin Institute also undertakes research in informal science education. Areas of special strength are educational technology, school partnerships, and youth leadership. In addition, the center has built a substantial portfolio of unique online resources of the history of science, including online exhibits on Ben Franklin and the Heart, as well as resources on the Wright Aeronautical Engineering Collection.The Franklin Institute is a member of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).
Opening in September 2006, TheScience Leadership Academy is a partnership between the Franklin Institute and theSchool District of Philadelphia.
The Franklin Institute offers summer institutes and school year mini-courses for K-8 teachers, in collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia and Curriculum & Instruction Office.
Partnerships for Achieving Careers in Technology and Science, or PACTS, is a year-round program of science enrichment, career development, and leadership opportunities for diverse[clarification needed] middle- and high-school students in the Philadelphia Region. PACTS students use hands-on science workshops, field based research, field trips, and laboratory experiments to learn how science affects their everyday lives.
Girls at the Center is a partnership between the Franklin Institute and theGirl Scouts of the USA provided girls and their families a chance to learn about science together. Over 100 sites participated in the program, with over 70 of the sites still active today. Girls at the Center provided activities for the girls to do with their families at home, as well as projects to be completed on site, all culminating in a year-end party.
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