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48°45′5.25″N122°28′49.39″W / 48.7514583°N 122.4803861°W /48.7514583; -122.4803861
TheSPARK Museum of Electrical Invention (formerly theAmerican Museum of Radio and Electricity) is an interactivemuseum located inBellingham,Washington, United States, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that changed the course of human history. The museum features a collection of artifacts showcasing four centuries of human innovation from 1580 into the 1950s.
The museum began in 1985 as an informal collection ofradio sets,spare parts,schematics,recordings, and vintagemagazines andmanuals owned by a Bellingham resident, Jonathan Winter[1] Winter's collection continued to grow, and by 1998, theBellingham Antique Radio Museum was officially established, with the more than 800 radio sets from Winter's collection forming the core of the museum's collection.
The museum took on the name "American Museum of Radio and Electricity" in 2001 when it moved into its 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) facility and John Jenkins, a former sales and marketing executive atMicrosoft, retired and became co-curator of the museum. Jenkins added his extensive collection to the museum, which included early wireless and electrical devices, andrare books with first editions dating back to1560 and written byRobert Boyle,Michael Faraday,C. F. du Fay,Benjamin Franklin,Luigi Galvani,William Gilbert,Joseph Henry,Heinrich Hertz,James Clerk Maxwell,Pieter van Musschenbroek,Georg Ohm,Hans Christian Ørsted,Alessandro Volta, among others.[2]
Early in its history, the museum was featured onAn American Moment.[citation needed]In 2012, theAmerican Museum of Radio and Electricity becameSpark Museum of Electrical Invention.[2]
The museum's collections include:[2]
Exhibits include:
The museum's education program includes outreach and community education. The outreach program augments the regular science curriculum of public schools, private schools and home-school networks in Western Washington through assemblies, in-class science courses and special focus tours. The community education program holds regular Science Saturday classes, summer camps, lectures and special events illuminating core facets of radio, electricity and physics. Hands-on classes include topics such asstatic electricity,magnetism,motors,circuits, andcrystal radios.
In 2018, the SPARK education program served nearly 2,000 students.[2]
Past events include:[citation needed]
