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Joseph Henry Advises Alexander Graham Bell on Development of Telephone

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

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Object Details

Subject
Henry, Joseph 1797-1878
Bell, Alexander Graham 1847-1922
Category
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Alexander Graham Bell, 1876. Smithsonian Institution Archives, negative number MAH-9823C or SIA2012-1090.
Rothenberg, Marc, et al, eds. The Papers of Joseph Henry, Volume 11, January 1866-December 1878: The Smithsonian Years. Washington, D.C.: Science History Publications, 2007, pp. 534-29.
Summary
Alexander Graham Bell visits Secretary Joseph Henry at the Smithsonian to discuss experiments he has conducted involving the telegraphic transmission of vocal sounds. After assuring Bell that he has made an original discovery, Bell agrees to demonstrate the apparatus for Henry. Henry advises Bell to continue his research before publishing his results thus far. In April, Bell writes Henry describing further experimental work on the telephone and his theory of how the apparatus works. Henry responds that he believes this to be original work and that the experiments support Bell's theory regarding the transmission of sound.
Contact information
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
March - April 1875
Smithsonian Archives - History Div
Topic
Telephone
Inventors
Record ID
siris_sic_12587
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