Joseph Henry Advises Alexander Graham Bell on Development of Telephone

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Object Details

Subject

Henry, Joseph 1797-1878

Bell, Alexander Graham 1847-1922

Notes

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

Date

March - April 1875

Data Source

Smithsonian Archives - History Div

Topic

Telephone

Inventors

Metadata Usage

Usage conditions apply

Record ID

siris_sic_12587