Franklin Institute
Categories: Institutes | Museums in Philadelphia | National Memorials in the United States | Science museums | United States organizations
- This article is about the science museum in Philadelphia. For the Boston school, see Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology.
The Franklin Institute is the memorial to Benjamin Franklin, that serves to perpetuate his legacy; the museum contains many of Franklin's personal effects. On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughan Merrick and William H. Keating founded The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts.
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The Franklin Institute Science Museum
The most recognizable part of the Franklin Institute to the public is the Franklin Institute Science Museum. The mission of The Museum is to stimulate interest in science, to promote public understanding of science, and to strengthen science education. The original building is now the Atwater-Kent Municipal Museum. In 1933 the Institute opened at it's current location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Exhibits on display cover several subjects such as science and industry, physics, astronomy and history.
Current Attractions at the Museum include:
- The Body Worlds Traveling Show, in the Mandell Center (through April 23, 2006)
- The Tuttleman IMAX Theater
- The Fels Planetarium
- Large-scale walk-through human heart
- The Baldwin 60000 steam locomotive
- Pages from the journals of the Wright brothers
- The propeller of the Gossamer Albatross (on loan from Paul MacCready)
National Memorial
Benjamin Franklin National Memorial is a 20 foot high statue, sculpted by James Earle Fraser, that sits within the rotunda of the institute. Although the statue is owned by the institute, the national memorial is an affiliated area of the National Park Service, assigned to Independence National Historical Park. The institute may utilize technical assistance from the Park Service. Congress designated the memorial on October 25, 1972. Unlike most National Memorials, the statue is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Franklin Awards
Since 1824 the Franklin Institute has issued one of the oldest and most prestigious awards for the fields of Science and Technology. The Award Cerimony takes place at the end of a week long celebration in April. Committees of academics determine the winner of the award. Current Award Committees include: Chemistry, Computer and Cognitive Science, Earth Science, Engineering, Life Science, and Physics.