This museum preserves telecommunication history through working rotary dialers, manual switchboards, linemen’s pole climbing stirrups, an impressive collection of fun phones, and much more – one of North America’s premier telephone museums!
Our Telephone Workshops promote an interest in engineering by teaching children and adults electrical theory, screw driving skills and historical technical events in an interactive learning environment.
Educational Programs
The Museum offers an engaging history lesson of telecommunications technology and systems from Alexander Graham Bell’s Gallows Frame Phone to Thomas A Watson’s Thumper Phone as well as modern mobile phones in use today. Additionally, museum exhibits feature manual switchboards, working telecommunications equipment for linemen’s use as well as an impressive collection of glass insulators among many other interesting artifacts.
School outreach programs focus on community issues and skills that directly affect student lives. Museum educators collaborate with classroom teachers to conduct lessons that meet social studies curriculum standards.
Telephone Workshops aim to spark participants’ interest in engineering by using historical telecommunications artifacts as hands-on learning environments for exploring electricity and electric theory. These workshops promote STEM by cultivating and encouraging participants’ inherent curiosity – such as that which drove Alexander Graham Bell in creating his telecommunications inventions – as well as providing an appreciation of engineering in the workplace.
Community Outreach
The Telephone Historical Centre is one of North America’s premier telephone museums. Established by retired ED TEL employees in December 1987 in Old Strathcona, it later relocated to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre where visitors can take group and individual tours as well as interactive exhibits that illustrate communications principles alongside an outstanding multi-media historical telecommunications theatre show!
Museum visitors experience an exciting journey into the history of communications technology and systems – from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop to modern mobile phones. Visitors can explore a manual switchboard, step inside a replica of a local small town Midwest independent telephone exchange and admire HBEC staff and CAB members’ collection of glass insulators. Due to cancellation of in-person research events and health education during Covid-19 pandemic, they designed this telephone outreach project as a means of keeping registry participants engaged; callers collected data on their experiences during pandemic as well as recommended resources tailored specifically towards participants’ expressed needs.
Corporate Events
Established by retired employees of ED TEL in 1987, this non-profit 501c (3) museum collects, researches, organizes, documents, and displays telephone equipment from across North America. As one of North America’s premier telephone museums, its specialty lies in working equipment that illustrates tangible aspects of telecom history ranging from Alexander Graham Bell’s wall-mount phone to pocket mobile phones of today.
The museum provides students and adults with an engaging way to gain an understanding of communications technology. Visitors can step inside an authentic Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange demonstrating its stepping switch principle; explore an old-fashioned rotary dial phone and manual switchboard; or browse a collection of telephone insulators.
The Museum is managed entirely by volunteers, who oversee all aspects of its facility. Volunteer opportunities range from giving tours and overseeing youth activities to cataloguing artifacts professionally – some positions even require formal artifact handling training as well as experience working within libraries or teaching environments.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers of various skills and experiences are needed at our museum. From helping maintain its cleanliness to staffing the reception desk or greeting tour groups, as well as performing clerical work or sales at our museum store and general duties – there’s plenty of ways you can assist us!
Docents from museums across Atlanta provide guided tours for visitors of the History Center, Brookside Museum and outdoor exhibits. In addition, museum docents participate in educational outreach programs that bring the museum directly into schools and nursing homes.
Artifact assistants work alongside collection management staff in cleaning, cataloguing and preparing museum objects for display. In addition, they assist with genealogy research using the Society’s vast resources to uncover family histories.
The Museum houses an impressive selection of wooden wall-mount telephones; antique manual and candlestick phones; rotary dial phones and switchboards as well as line insulators and related equipment – an intriguing display of western Pennsylvania heritage! Volunteers engage children of all ages through this fascinating display of heritage.
