Our museum serves as an acquisition, research, organization, documentation and exhibition center for telephone history materials. This collection includes rotary phones, operator switchboards and working telecommunications equipment from the 1800s up to modern smartphones with multifunctional functionality.
The museum collection inspires excitement about engineering by engaging people’s natural curiosity about phones in America, through tours, youth activity tables and cataloguing memorabilia (some volunteers even possess formal artifact handling or library/archives experience). Volunteers play an essential role in this mission through leading tours, managing youth activity tables and cataloguing memorabilia (with some even possessing formal artifact handling experience or library/archives experience themselves!).
Education
Our Telephone Workshops aim to tap participants’ intrinsic curiosity and self-motivation for STEM learning by exploring the hidden world of electricity through hands on exploration of old rotary phones, step switches and other equipment. Informal educators track participant learning throughout their time with us including electric theory knowledge acquisition as well as taking things apart and wiring components together.
Our Museum collection explores how telecommunications have had an effectful and meaningful effect on society since their invention. It also fosters enthusiasm for engineering by tapping America’s longstanding history with telecom and nurturing entrepreneurialism behind its development.
The museum is a non-profit facility supported by membership dues, research fees and grants, serving as one of the oldest and largest telecommunications museums in North America. As well as being an acquisition, research, organization, documentation exhibition storage center dedicated to telephone history materials. Additionally, this gathering place for telecom historians and collectors offers them an opportunity to share stories artifacts memorabilia with visitors of all ages.
Outreach
Community outreach programs serve a range of functions and are targeted toward various demographics. Such activities include historical preservation, educational games and exhibits for local residents, supporting law enforcement or medical care services, among others.
The Museum’s educational outreach programs make history relevant and enjoyable for students by using artifacts as engaging lessons that meet social studies standards. Museum staff collaborate closely with classroom teachers in planning an outreach program which can take place anywhere from schools to community education centers or even businesses.
As well as offering educational outreach programs, the Telephone Museum also provides public tours. Tours allow visitors to experience communications technology’s history first-hand while witnessing its progression over time. Furthermore, its collection fosters excitement for engineering by tapping into America’s impressive telephone heritage and tapping into its entrepreneurial spirit that led to its invention; these are evidenced through hands-on workshop programs offered to both children and adults.
Events
Our impressive collection of vintage telephones from years gone by showcases how communications technology has changed over the decades. Our Museum in Maitland provides an ideal place for visitors and learn about communication history through hands-on displays and working equipment.
Our collection is a living example of the iterative design process behind modern telecom technology, from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop all the way up to today’s multifunctional smartphones. We celebrate the industry through educational programs, exhibits, and special events that highlight its inventiveness and craftsmanship.
Our workshops cultivate enthusiasm for engineering by exploring America’s rich phone history. Through hands-on activities, these hands-on experiences nurture an intrinsic curiosity and spirit of entrepreneurialism that led to the invention of telephony – characteristics shared with future generations who may become curious about its development and how our modern world came into being.
Collections
THG maintains one of the world’s largest privately-held telecommunications archives, operates two museums and provides educational programs. THG is a non-profit organization funded through membership dues, research fees and grants.
THG Museum collections present stories of technology, innovation, culture and people. Ranging from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator-directed telephones to today’s pocket cell phones – THG displays numerous items to demonstrate how telecommunications have progressed from manual system telephones through automatic switch systems.
THG Outreach Workshops ignite an excitement for engineering by drawing upon America’s rich phone history through hands-on experiences with old rotary phones and stepping switches. Formative evaluation data confirms these workshops help students develop an inquisitive mind, create intrinsic curiosity, and lay a solid foundation for STEM education.
