Classroom Outreach staff will collaborate with your students to bring hands-on history lessons directly into their classroom. Through learner-centric discussion, they become historians as they analyze objects from our collections – this programming fulfills Kentucky academic standards for Social Studies!
Students will gain a deeper knowledge of the Holocaust and its relevance for their own lives and that of society at large.
History of the Telephone
The Telephone Historical Centre boasts an impressive collection of original telephones dating back to 1878 – two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device. Additionally, there is a manual telephone switchboard, step-by-step private automatic branch exchange, as well as mobile phones from the 1980s to modern digital cellular phones on display at this museum.
Long-distance telephony was an incredible technological advance that provided enormous financial possibilities. Prior to it, telephone conversations gradually degraded with distance as callers became less connected.
Antonio Meucci and Charles Bourseul created basic telephone systems before 1876; however, Alexander Graham Bell received the first patent for it that year. Bell’s invention was improved upon through collaborations with many individuals such as Thomas Edison with his phonograph; its history often encompasses drama, comedy and business rivalries; The Museum offers exhibitions and outreach programs that bring this fascinating saga alive! Admission to The Telephone Historical Centre can be made by donation; its historic Castle building location makes this Canada’s sole telephone museum.
The Telephone Museum
Visits to the Telephone Museum provide visitors of all ages the chance to touch and experience tangible history of telecommunications technology in Roseville, California and nationally. Covering 4,500 square feet, it commemorates more than a century of communications technology development both locally and nationally.
Visitors to this museum can see open-wire insulators, operator switchboards, wall-mounted magneto crank phones and other antique phone equipment on display. Furthermore, guests can explore the history of telephone invention and usage; its numerous inventions; businesses it created; as well as people involved with creating, maintaining and improving an extensive network of wires across America.
Discover the invisible world of electricity through hands-on activities designed to spark curiosity and self-motivation. Build circuits, create magnetic coils, communicate through talking tin cans, experiment with sound waves and listen to Apollo 11 astronauts on vintage telephones!
The Telephone Archives
The Archives are committed to conserving BT’s historical documents as well as those from its predecessor public sector bodies and private telegraph and telephone companies dating back to their establishment. Furthermore, it acts as the official depository for their public records.
The collection is organized into three sub-series: Contemporary, Historical and Oversized Fragile. Contemporary photographs should be stored carefully using protective sheets or folders; Historical photos should be stored alphabetically by subject in scrapbooks or folders and handled with extra caution due to being more fragile than Contemporary photos.
The Over-sized Series contains larger photographs organized into folders by year. Oversized fragments are stored in four flap enclosures for safe keeping and require staff supervision for use. Series VII Publications, organized chronologically by year, contains various SNET publications such as bill inserts, pamphlets, booklets and guides to service guides; it also features some bound directories which make an invaluable resource for genealogical research and family history research.
Volunteer Opportunities
Are you an enthusiastic individual with excellent customer service skills who is ready to tackle a fast-paced environment? Then we need you! As a Guest Experience Volunteer, our volunteers help our guests in person or via telephone – providing an exciting opportunity to share aviation and history passions from all over the globe!
Join the Centre County Historical Society team! Ongoing volunteers are needed to greet visitors, lead tours and complete special projects at Centre Furnace Mansion and Museum.
Presidential Library volunteers play an essential role in staffing libraries and performing various specialized tasks, from helping with library collections to leading museum tours or sending informational mailings – they provide invaluable assistance both to librarians and the general public alike.
Be an escort for visitors aboard the USS Requin submarine or engage visitors at our Miniature Railroad and Village featuring Western Pennsylvania history! Your time commitment for each four-hour shift should not exceed one per week.
