Energy & Power
The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.
A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.
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"The Shed"
- Description (Brief)
- Color print of the yard in front of a carriage shed. Two horses hitched to sulkies stand on either side of a large carriage pulled by two horse. A dog and three men on horseback are in the right foreground. Advertisement for Brewster & Co., manufacturer of carriages.
- Description
- A color print of yard in front of a white shed with sign: “Hiram Woodruff.” There is a stir of activity as horses are hitched to sulkies. Men ride up on horseback, and two men in formal attire ride out of yard in open buggy with a high dashboard and low wheels, drawn by two horses. Dogs are underfoot. A black stable boy tends a horse. A portion of a white frame farmhouse seen to the right, with trees and grass in the distance.
- Known as one of the leading lithography firms of the mid-19th Century, Endicott and Company was formed in 1852 as the successor to William Endicott and Company following the death of George Endicott in 1848 and William Endicott in 1852. The original partners of Endicott and Company were Sarah Endicott (William’s widow) and Charles mills. However, in 1853 the senior partner was Sarah and William’s son Frances Endicott. The company often did work for Currier and Ives and employed the well-known artist Charles Pearson. In 1856 the company was awarded a diploma for the best specimen of lithography at the 28th Annual Fair of the American Institute.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1862
- publisher
- Brewster & Co.
- maker
- Endicott and Company
- artist
- Oertel, Johannes Adam Simon
- ID Number
- DL.60.3563
- catalog number
- 60.3563
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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A Sure Thing on a Rabbit
- Description (Brief)
- Colored print of two hunters, a black companion, and two dogs cornering their prey in a hollowed log while hunting in the snow.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- maker
- Bruns, William
- ID Number
- DL.60.2684
- catalog number
- 60.2684
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Ye Gods! It's a Skunk
- Description (Brief)
- Colored print of two hunters, a black companion, and two dogs surprised by a skunk while hunting in the snow.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- maker
- Bruns, William
- ID Number
- DL.60.2683
- catalog number
- 60.2683
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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basket
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1882
- date sent
- 1882-06-26
- ID Number
- CL.057455
- catalog number
- 057455
- accession number
- 11650
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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basket
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1884
- ID Number
- CL.075011
- catalog number
- 075011
- accession number
- 14145
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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