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.


-
knife
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.59.0900
- catalog number
- 59.0900A
- 59.0900B
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, pruning
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1830-1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.1005E
- catalog number
- 59.1005E
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Crooked Knife
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840 - 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.0873
- catalog number
- 59.0873
- accession number
- 162489
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.129900B
- catalog number
- 129900B
- accession number
- 20628
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.1118KK
- catalog number
- 59.1118KK
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.1118HH
- catalog number
- 59.1118HH
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.1118W
- catalog number
- 59.1118W
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1885-1888
- ID Number
- DL.59.1109I
- catalog number
- 59.1109I
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.1111II
- catalog number
- 59.1111II
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1876 - 1886
- ID Number
- DL.59.1116X
- catalog number
- 59.1116X
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1876 - 1886
- ID Number
- DL.59.1115II
- catalog number
- 59.1115II
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1876 - 1886
- ID Number
- DL.59.1116HH
- catalog number
- 59.1116HH
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, folding
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1876 - 1886
- ID Number
- DL.59.1116KK
- catalog number
- 59.1116KK
- accession number
- 111627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Crooked Knife
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1870 - 1880
- ID Number
- DL.59.0878
- catalog number
- 59.0878
- accession number
- 162489
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.129900A
- catalog number
- 129900A
- accession number
- 20628
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.130423
- catalog number
- 130423
- accession number
- 21270
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.130425
- catalog number
- 130425
- accession number
- 21270
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.130426
- catalog number
- 130426
- accession number
- 21270
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.130427
- catalog number
- 130427
- accession number
- 21270
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
knife, convict's; tweezers, convict's
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- ID Number
- DL.130428
- catalog number
- 130428
- accession number
- 21270
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History