The Franklin Institute history

The first female member, Elizabeth Skinner, was elected to membership in 1833.

The Franklin Institute was integrated in 1870, when Philadelphia teacher and activist Octavius Catto was admitted as a member.

By 1880 the use of chemicals in manufacturing had created an industry whose function was the mass production of chemicals.

From September 2 to October 11, 1884, it hosted the International Electrical Exhibition of 1884, the first great electrical exposition in the United States.

How Boston would use their funds after 1890, however, remained uncertain.

In 1906, the Franklin Fund trustees purchased a plot of land at the intersection of Appleton and Berkeley Streets in the South End, where the school still stands today.

After nearly 120 years in the making, the Franklin Union school opened its doors in 1908.

The groundwork of Franklin Institute began in San Antonio in 1915 when Madame N.A. Franklin started teaching young Black women cosmetology in their homes.

The school also hosted the nation’s first group telephone call on May 15, 1916.

Although this program was discontinued after the war, the Franklin Union provided veterans with vocational training until 1924.

In 1930, despite the Great Depression, The Franklin Institute and the Poor Richard Club began to seek funds to build a new science museum and memorial hall.

In just twelve days, the community contributed $5.1 million, and in 1932, the cornerstone of the new Franklin Institute was laid at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The world's first public demonstration of an all-electronic television system was later given by Philo Taylor Farnsworth on August 25, 1934.

The same structure houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, opened in 1938; it displays a 21-foot (6-metre) marble pedestal and statue of Franklin.

On March 31, 1940, press agent William Castellini issued a press release stating that the world would end the next day.

Ronald Jemison Sr. and his wife Glenda became school owners in 1969 and paved the way for future generations of Jemison family ownership.

Ron Jemison Jr. and his brother Sean officially entered the business in 1999.

In 2006, the Franklin Institute began fundraising activities for the Inspire Science! capital campaign, a $64.7 million campaign intended to fund the construction of a 53,000 square foot building addition, new exhibits, and upgrades and renovations to the existing Institute building and exhibits.

The Institute is home to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, which was fully restored in 2010 and which is open free to the public.

In 2011, the Franklin Institute received a $10 million gift from Athena and Nicholas Karabots towards the Inspire Science! capital campaign.

On December 21, 2017, during a party hosted by the museum, a partygoer with his companions slipped into a closed-off exhibit of ten terracotta warriors on loan from China.

An April 2019 trial ended in a hung jury, with seven of the twelve jurors in favor of acquittal.

In 2021, the institute housed the work of Dyymond Whipper-Young as she broke the Guinness world record for the "world's largest drawing by an individual".