Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in New Jersey

This exhibition was on view from March 13, 2022 to March 5, 2023.

Beginning in the 1930s Bell Telephone Laboratories had facilities operating in the Garden State. Bell Telephone Laboratories (BTL), American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) and Western Electric employed tens of thousands of New Jersey residents through its 100-year tenure in the state. Throughout the 20th century, the Bell System pioneered innovations that transformed every part of modern-day life. Seismic breakthroughs came by way of the highly technical (radar, solar panels, satellites) to the personal (telephone communications). The transistor, which bridges these two worlds, ushered in the digital age and was first built at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ in 1947. Major innovators to emerge from NJ locations include Claude Shannon, hailed as “the father of information technology,” and important contributor to the field of artificial intelligence; Erna Schneider Hoover, owner of one of the first software patents in history; Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, whose work led to the discovery of the Big Bang; and countless others whose day to day work was invisible to the public yet echoed to the corners of the world. The resulting companies, like AT&T and Nokia continue to innovate to this day and still have facilities in New Jersey.

This exhibition featured five galleries covering about 100 years of history, from the invention of the telephone to the divestiture of the Bell System. It featured loans and historic images from the AT&T Archives and History Center, MIT Museum, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Historical Society of Princeton, Monmouth County Historical Association, Telesat Canada, and other private lenders. 

To find out more about how this exhibition came about and for some behind-the-scenes stories, watch our Inside Scoop presentation.

Funding for this exhibition was provided in part by, AT&T Services Inc., The Hess Foundation, Liza and Schuyler Morehouse, The Astle-Alpaugh Family Foundation, Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Lisa and Michael Ullmann, Fulton Bank, and Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Special thanks for Sheldon Hochheiser and Melissa Wasson at the AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ; Stefanie Taylor, Curatorial Intern, for designing and compiling this online exhibition.

Gallery photos by Sebastian Bach.