3rd Quarter 2007: Who is the Latter Day Benjamin Franklin?

2007-08-17T08:37:00.001-07:00

Franklin like da Vinci before him, was a true polymath, making lasting contributions in many fields. Are there any persons who can claim the title today? If so, who are they? And if not, why not?

Welcome to the new Benjamin Franklin House Blog!

2007-08-15T01:18:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin was a unique figure in history. A man of diverse talents and accomplishments - from diplomacy (negotiating treaties and forging the United States), science (electricity, lightning rods, and fuel-efficient stoves), and public service (revolutionising mail delivery, creating schools, fire and insurance companies, and cures for the common cold), to letters (newspapers, political treatises, almanacs, and spoofs) and even music (creating his glass armonica for which Mozart and Beethoven composed).

And Benjamin Franklin House is unique. It is Franklin's only surviving residence, located in the heart of London. At 36 Craven Street, Franklin worked to reconcile the dispute between the Colonies and the Crown, while pursuing his encyclopaedic interests. The 1730s building, long derelict, opened for the first time on Franklin's 300th birthday in January 2006 as a dynamic museum and educational facility featuring:

* The Historical Experience which employs live interpretation and leading edge sound, lighting and visual projection to tell Franklin’s rich London story in his own words. The historic spaces serve as stage for this ‘museum as theatre’ which removes the traditional distance between visitor and the past and illuminates a unique moment in AngloAmerican history and the Age of Enlightenment.

* The Student Science Centre which offers hands-on experimentation with scientific discoveries from Franklin's London years, juxtaposing past and present knowledge, to inspire young people, particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to think and test in the mode of Franklin. Students re-create diverse and important experiments from Franklin's sojourn in London.

*The Scholarship Centre at the top of the Georgian building with a full set of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin and annual Symposia that use Franklin as a point of departure for contemporary discussions related to his key contributions.

Franklin's values are timeless: integrity, tenacity, ingenuity, responsibility. Our blog aims to spur debate on Franklin-inspired themes - as essential in our age as in his. Watch for our Quarterly Question and join the debate!