A visit to Edison House can enhance and embellish school curricula in these areas:

Science

• Displays of multiple Edison inventions, including the Ediphone, the Kinetoscope, the phonograph, and, of course, the light bulb
• Hands-on demonstrations of the telegraph and Morse code

Communications & the Arts

• An example of a Home Kinetoscope, the motion picture projector Edison invented at the turn of the 20th century
• Various models of the Ediphone, along with the wax cylinders and shavers he developed to make them reusable
• Working cylinder phonographs as well Diamond Disc phonographs.

Social Studies

• Excellent example of the shotgun house typical of a mid-19th century working class neighborhood
• Located in the Butchertown National Historic District
• Boarding house room furnished in the style of the period when Edison lived there
• Discussion of life in Louisville in the late 1860s when Edison lived here.

Planning a Field Trip to Edison House

Call the Director at (502) 585-5247 to make arrangements for a class visit.

Edison House volunteers will conduct a guided tour geared to your classes' specific needs. Optional features include a variety of video tapes including the first silent movie made with an Edison camera, the life of Thomas Edison, and actual newsreel footage featuring Edison and his achievements. Videos last between 10 and 35 minutes.

Hands-on Learning

Students can try their skill at sending and receiving a message using a working telegraph and Morse Code.