The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1862-1939

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• Learn more about Alexander Graham Bell, American history, and inventors.

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The online version of the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress will comprise a selection of approximately 4700 items (totaling about 38,000 images). This first release contains 1400 items consisting of correspondence, scientific notebooks, journals, blueprints, articles, and photographs documenting Bell’s invention of the telephone and his involvement in the first telephone company, his family life, his interest in the education of the deaf, and his aeronautical and other scientific research. Dates span from 1862 to 1939, but the bulk of the materials are from 1865 to 1920. Included among Bell’s papers is his experimental notebook containing the entry from March 10, 1876, describing the first successful experiment with the telephone, during which he spoke through the instrument to his assistant the famous words, “Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you.” Bell’s various roles in life as teacher, inventor, celebrity, and family man are covered extensively in his papers.