There is so much more to know about Alexander Graham Bell than most people are aware of. His invention of the telephone was only the beginning, and in his opinion was less important than the work he did to bring speech to the deaf. Early in his life, through the influence of his grandfather, he became very interested in speech. He taught lessons in elocution, eventually teaching as a professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at Boston University. His research eventually led to working with devices to aid speech, which ultimately brought him to the telephone. Once his fortune was established, he moved on to other inventions in the fields of aviation and hydrofoils, among other things. He also did medical research to develop techniques to teach speech to the deaf.

Prototypes of all these devices were on view, and they were fascinating, but in my opinion they were overshadowed by the details of Bell’s life beyond his laboratory. He married one of his deaf students (he gave her all of his shares except 10 in the newly formed Bell Telephone Company plus a tiny silver model of the first telephone as a wedding gift) and together built a beautiful summer residence not far from the museum on Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The home is private and still held by the Bell Family. Videos of interviews of Bell’s daughters and friends and colleagues stressed how much joy Bell found in life–in his work, his family, and his friends. Though his wife teased him for being a “night owl” as he worked so late into the night on his inventions, he was also a person who could put away his work when he was enjoying his time with his family, and he took great joy in playing with his children and grandchildren. Though he eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen, Canada claims his as their own, as it was to Canada that the family moved when tuberculosis had already claimed two of his brothers and threatened Bell’s own life as a young man, and it is also where he invented the telephone. The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a beautiful memorial to this remarkable man who made the world more accessible not just for the deaf but for all of us.

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Bell built his home Beinn Bhreagh in the hills across the harbor from the site of the present museum.

Model of his airplane, the Silver Dart. Bell is hailed as the first inventor to bring flight to Canada.

A model of his hydrofoil that set a world marine speed record in 1919 of 70 mph, a record that stood for 10 years.