Smithsonian to open 1st wing on innovation, business history

A wide range of innovations from Eli Whitney’s cotton gin and Thomas Edison’s light bulb to the early Google servers and Apple’s iPhone have been brought together to tell a broad story of American business history for the first time at the Smithsonian Institution.

On July 1, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will open its new innovation wing, with galleries featuring U.S. inventions, money and hands-on activities and even food demonstrations. A major exhibition about “American Enterprise” will trace the interaction of capitalism and democracy since the mid-1700s, including conflicting views from some founding fathers. The centerpiece artifact in the new 45,000-square-foot (4,180-square-meter) space is the studio of home video game inventor Ralph Baer.

The newly renovated $63 million innovation wing is the first piece of a six-year overhaul of the museum’s entire west wing. Construction began in late 2012 and is set to continue into 2018 on other floors.