Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Home , 1880s, Blacksmith Scene, The Oranges

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

september 2009

Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Prepared by: Interpretive Solutions, Inc. 732 Westbourne Road West Chester, PA 19382 for:

Thomas Edison National Historical Park 211 Main Street West Orange, NJ 07052 and

Harpers Ferry Center P.O. Box 50 Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Task order T1180070008 Performed under contract number C1180070004

September 2009

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Introduction 5 Executive Summary 5 Planning for interpretation at Thomas Edison National Historical Park 6

Foundation for Planning 7 Enabling Legislation 7 Purpose of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park 7 Significance of Thomas Edison NHP 7 Mission of the National Park Service at Thomas Edison NHP 10 Management Goals for Interpretation 10 The Interpretation & Education Renaissance Action Plan 11 Servicewide Initiatives 11 Accessibility 12 Primary Interpretive Themes 12 Visitor Experience Goals 14 Issues & Influences 14

The Resource 17 The Setting 17 The Audience 18 The Interpretive Experience 19 Personnel 20 Interpretive Resources 20

Action Plan 21 The Planning Process 21 Needs in support of interpretation 21 Evaluation. 23 Implementation 25 Priorities 26

Appendix A: Detailed Description of Program Recommendations 33 Appendix B: Planning Team 43 Contents Table of Contents

Introduction 5 Executive Summary 5 Planning for interpretation at Thomas Edison National Historical Park 6

The Resource 17 The Setting 17 The Audience 18 The Interpretive Experience 19 Personnel 20 Interpretive Resources 20

Action Plan 21 The Planning Process 21 Needs in support of interpretation 21 Evaluation. 23 Implementation 25 Priorities 26

Appendix A: Detailed Description of Program Recommendations 33 Appendix B: Planning Team 43

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Introduction

Introduction • Follows findings and strategic recommendations of the National Park Long range interpretive planning at Service’s Interpretation and Education Thomas Edison National Historical Park Renaissance Action Plan (Fall 2006) took place on the cusp of change at the site. The Laboratory Complex was • Articulates the remarkable soon to be reopened after six years significance of the park: of renovations, and exciting new approaches to interpreting Edison’s ◦◦ its extensive collection of original scientific and business legacy were Edison material, the world’s being implemented. The Park faced largest related to a single inventor many intriguing challenges brought about by the forthcoming change: ◦◦ the outstanding integrity of new, and quite likely larger, audiences the site’s infrastructure upon reopening; a community that was also on the edge of change, with the ◦◦ the well-rounded insights it provides development of former Edison holdings; into the professional and private a new approach to visitors’ interpretive lives of Edison, one of the world’s experience of the site; and changes best-known individuals in his day to wayfinding and building access under new protocols. The Long ◦◦ the impact of Edison’s West Orange Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) had inventions on the world—especially to be designed to meet these sound recording, motion pictures, challenges—it needed to look to the and his ground-breaking system future by providing an interpretive of research and development strategy that provided maximum flexibility for staff members as they • Offers primary interpretive themes prepared to offer educational and that present a picture of Edison the interpretive services during this man, the inventor, the businessman, new phase in the site’s history. father, husband, and celebrity and that integrate the Laboratory Complex and Glenmont Estate into a seamless Executive Summary context for telling Edison’s story

The Long Range Interpretive Plan for • Helps the Park cultivate new the National Park Service’s Thomas audiences and open up new lines Edison National Historical Park: of communication through the use of innovative techniques • Is guided and inspired by Edison’s own spirit of innovation • Provides an implementation timeline to ensure an orderly approach • Sets realistic, achievable goals and to presenting Interpretive and priorities that are compatible with Educational services over the the resources available for support next five to seven years.

5 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Planning for Interpretation that concentrates on actions needed to at Thomas Edison National create or sustain a vigorous and effective Historical Park interpretive program for the future. All CIPS have three components: the The National Park Service (NPS) has Long Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP), adopted a unified planning approach a series of Annual Implementation Plans for interpretation and education. (AIP) and an Interpretive Database (ID). This approach combines planning for interpretive media, personal interpretive What is a Long Range Interpretive services, and education programs. Plan? The heart of the CIP is the Long The Comprehensive Interpretive Plan Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP). (CIP) is the basic planning document The LRIP defines the overall vision and for interpretation and was formally long-term (5-7 year) interpretive goals adopted as part of NPS guidelines in of the park. The process that develops 1995. Responsibility for creating the the LRIP defines realistic strategies and CIP lies with each park’s superintendent. actions that work toward achievement of the interpretive goals. What is a Comprehensive Interpretive Plan? The CIP process The Annual Implementation Plan helps parks make choices. It provides and Interpretive Database. The guidance to park staff: it helps them completed LRIP is a critical part of clarify their objectives, identify their the CIP, but it does not stand alone. audiences, and choose the best mix Actions in the LRIP are divided into of media and personal services to use annual, achievable steps and reproduced to convey park themes. in the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP), the second component of the Although the CIP as defined in CIP. Creating a series of these AIPs that Director’s Order 6 is composed of implement the actions outlined in the specific elements, good planning LRIP simplifies the park’s annual is customized to meet each park’s needs planning process. The third component and situation. The CIP is not a recipe. of the CIP is the Interpretive Database Rather, it is a guide to effective, goal- (ID), an ongoing compilation of driven planning. While it considers information, reports, bibliographies, past interpretive programming, it is plans, and inventories that document “Muckers” at work primarily a forward-looking document the LRIP’s progress.

6 FoundationFoundation for Planning for Planning

Enabling Legislation Significance of the Thomas Edison National Historical Park This section presents a brief narrative of the legislated purpose of the park. Significance statements answer these questions: “Why should people visit Thomas Edison National Historical Thomas Edison NHP? What is special Park was established “to commemo- about the site? Why should it be rate the outstanding achievements of preserved?” the great American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison” (Presidential Proclama- Collections. Thomas Edison NHP tion 3148). The site was conveyed to the includes the most complete collection National Park Service through a series of original Edison-related material in the of legal agreements between the world, including 400,000 artifacts and government and Thomas A. Edison, 5.5 million documents. It provides Inc. (later McGraw Edison Company) a resource for understanding the process between 1955 and 1962. It is located of innovation, from idea to product. within the township of West Orange in The collection is made even more New Jersey. Containing 21.25 acres, the significant by its presence in the original park preserves Thomas Alva Edison’s location in which its materials were laboratory, his estate Glenmont, and created. The archives, by preserving collections in perpetuity and makes Edison’s voluminous papers, provides this valuable part of America’s unique documentation of Thomas heritage available to over 60,000 Edison, his family, experiments and visitors each year for their enjoyment, business practices, as well as of understanding, and appreciation. science and technology of the time In March 2009, the site was officially and the development and impact of designated a National Historical Park. technology in the global context.

Laboratory Complex. The Laboratory Purpose of the Thomas Edison Complex exhibits exceptional historical National Historical Park integrity (Pattern and Machine shops, Chem Lab, Library, Drafting Room, The purpose statement comprises Music Room, Photo Lab, Stock Room). the Park’s “marching orders,” its It provides tangible evidence of the charge on behalf of the public. transition in the U.S. from a rural agricultural economy to an urban The purpose is to commemorate the industrial economy fueled by new life and achievements of the great technologies. Edison’s achievements American inventor Thomas Alva here were as world-changing as the now Edison, through the preservation of ubiquitous computers in the workplace his research and development laboratory that signal the transition from an complex, his estate, and their collections, industrial economy to an information- in order to inspire and educate an rich, globally competitive economy. international audience.

7 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

The Glenmont Estate. The Glen- mont Estate reflects Thomas and Mina Edison’s changing lifestyle and Edison’s emerging prominence as an inventor, business leader and public figure. Glenmont’s location influenced Edison’s decision to build a research lab in the West Orange countryside. Mina’s progressive view of herself as Glenmont’s “home executive” highlights the important partnership role she played in supporting Edison and helping to advance his career.

Glenmont, home of Thomas A. Precision Machine The Edison Laboratory Complex Edison, is significant as one of the few Shop located in provides the only comprehensive surviving private residences designed Building 5. overview in one place of Edison’s process by renowned architect Henry of inventing during the late 19th-early 20th Hudson Holly, considered to be centuries, from idea, to prototypes, the father of the Queen Anne-style to mass production, including extensive movement in the United States. documentary support provided by artifacts and archives. The Glenmont Estate is situated in the first planned private residential The Laboratory Complex offers insight community in the United States, known into Edison’s management style and as Llewellyn Park, which was developed work ethic: his private lab; his main as “country homes for city people” office in the middle of one of the first in 1857, yet it remained highly influential corporate research libraries; the bed in American suburb planning through- in his library; the original furnishings; out the rest of the 19th-century. and the time clock, among others. Glenmont provides important and The Laboratory Complex made rare examples of period decorative the concept of team-based research arts, including extensive representation and development a model for other of the work of period decorating inventors and companies, a concept companies, and a significant decorative which remains a fundamental and arts collection that provides a high strategic element of technological degree of authenticity and noteworthy leadership today. representation of various decorative arts movements including Victoriana, Edison is the most famous inventor of Aestheticism, Orientalism, and the his time, universally recognized by his Hudson River School Movement. celebrity image, signature, contributions to the development of electrical, Sound Recording. The Thomas recorded sound and motion picture Edison NHP phonograph collection industries, and the global impact of his documents the evolution of Edison thousands of inventions. recorded sound technology from the

8 Foundation for Planning invention of the phonograph in Motion Pictures. Thomas Edison 1877 to the electrical recording era National Historical Park, often of 1929. Rare machines include the considered the birthplace of motion original phonograph, early wax cylinder pictures, is where the laboratory team prototypes, and perhaps the world’s invented the motion picture camera, best collection of acoustic-era built the Black Maria, and developed recording studio equipment. fundamental technology to produce and exhibit motion pictures. The first professional music recording studio, in commercial operation Blacksmith Scene (1893), Dickson during the late 1880s and early Experimental Sound Film (1894-5) and 1890s, was located on the third The Kiss (1896), all made in the Black floor of the Edison Laboratory. Maria, were selected by the Library of Congress as among the most significant Thomas Edison NHP has one of the motion pictures in American History. most significant collections of Edison sound recordings in the world, includ- Machine Shop. The Laboratory’s ing several of the earliest recordings in operable machine shops exhibit existence, rare recordings of late 19th- exceptional historical integrity and and early 20th- century personalities provide unique insight into 19th-century and musicians, and major holdings of machine tool technology, working unissued test pressings, experimental conditions, and Edison’s innovative recordings, and disc master molds. business model.

Edison’s invention of the phonograph, which was developed at the West Orange Laboratory, evolved into a global industry.

Glenmont, Thomas and Mina Edison’s home

9 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Mission of the National Park The plan to interpret these stories Service at Thomas Edison will reflect and communicate their National Historical Park importance. The Park’s mission statement Thomas Edison NHP will continually articulates in broad terms the strive to achieve the highest level of ideals that the NPS strives to achieve. success. The LRIP provides an Our mission is to promote an opportunity to set realistic, achievable international understanding and goals and priorities that are compatible appreciation of the life and with the resources available for support. extraordinary achievements of Thomas Alva Edison by preserving, protecting, The plan will help Thomas Edison NHP and interpreting the park’s extensive cultivate new audiences and open up historic artifact and archive collections new lines of communication through at the Laboratory Complex and the use of innovative techniques. Glenmont, the Edison family estate. • The plan will support and encourage Management Goals for lifelong learning opportunities. Interpretation • Edison’s spirit of innovation These goals describe management’s should always be a guide. intent in offering interpretive and Like Edison, the park wants to educational programs and services. stay on the cutting edge, always looking forward to new Thomas Edison NHP’s stories are ideas and concepts. unique and exciting. They demand innovative, cutting-edge story-telling techniques, technologies, and experiences. They are important.

Original supplies and materials can still be found inside the Stock Room.

10 Foundation for Planning

The Interpretation and Education • Provide staffing and operating Renaissance Action Plan. resources necessary to achieve program The Interpretation and Education standards. Impact at Thomas Edison Renaissance Action Plan (2006) NHP: Management will work to pro- provides a renewed focus and change vide necessary interpretive resources. for Interpretation and Education (I&E) servicewide as the NPS approaches • Expand interpretation and education its centennial milestone in 2016. partner training and credentialing The Action Plan identifies five areas program. Impact at Thomas Edison of focus: Engage People to Make NHP: Future partners that provide Enduring Connections to America’s interns and other interpretive support Special Places, Use New Technologies, services will also work within a frame- Embrace Interpretation and Education work that provides standards for and Partners, Develop and Implement measures of quality performance. Professional Standards, and Create a Culture of Evaluation. Investing in • Adopt a program of evaluation to these areas will sustain I&E services achieve greater accountability and and ensure that the public finds program improvement in interpre- relevance and meaning in their tation and education. Impact at national parks. The NPS Centennial Thomas Edison NHP: Visitor feed- Initiative addresses five overarching back and program evaluation will goals which focus on stewardship, be important factors in develop- environmental leadership, recreational ing new interpretive programs. experience, education, and professional excellence to guide the NPS leading up • Improve interpretive media to meet to the 100th anniversary. The NER’s twenty-first century standards. regional strategy, Connecting People Impact at Thomas Edison NHP: to Parks (2005), provides a good back- The Long Range Interpretive Plan ground for specific actions that nest will incorporate twenty-first-century within the I&E Renaissance and the media standards. Centennial Initiative. • Encourage and adopt innovation Servicewide Initiatives. in interpretive and educational The National Park Service’s Interpreta- technology. Impact at Thomas tion and Education Renaissance Action Edison NHP: The Long Range Plan (Fall 2006) has put forth the follow- Interpretive Plan will incorpo- ing findings and strategic recommenda- rate innovative technologies. tions that are intended to guide interpretation at all parks, service-wide. • Design interpretation and education programs to serve all. Impact at • Develop core operating standards Thomas Edison NHP: The Long and measures for delivering quality Range Interpretive Plan will provide interpretation and education programs. programs for new, emerging and Impact at Thomas Edison NHP: underserved audiences, using Interpreters should expect to work universal design standards. within a framework that provides for and measures of quality performance.

11 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

• Enable interpretation and education level of accessibility that is reasonable, partners to effectively support the NPS and not simply provide the minimum education mission. Impact at Thomas level that is required by law. Consequent- Edison NHP: The role of partners ly, managers are encouraged to exceed will be acknowledged in the LRIP. the requirements for visitor accessibility through innovative techniques and part- • Create and support organizational nerships whenever possible change. Impact at Thomas Edison and reasonable.” NHP: Everyone will “be on board” with new methods, techniques and The five objectives of this ideas for interpreting the themes, etc. Director’s Order are to:

1. Incorporate the long range goal Accessibility of providing the highest level of accessibility that is reasonable for Director’s Order #42, “Accessibility for people of all abilities in all facilities, Visitors with Disabilities in National Park programs, and services, instead of Service Programs and Services,” lays providing “separate” or “special” out the agency’s approach toward programs. accessibility. It says: 2. Implement this goal within the daily “It is the goal of the NPS to ensure that operation of the NPS, its policies, all people, including the estimated 54 organizational relationships, and million citizens with disabilities, have implementation strategies; the highest level of accessibility that is reasonable to our programs, facilities 3. Provide further guidance and and services in conformance with direction regarding the NPS applicable regulations and standards. interpretation of laws and policies; Accordingly, the NPS will seek to provide that level in the planning, 4. Establish a framework for the construction, and renovation of build- effective implementation of actions ings and facilities and in the provision necessary to achieve the highest level of programs and services to the public of accessibility that is reasonable; and to our employees. In most instances, and, the applicable rules, regulations and standards do not require access if it 5. Ensure the implementation of would change the fundamental nature “universal design” principles of the activity. In conforming to the within the national park system. appropriate standards, the level of accessibility will be largely determined by the nature of the area and program, Primary Interpretive Themes and will be consistent with the obligation to conserve park resources Primary interpretive themes embody and preserve the quality of the park the most important ideas or concepts experience. . . . [O]ne fundamental communicated to the public about a principle of this Director’s Order is that park. They convey the significance of the NPS will seek to provide the highest the resource, and highlight the links

12 Foundation for Planning

Furnishing of the master bedroom at Glenmont

between tangible elements, intangible Theme 3: The Process of meanings, and universal concepts that Invention/The Workers are inherent in the park’s resources. Edison’s concept of combining research The themes connect those resources to laboratory and factory as well as employ- larger processes, systems, ideas, and ing a talented team of scientists/inven- values. Themes define the core content tors, business personnel, factory workers of the educational messages the park and artists, created a business enterprise offers, and serve as the building blocks that turned ideas into products and upon which interpretive services and may have been his greatest invention. educational programs are based. Theme 4: Glenmont Theme 1: Innovation/Impact The Edisons’ choice of Glenmont, Thomas Edison’s career provides a located in exclusive Llewellyn Park, as catalyst for understanding the power the place to begin a new family, not only of innovation, as well as an opportu- determined the eventual location of his nity to evaluate the impact of technol- last Laboratory Complex in West Orange, ogy in the world in which we live. but also reveals Edison’s rising economic and social status and the connection Theme 2: Thomas Edison between home life and work. Edison’s personal life as husband and father, his professional life as inventor Theme 5: The Resource and businessman, and his public life, A remarkably intact complex that including his role as an example of the features archives, artifacts, and buildings, emerging phenomenon of the celebrity, all in their original settings and preserved includes instances both inspirational and virtually intact since Edison’s time, controversial, and involves triumphs provide a richly textured image of and failures. this noted inventor and innovator.

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Visitor Experience Goals • Understand Edison’s invention process and concept of Visitors who experience parks seek research and development something of personal value and relevance. Visitor experience goals • Understand how inventions are describe what physical, intellectual, sold, marketed, and survive or not sensory, and emotional experiences should be available to them. They • Stand where Edison stood/enjoy the describe what visitors might do, feel, sense of place/grasp the authenticity think, and learn, all of which include and the fact that the site is virtually the power to impact not just knowledge, as it was in Edison’s day but attitudes, behavior, and values. Visitor experience goals describe • See multiple sides of Edison: opportunities for the public to experience Domestic and professional the resource in various ways. They suggest how interpretation may change • Learn that this is the lab the light bulb the way the public thinks, feels, or acts built, not where the light bulb was built as a result of the park experience. • Learn more about the National Park All visitors to Thomas Edison Service’s role in preserving and National Historical Park will interpreting the site. have the opportunity to:

• Learn something new Issues and Influences

• Experience both the Laboratory This section includes long-range Complex and Glenmont Estate service-wide initiatives, influences and opportunities inside and outside the park, • Interact with a ranger resource-based issues, and internal issues that affect interpretation and education. • Have fun Collectively, it reflects the perspectives of NPS upper management, Thomas Edison • Walk where muckers walked NHP staff members, and the site’s group of stakeholders. • Make a personal connection Influences and Issues beyond the NPS • Connect Edison inventions Children increasingly stay indoors to play to current issues/events with electronic equipment, i.e. videos, computers, etc. rather than getting out to • Learn how ideas evolve into inven- experience and explore the “real world.” tions. Understand how a concept can grow into many inventions • Demography is changing, both nation- ally and regionally: the “baby boomer” • Gain appreciation for the depth generation is entering retirement years, and authenticity of the resources with possible impacts both on audience and volunteer networks, and the ethnic and cultural background of the historic

14 Foundation for Planning

Test tubes and beakers from the Edison Complex

site’s neighbors is undergoing a shift, Influences and Issues within the NPS which also has implications for audi- • The agency has recognized the need ences and their participation at the site. to present park stories from multiple viewpoints, to diversify its audience, • With the rising cost of fuel, people are and to attract underserved audiences. traveling less and focusing more on local institutions and amenities. • NPS faces many challenges including the reduction of the • Younger generations expect workforce serving the visitors. communication that is built around new technologies. • There is a need to diversify the park workforce to reflect America’s • Schools are finding it increasingly diverse population. difficult to take field trips due to costs and an enhanced focus on • Advances in technology are constantly curriculum and accountability. changing the way Americans communicate. Parks need to stay • Knowledge of history and world abreast of new developments. context has decreased dramatically among young people due to • Partners offer a range of opportunities changes in school curricula that focus to expand interpretation and on basic reading, writing, and educational services. mathematical skills.

• Public transportation to the site is limited.

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Issues and Influences within • The Interpretation Division Thomas Edison NHP needs the support of other • The site reopens to the public after divisions in order to provide high six years of renovation with new pro- quality interpretation to all visitors. grams, techniques, and strategies for interpreting Edison and his works. • The outstanding historical integrity of the site creates a huge interpretive advantage as visitors encounter a near-immersive experience that helps communicate Edison’s great significance to our lives.

Cards identify • Programs must not only be sustainable, • The retail items offered for sale should employee salaries but must continue to grow to the next always relate in some way to the and job title. level, so they will continually add value interpretive themes of the site. to the interpretation of the site. • The six-year gap in services during • Interpreters at the site will need to which the site was closed for experiment and explore new ways to renovation has created a “gap” in the help visitors understand the relevance site’s list of contacts: school contacts, of Edison and his life work today, potential volunteers, and other finding different ways of presenting connections will need to be renewed. the information so it engages people with a broad range of interests • Both the Edison Innovation and backgrounds. Foundation and the Friends of Edison provide ongoing • The ability of the site to market its support and inspiration. programs and services must also be sustainable. A communication plan Resource-based Issues for the site is under development • Not all the site’s buildings are able that will help attract visitors. to be opened to the public due to a lack of resources (including space • The site archives contain vast untapped for offices and storage of artifacts). resources for researchers that relate to a wide range of relevant topics of • The site’s holdings include an interest to the academic community, exceptional number of artifacts; as well as to the public; Thomas Edison proper care and storage of NHP will seek ways to create more collections will remain as one access to these important resources. of the greatest challenges.

• Staff will need to find ways to access • The site should strive for a new ideas and information, not comfortable balance between only about Edison and the process protecting its historical integrity, of invention, but about interpretive and serving the public’s need for media and other communication interpretive programs and services. methodologies.

16 The ResourceThe Resource

The Setting

The Site. Thomas Edison National History. Today, Edison’s brick and Historical Park is located in West concrete laboratories are well integrated Orange, New Jersey, a township into West Orange’s urban landscape. approximately six miles from Newark, Nevertheless, these solidly built New Jersey, and fifteen miles from Victorian buildings retain a sense of Manhattan. Originally a part of their former prominence as the core of Newark, West Orange became a Thomas Edison’s “invention factory.” separate community in 1863. During For forty-four years, from 1887 to 1931, the twentieth century, West Orange the site served as the inventor’s research evolved into a densely developed and development center. Here Edison suburb of Newark and New York. and his “muckers” developed many of the devices around which modern life When Edison first moved to West revolves, such as the motion picture Orange in 1886, the township was camera and the nickel-iron alkaline significantly more rural than it is today, storage battery. They refined the allowing Edison access to the acres of phonograph and made it the center of land he required to build his laboratories a worldwide business. and factories. Today, Edison’s industrial campus as well as other Before Edison began to build in West locations related to his years in West Orange, he purchased Glenmont, an Orange rank among the commu- estate featuring a 29-room Queen Anne nity’s most notable landmarks. mansion, located nearby in historic Llewellyn Park. When offered a choice Approaching the site. Thomas Edison between a house in New York City or National Historical Park is accessible the bucolic Glenmont, Edison’s second from the New Jersey Turnpike, the wife Mina Miller chose the latter. This Garden State Parkway, Interstates 78 and was the decision that brought Edison’s Edison factory 80, and other branches of the interstate exterior system. Public transportation to the site is available; New Jersey Transit’s Bus Route No. 21 leaves Penn Station in Newark and stops right outside the Laboratory site, and commuter buses leave Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and stop within a half mile of the site. Commuter trains run between Manhattan, Orange, and other communities near West Orange. West Orange is not far from Newark International Airport (approximately $50 by cab).

17 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Looking skywards towards the Edison Complex smokestack

family and his research and com- the expense of this conservation, mercial ventures to West Orange. combined with numerous other factors, prevented the laboratories from After Edison died in 1931, Thomas A. receiving appropriate care. As a result, Edison, Inc., continued operations in Edison’s laboratories gradually the West Orange manufacturing build- deteriorated until 1992, when the ings but used the centerpiece laboratory National Trust for Historic Preservation buildings primarily as storage spaces. listed the site as one of America’s twelve As a result, these buildings remained most endangered historic sites. The pretty much as they were at the time of critical conditions at Thomas Edison his death. In the late 1940s the Edison National Historical Park lead the family and the company established a government’s Save America’s Treasures foundation to transform the laboratories program and private companies such as into a museum, and in 1948, the main General Electric to provide funding to laboratory building opened to the public. carry out necessary restorations. In 1956, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., In 2003, the National Park Service closed donated the historic core of the original Edison’s laboratories to carry out this laboratories, including the land, work. The buildings were reopened buildings, and all of their contents in 2009. to the National Park Service. Today, the Laboratory Complex and Glen- mont Estate (donated to the NPS in The Audience 1962) are managed as the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. Visitor Profile. Before Thomas Edison National Historical Park closed, Edison’s laboratories with their varied the site attracted many national and contents require special conservation. international visitors. The site also For much of the twentieth century, regularly hosted New Jersey and

18 The Resource

New York school classes from the street from the entrance to the the third grade and above. Laboratory Complex. Many of Edison’s laboratory buildings accommodate Outside of these students, however, visitors with disabilities. However, Edison attracted relatively few visitors Glenmont is not as easily navigated by from West Orange and other nearby people with mobility impairments. communities. This is due to a variety of factors, including the challenge of Edison’s estate Glenmont is located in attracting residents in a region filled a nearby private community, Llewellyn with many other recreational and Park. Access is granted via private educational opportunities. automobile when visitors show the pass issued them at the Laboratory Com- In the ten years before the site closed plex at the Llewellyn Park gatehouse. for renovations, attendance averaged 50,625 per year. It is difficult to Interpretive and visitor services. determine projected attendance when At some point in the future, Thomas the site reopens, given the excitement Edison National Historical Park plans the opening will create, and the fact to construct a large multi-use building that people have not been able to visit at the far edge of the Laboratory for quite some time. Presumably, Complex property to create more space attendance will increase immediately for collection storage, free up space for after opening, and for the first year will new exhibits, and permit additional exceed prior levels, and then level off. restoration of laboratory-building interiors. For the time being, Building 1 will serve as the visitor center. Here, The Interpretive Experience visitors will encounter an information desk where they will pay entrance fees, Way finding. Directions by plane, interact with interpretive staff, obtain car, and public transportation to the park brochures and schedules, and get site are currently posted on the Thomas information about programs, including Edison National Historical Park website. an audio tour of the site. The building Approaches to the park for the most will also house the site’s store, which part are satisfactorily marked on nearby will sell books and other items related major roads and highways and National to Thomas Edison and the National Park Service signs nearer to the labo- Park Service. ratories themselves. Signage could be enhanced on Interstate 280, as well The addition of an elevator in new as on secondary roads by encouraging construction attached to the end of West Orange Township to post signs the Building 5 of the Laboratory has or tourist kiosks, especially in the greatly enhanced accessibility to one township’s downtown area, that of the site’s most fascinating features. call attention to, and direct people towards Thomas Edison NHP. Access to the Glenmont Estate is offered by guided tour only. In addition to the Access. Thomas Edison NHP is house tour, Glenmont’s visitors may accessible from the road but offers limit- take a cellular phone tour of the estate’s ed parking for cars, RVs and buses across grounds, walk through the greenhouse,

19 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

and at various times of the year, go into promote volunteer opportunities. the garage to view the antique cars. Currently, site personnel are working with Master Gardener students for the first time, expanding the Personnel college intern program, and stepping up recruitment tactics to build a larger Interpretation Division Staff. community-based volunteer pool. At Thomas Edison National Historical Park, interpretation staff will operate visitor centers at both the Laboratory Interpretive Resources Complex and Glenmont Estate, as well as provide regularly scheduled programs Thomas Edison NHP maintains and tours at both locations. While extensive archives with millions of interpretation will be the primary duty primary documents as well as a large of Thomas Edison NHP’s interpreta- number of secondary publications tion staff, other tasks will be divided relating to Thomas Edison’s experi- among staff members of all divisions. ments and business undertakings.

The archives and library collections are used by park staff and outside researchers alike. Collaboration with the Edison Papers project at Rutgers University continues to improve access to Edison materials. Finding aids for the library and archive collections will eventually be posted online, and research space is provided to accommodate small numbers of researchers at the site.

Thomas Edison NHP’s museum collection, among the largest in the National Park System, contains 400,000 Truck of the first Volunteers. Like other National Park artifacts associated with Edison’s electric railroad Service sites, Thomas Edison NHP experimentation, business ventures, locomotive built by Edison depends upon volunteers to assist with and domestic life. The Glenmont its operations and programs. At present, estate alone includes more than 40,000 the Park enjoys the services of the objects. Many of the pieces in the Garden Club of the Oranges, which site’s collection are on display in the maintains the Glenmont Greenhouse. laboratory buildings or at Glenmont. The site also relies on summer interns from Seton Hall Preparatory School, provided with support from the Charles Edison Fund. With the upcoming reopening of the Laboratory Complex, the site engaged directly with local community members through programming and other means to

20 ActionAction Plan Plan

The Planning Process finalize both theme statements and priorities and set the stage for the Under the leadership of Chief of drafting of the LRIP. The Team Draft Interpretation Karen Sloat-Olsen, of the LRIP was completed in June the Long Range Interpretive Plan was 2009, and the plan was revised and developed during a process that began finalized in August of that year. with a scoping trip on October 25, 2007. Elements of the process included workshops facilitated by a planning consultant Needs in Support of Interpretation firm, Interpretive Solutions, Inc.; work sessions of the Core Planning Group; Through the planning process, the and a number of follow-up phone calls Core Planning Group was able to that involved Core Planning Group identify a number of needs and priorities Members and the planning consultant. that would support and enhance interpretive services at Thomas Edison A workshop addressing foundational NHP in the next five to seven years. elements was held April 1-2, 2008. A group of stakeholders joined park Wayfinding and orientation staff on the first day of the workshop There is a need to clearly orient to share their ideas, perspectives, and visitors to their options as they arrive concerns. The workshop participants on site: optimum circulation, best addressed site significance and routes, possible sequence of visit, themes, identified target audiences, etc., as they choose a path through the and discussed issues and influences park, including the Glenmont estate: impacting interpretive programming. Examples include a tear-away site This was followed by an implement- map, and calendar of events. ation workshop held October 1-3, 2008. This workshop addressed media choices, There is a need for orientation interpretive strategies, and program information to be shown on the evaluation. Part 1 of the LRIP, the monitor near the admissions desk, Foundation for Planning, circulated that would introduce the visitor to to stakeholders in August of 2008, the programs and activities available and revised in accordance with during their visit, cost of admission their comments. and instruction on the use of the audio units. There is also a need for a new All of these workshops were facilitated general orientation video to be shown by Interpretive Solutions, Inc. In in the theatre adjacent to the information addition, the Core Planning Group desk. The video would introduce the met numerous times to discuss thematic park’s themes, provide basic facts approaches, and to recommend and about Thomas Edison, and highlight prioritize new programs to address the selected features. gaps. Finally, a series of teleconferences between the Core Planning Group and the planning consultant helped to

21 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

The following are needs that • Baby-changing station at Glenmont. have been idenified: • Increased “open-to-the-public” days First impressions at Glenmont in winter. • Improved entrance to Glenmont, one that does not lead visitors past • Expanded marketing efforts to somewhat shabby outbuildings, Spanish-speaking visitors to include: etc., particularly the walk from the exterior welcoming sign in Spanish, parking lot to the potting shed. notice of Spanish and cell phone tours, website also available in Visitor feedback Spanish. Spanish-language tours • Effective ways of soliciting visitor are offered when personnel are feedback. For example, digital visi- available to present them; there is tor comment cards, text feedback via a need to find ways to make the cell phones, comments on website. program permanent. The Park will soon have a Spanish-language webpage. Access and convenience • More comfortable, shady places to Audience rest during tours of the Laboratory • Provide tours that focus on Complex and Glenmont Estate. Glenmont’s decorative arts.

• Improved lighting on some parts of • Develop hands-on activities and group the tour, especially in Building 5. experiences that are appropriate for families with children of multiple ages. • “Touchable” collection for vision-impaired visitors. • Develop programs for children who are four through eight. • Tactile cues to the recorded audio portion of the site tour. • Develop programs that address different levels/modalities of learning. • Wheelchair users for Building 5 should understand the prescribed School programs route, elevator use, and narrow • Note that several of the ideas below passageways. Wheelchair were in place prior to closing. Upon access throughout the site should reopening, the Park has a need to be tested prior to opening day. revisit and in some cases revise the activity to ensure that they provide • Alternative visitor experiences for outstanding services. Thomas Edison’s home Glenmont, which is not accessible to the physically • In-class teacher workshops that disabled. Some suggestions include: address the logistics of visiting, class relocating the existing photo albums preparation and thematic content. that show inaccessible parts of the house and the installation of a live • Visiting classroom trunks, Ranger webcam. in the Classroom programs, and teachers who have been specifi-

22 Action Plan

cally oriented to tour their classes through the site on their own.

• Establish distance learning facilities and programs for school groups.

Marketing • Reach out to new audiences, including:

◦◦ Local business owners

◦◦ Summer, after-school and weekend camps

◦◦ College students in need of internships and class projects Evaluation Plants grow thick in the Glenmont greenhouse. ◦◦ Corporations (tours; speakers Program evaluation is an important for business meetings) tool for measuring the effectiveness of interpretive services. It should never ◦◦ Veterans (special exhibits/ be viewed as a critique, but simply as special programs) an opportunity for improvement. The need to create a “culture of evaluation” Support for interpretation throughout the NPS has been clearly • Research and understand copyright articulated by NPS upper management issues regarding the site’s archival in the Servicewide Education and holdings, especially sound recordings Interpretation Evaluation Strategy, and motion pictures. as well as during an “Evaluation Summit” held in October 2006. • Research the following areas, among others: Principles of an effective evaluation program include: ◦◦ Other inventors in the same areas as Edison • Feedback gathered in a systematic manner (for example, ◦◦ The ways in which Edison’s not just anecdotal) movie technology built on the work of others • Evaluation must be examined for empirical evidence ◦◦ Table or other information listing and describing • Planned evaluation Edison’s many companies • Ongoing evaluations ◦◦ A good description of how the various properties went from • Resources provided to conduct Thomas/Mina Edison ownership evaluations (time and people) to the federal government

23 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Garden chairs on the lawn of Glenmont

Evaluation can take place during any service is effective (or not effective), of three project phases: front-end the less the need to evaluate it. evaluation solicits feedback as a preliminary step in program planning; • Cost to evaluate. Lower cost formative evaluation depends on feed- evaluations are more likely to be back during the program development performed than those at high cost. process; and summative evaluation occurs when a program is up and run- • Benefits/ability to impact services. ning. The latter is sometimes called The higher the benefit and impact, remedial evaluation, which implies the more value there is in in- that resources will be made available terpreting the service. to remedy any program shortcomings that the evaluation process identifies. Evaluation priorities. Evaluation priorities at Thomas Edison NHP are: What to evaluate. Criteria for selecting which interpretive programs • The overall visitor experience, and services need to be evaluated in particular: include a combination of the following factors: ◦◦ The audio tour

• Importance. The more impor- ◦◦ The graphic panels in Building 5 tant a service is, the more value there is in interpreting it. ◦◦ The self-guided tour in Build- ing 5 (compared with ranger- • Degree of confidence. The surer guided tour or audio tour) management is that an interpretive

24 Action Plan

◦◦ Observation of programs, leading • Resource-based (This group includes to enhanced coaching and training researchers using the archives and/or for interpreters collection, as well as film crews, etc., who have specialized, narrowly defined needs) Implementation • Non-English speakers The planning team conducted a careful review of Thomas Edison • Persons with disabilities. People NHP’s interpretive themes to identify with hearing impairments any gaps in services, and to recommend are of special interest, due to new initiatives intended to strengthen Edison’s own impaired hearing. and enhance interpretation at the park as it reopens to the public. • Web-based visitors (This category includes all visitors who access The planning group identified a number information via digital media, of different target audiences for the including internet-enabled devices; site’s interpretive services. An audience pre- and post-visits via the internet, is defined as any group for whom or those who only visit the park specially-tailored interpretive services virtually, never in person.) are necessary. Target audiences include: Programming recommendations were • General audience developed by theme for the general audience. In addition, several program • Scheduled groups (arrive with specific recommendations were created to objective in mind: includes schools, target the Park’s specialized audiences. as well as targeted, topic-based groups)

• Repeat visitors/visitors from the park’s immediate vicinity

Exterior of Building 5 at the Edison Laboratory Complex

25 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Summary of Program Recommendations by Priority (please see Appendix A for a more detailed description of programs). After the entire park is open for a period of time, and all activities and services have been evaluated, this priority table will be reviewed. At that time, an annual plan will be created and the top services needed will be selected. Note that programs within each category are not necessarily listed in priority order within that category.

Laundry room at Glenmont

26 Action Plan

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 1 Object-based “Hands-on” Virtual tour of Create a space/ Create special- Podcasts: “failed area featuring site, incl Chem program to ized orientation Foreign Innovation/ inventions” inventions Lab with show short materials (for language tours Invention: program layered info, specialty films, resource-based Solar Energy “hot spots” including audience: Podcasts: HIGH Program on exhibit that that provide Edison short researchers, Spanish business impact would additional films film crews, etc language tour PRIORITY of Edison demonstrate depth on hand-held inventions some of Cell phone tour device the physical Archive & of Lab Complex Program on principles of collection- Translate site economic solar energy, based online Kiosk/computer guide impact of either in-doors exhibit on the access featuring Edison with lights light bulb: digital library of Translate inventions or outdoors patents, letters, sound archives other written using natural prototypes, etc. materials After-school sunlight. Kiosk/computer inventors club Website: access featur- Add audio “Invention ing historical description to Lunch time highlites” photographs orientation film lecture/ podcast of Edison site/ discussion series Edison’s life/ Audio version Website: Quote inventions of site brochure Alternative of the month/ Energy program week and/ “Turning the Large print or this day/ Pages”- type brochure Technologies week in Edison software: Make program: history lab notebooks Produce ASL An overview available (American Sign of the various Website: via interactive Language) technologies, Sound archive kiosks tour for use explaining online on hand-held the basics device, e.g. and issues that Website: Virtual iPhone need to be timeline of life addressed. in W. Orange Special program in context of for people Continue Edison’s time with cognitive Geothermal period disabilities Energy tours at Glenmont.

Electric Vehicles program on the principles of electric vehicles, how Edison developed the nickel-iron storage battery, and showcasing the Edison family electric vehicles.

27 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 1 Edison field day Archive and Website: Edison site on for families collection- “Where in the social network- Innovation/ based exhibit world is ing sites Invention: New invention on the light Edison’s gala event for bulb: patents, impact?” map- Hand-held MEDIUM local schools letters, based program device: tour of (HS, Jr. High & prototypes, etc. site—includes PRIORITY College) Website: “Fade audio and Open storage to black:” photographs exhibits/more gradually as well as access to subtract Edison narrative collections, inventions from poss. incl. a virtual setting Kiosk featuring Chem lab Edison movies Website: download Edison ringtones (from sound archives)

Website: Experiments/ demonstrations to try at home

Website: Film clip of machine- shop in operation (also presented via video kiosk in machine shop)

Website: Virtual timeline of Edison’s life

Theme 1 Special program, Website: Digital share ideas: access to Innovation/ What’s your idea Edison papers Invention: for an invention? How does Website: Film LOWER an invention get of Edison’s invented? inventions in PRIORITY use around the Concerts world

Inventor’s club for adults

Theatrical presentations

Series of onsite lectures targeting museum profession

28 Action Plan

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 2 “A Day in the “Dead Post the Edison Program on Create Special Life of Edison” Edison” scrapbooks Edison myths specialized programs Thomas —visitors program/ via “Turning and legends: orientation for hard-of- Edison: “shadow” Edi- exhbit—his the Pages” “myth-busters” materials (for hearing people son as he goes death, funeral, software podcast, show resource-based emphasizing HIGH through eulogies, death PBS History audience: that Edison |a typical (time- mask, etc., Detectives film researchers, was hearing PRIORITY compressed) including debunking film crews, etc. impaired day, from “myth- Edison’s talk to waking up at busters” re: the dead Glenmont to Edison myths & working in t legends he lab with the muckers, to dinner with celebrities

Theme 2 Edison scandal Exhibit Website: down- tour featuring time- load Edison Thomas line of Edison’s images as Edison: life screen-savers

MEDIUM Exhibit on Edison as icon: PRIORITY “larger-than- life” role in society, and as marketing icon; include art activities NOTE: oriented to marketing icons No LOWER PRIORITY Exhibit on programs for Edison in the this theme press

Post period newspapers highlighting Edison’s career and place in the world’s consciousness

29 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 3 Assume the Walking tour of identity of a lab neighbor- Process/ worker, take hood, present- Workers: on role in ed via handheld invention, device with HIGH make decisions, historical visuals answer to compare PRIORITY questions with today’s streetscape Site tour: “Muckers to Kiosk featuring Maids,” focus- computer list of ing on all the workers; mini- employees who Wikipedia that made Edison’s asks for input/ life work letters/quotes/ possible: photos from What was it relatives of like to work for former workers Edison? Podcasts or cell phone interp that focuses on individual workers, including oral history accounts

Theme 3 Labor Day special E-tour: Day in event the life of an Process/ Edison record- Workers: Program on ing artist Edison hiring policies MEDIUM PRIORITY Program on the creative “talent” who worked, played, acted & recorded at the Lab & Glenmont

Program on the tech. knowledge & skills present in Edison workforce

Walking tour of factory buildings: how neighborhood & demographics change as a result of Edison’s lab,emphasizing Workers/ Immi- grants/Labor story

30 Appendix A

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 3 Produce AV show on Process/ immigration Workers: impact on Edison work LOW force PRIORITY

Theme 4 Camp Edison: Marginalia Website: Digital Audio or cell focus on exhibit—on recipe box; phone tour: Glenmont: nature, music, “Turning download and architecture art the Pages” print out Mina’s (exterior) HIGH software recipes PRIORITY Porch talks on Live participa- various topics in Outbuildings Website: Down- tion in tour via season open load and print webcam map of tree Special empha- Plant labels on species on the Cell phone tour sis programs the grounds (to grounds and for kids—use (ex: architec- identify plant greenhouse texting features ture, Edison specimens) plants and family children) stories Website: Special holiday- Interactive related tours virtual tour with and exhibits: hot spots offer- how the ing layered info Edisons celebrated the holidays

Theme 4 Concerts at Exhibit on the Website: Audio or cell Rack card Glenmont newspapers Virtual tour of phone tour: featuring Glenmont: that Edison paintings decorative arts attributes of read (interior) the MEDIUM architecture/ PRIORITY Victoriana

Theme 4 Discussion/ Website: Audio enhanced dialog on “Design programs: Glenmont: Edison as family your own ambient sound man Glenmont” throughout LOW (architectural house as tour PRIORITY features) continues— children’s voices, maids at work, Edison and Mina conferring and laughing together, cook banging pans, etc.

31 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Interpretive Exhibits, incl. Theme Website Digital Media Print Media Accessibility Programs rotating

Theme 5 Website: Digital library/online The catalog (photos Resource: of objects, historical HIGH photos, sound, movies) PRIORITY Website: Finding aids to archival resources

Theme 5 Architecture Website program: podcast: Staff The architects get members talk Resource: CEUs about their jobs or other topics MEDIUM Website: PRIORITY “Curator cam” the story behind the scenes

NOTE:

No LOWER PRIORITY programs for this theme

32 Appendix A

Appendix A: Detailed Description virtual, online exhibit (as listed below). of Program Recommendations Note, however, that the site does not presently feature an appropriate The following listing provides additional location for temporary exhibits. program details. It is arranged by target audience and theme. • Create open storage exhibits that would allow increased visitor access General audiences, Theme 1, to collections. This might possibly Innovation/Impact. Program include the Chem Lab. recommendations are: • Create/sponsor an Inventors Club • An object-based program that for adults and students. focuses on Edison’s “failed inventions” and what he learned from them. • Sponsor a series of onsite lectures targeting museum professionals, • A program on the global impact on possibly highlighting sound, business of Edison’s inventions and ap- motion picture and document proach to commerce and marketing. archives, as well as decorative arts and site’s extensive object collection. • A program on the worldwide economic impact of Edison’s inventions. • Theatrical presentations dramatizing highlights in Edison’s life/inventions. • A special program for sharing ideas: What’s your idea for an invention? • Alternative Energy Technologies How does an invention get invented? program: A overview of the various technologies, explaining the basics • A space should be identified/created and issues that need to be addressed. in the Park for a hands-on area featuring inventions/inventing. • Solar Energy exhibit that would demonstrate some of the physical • A space should be identified/ principles of solar energy, either created where short specialty films, in-doors with lights or outdoors including Edison short films, can using natural sunlight. be shown. • Continue Geothermal Energy tours • Sponsor a “new invention gala event” at Glenmont. for local schools (High School, Junior High & College). • Electric Vehicles program on the principles of electric vehicles, how • Create a temporary archive and Edison developed the nickel-iron collection-based exhibit on the light storage battery, and showcasing the bulb: patents, letters, prototypes, etc. Edison family electric vehicles. The exhibit is then recreated as a

33 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

Digital media, General • Make the digital library of sound Audiences, Theme 1. Digital media is archives available on site via a kiosk/ considered to be any content delivered computer terminal. via digital media, regardless of the platform; delivery could be via website, • A kiosk/computer terminal featuring cell phone, hand-held device, download- access to historical photographs of able podcast to iPod or similar player, Edison’s life, the site, and his inventions etc. Recommendations for digital media (also available on website). for Theme 1 include: • A kiosk/computer terminal featuring • A web-based virtual tour of the Park, clips from Edison’s movies and short including the Chem Lab, with layered films (also available on website). information, “hot spots” that provide additional depth, etc. • Create a web-based virtual timeline of Edison’s life and inventions. • Create a tour of the site for a hand- held device that includes audio and • Create a web-based virtual timeline photographs as well as narrative. of life in West Orange in the context of Edison’s time period. • Produce a film clip of machine-shop in operation (also presented via video • Post Edison’s lab notebooks on the kiosk in Machine Shop) for visitors website (also available at kiosks/ who cannot experience the “live” computer terminals on site) via machine shop action. “Turning the Pages”-type or similar software that allows viewers to “page • Produce a film showing Edison’s through” the notebooks, zoom in, etc. inventions in action throughout the world, including different time periods. • Provide digital access to the Edison papers. • An archive- and collection-based online exhibit on the light bulb: • Create map-based online program: patents, letters, prototypes, etc., “Where in the World is Edison’s based on an onsite temporary exhibit. impact?”

• A podcast downloadable from website • Create a web-based program, “Fade that features invention highlights. to Black,” in which users gradually subtract Edison’s inventions, one by • A regular website feature highlighting one, from a virtual setting. a “quote of the month/week” and/or “this day/week in Edison history.” • Offer experiments/demonstrations to try at home via the website. • With the help of appropriate partners, develop a “sound archive” that is • Continue to offer web-based accessible via the Park’s website. “The Invention Factory” activity.

• Create downloadable Edison • Cell phone tour of Lab Complex. ringtones from the sound archives.

34 Appendix A

• Create an Edison NHP presence on • Post Edison’s scrapbooks on the social networking sites like Facebook, website via “Turning the Pages” MySpace and Twitter. or similar software, allowing viewers to “page through” the The following programs addressing notebooks, zoom in on detail, etc. Theme 1, Innovation/Impact, are already in place at Edison NHP, and • Special programs for hearing impaired will continue: persons, emphasizing that Edison was hearing impaired. • Camp Edison (summer special interest camp focused on inventions • Edison scandal tour. and inventing). This program was offered for the first time in Summer • Exhibit featuring timeline of 2008, and is slated to grow over Edison’s life. the years. • Exhibit on Edison as icon: “larger- • An invention-themed program/tour than-life” role in society, and as that focuses on areas usually not open marketing icon; include art activities to the public (Black Maria, Chem Lab, oriented to marketing icons. Pattern Shop, Phonograph Room). • Exhibit on Edison in the press. • Movie night (or weekend afternoon) in the Visitor Center. • Post period newspapers highlighting Edison’s career and place in the world’s • “The Invention Factory” interactive consciousness (could also be web- web-based activity. based exhibit).

Digital media, General audiences, General audiences, Theme 2, Thomas Theme 2. Edison. Program recommendations are: • Podcast on Edison myths and legends: • Program: “A Day in the Life of Edison” “myth-busters.” —visitors “shadow” Edison as he goes through a typical (time-compressed) • Plus see many recommendations for day, from waking up at Glenmont to digital media listed under Theme 1. working in the lab with the muckers, to dinner with celebrities. • Downloadable Edison images for use as screen-savers. • Exhibit/program focused on Edison’s death, funeral, eulogies, death mask, General audiences, Theme 3, The etc. Process of Invention/The Workers. Program recommendations are: • Program/exhibit on Edison myths and legends: “myth-busters” (also • Create program during which as podcast; listed below). participants assume the identity of an Edison worker, take on a role in

35 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

• a certain invention, make decisions, • Walking tour of lab neighborhood, answer questions, etc. presented via handheld device with historical visuals to compare with • Site tour: “Muckers to Maids,” focus- today’s streetscape. ing on all the employees who made Edison’s life work possible. What was • Develop an E-tour: A day in the life it like to work here? Interprets a day of an Edison recording artist. in the life of a worker: machinist, secretary, mucker, factory worker. • Produce AV show on the impact of immigration on the Edison work force. • Ranger-led walking tour of the neighborhood, including walking tour of factory buildings; “Workers/ General Audiences, Theme 4, Immigrants/Labor” story: how did Glenmont. Program recommendations neighborhood and demographics are as follows: change as a result of Edison’s lab? Could also be offered via a printed • Camp Edison, a summer camp brochure, and see also neighborhood focusing on nature, music and art. tour for hand-held device listed below. • Create “porch talks” on various topics • Labor Day special event. in season, for visitors awaiting a tour of the mansion. • Program on hiring policies: Would you be hired? • Create special emphasis programs (ex: architecture, Edison children). • Program on the creative “talent”— actors and musicians—who worked • Special holiday-related tours and and played at the Lab and Glenmont. exhibits: how the Edisons celebrated the holidays. • Program on the range of technical knowledge and skills present in the • Program: What was it like to work Edison workforce. here? A Day in the Life of a Maid at Glenmont. Digital media, General Audiences, Theme 3. • Open more of the outbuildings to the public. • Kiosk featuring computer list of workers; a mini-Wikipedia that asks • Create rack card featuring attributes for input/letters/quotes/photos from of the architecture/Victoriana. relatives of former workers; invite respondees to a worker-descendant • Etiquette tours: join a tea party and “reunion.” learn the manners of Mina’s day.

• Podcasts or cell phone interpretation • Discussion/dialogue on Edison that focuses on individual workers, as family man. including oral history accounts.

36 Appendix A

Digital media, General Audience, at work, Edison and Mina conferring Theme 4: and laughing together, cook banging pans, etc. • Website: Interactive virtual tour of the mansion with hot spots offering layered The following programs are already information. in place or under development at the Glenmont Estate, and will continue: • Marginalia exhibit online or presented via a kiosk or computer terminal— • Guided tours of the mansion. using “Turning the Pages-”type of similar software—featuring Edison’s • Changing garden and grounds tours: notes on his books and other reading focus on how they have changed matter. since Edison’s day and continue to be managed. • Create an online exhibit on the newspapers Edison read. • Guided tour of the grounds: emphasis on connection to Edisons’ personal life • Website: Digital recipe box; download and neighborhood. and print out Mina’s recipes. • Program/tour focusing on Mina: • Website: Download and print map her role as home executive; her of tree species on the grounds and connections to the company, including greenhouse plants. entertaining at Glenmont and owning some of the company property; caring • Audio or cell phone tour of Glenmont for Edison. exterior, focusing on the architecture. • Opportunity to participate in period • Live participation in tour via webcam games like those the Edison children (from remote location, or for those would have played. who are not able to access the full tour).

• Cell phone tour for kids—use texting General Audiences, Theme 5, features and family stories. The Resource. Program recommendations include: • Website: virtual tour of Glenmont’s painting collection. • Create an architecture program that qualifies architects for Continuing • Audio or cell phone tour of Glenmont Education Units (CEUs). interior, focusing on decorative arts. Digital media, General Audience, • Website activity: “Design your own Theme 5: Glenmont,” focusing on architectural features. • Create digital library/online catalog (photos of objects, historical photos, • Audio enhanced programs: ambient sound, movies) sound throughout the house as tour continues—children’s voices, maids

37 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

• Website: Create finding aids to • Create specialized printed archival resources orientation materials for these users of Park resources. • Website-based podcast: Staff members talk about their jobs or other topics Non-English speakers/persons with • Website: “Curator cam”—that allows disabilities. The following recommen- viewers to view restoration or dations relate specifically to increasing conservation work in progress. access to interpretive programs at Edison NHP:

Scheduled groups. School program • Create foreign language podcast tours recommendations including that are downloadable from the the following: Park’s website.

• Develop a program centered on • Create a Spanish-language video tour Edison’s inventions. Activities might featuring the Park’s current Spanish- include blocks featuring Edison’s speaking interpreter, to be delivered inventions that could be organized in via podcast or a handheld device. proper sequence; “Be An Invention” in which each student chooses one of • Translate site guide and other written Edison’s inventions, and traces it from materials (Spanish, Japanese and idea to product, among other activities. German are priorities).

• Add audio description sound track Repeat/community visitors. to the site’s orientation film. Recommendations for special programs for the Park’s closest neighbors include: • Create an audio version of the site brochure (in progress). • An after-school inventors club for middle and high school students. • Create large print brochure.

• Lunch-time lecture or • Produce American Sign Language discussion series. (ASL) tour for use on hand-held device, e.g. iPhone. • Resurrect “Edison Field Day” for local families. • Develop a special program for people with cognitive disabilities. • Sponsor onsite concerts, including at Glenmont. The following programs have already been initiated to improve the Park’s Resource-based audience. This group accessibility to all visitors: includes researchers using the archives and/or collection, as well as film crews, etc., who have specialized, narrowly defined needs

38 Appendix A

• The audio tour has been translated • With the help of appropriate partners, and made available in Spanish, develop a “sound archive” that is Japanese and German. accessible via the Park’s website.

• Audio versions of printed matter are • Create downloadable Edison ringtones being created. from the sound archives.

• Printed and audio scripts are being • Access to library of historical developed for all exhibits that are not photographs of Edison’s life, the site, wheelchair-accessible. and his inventions.

• Clips from Edison’s movies and Summary of digital media short films. recommendations. The following is a summary of all recommendations • Create a web-based virtual timeline involving digital media. These programs of Edison’s life and inventions. can be presented on various platforms, including not just the website, but onsite • Create a web-based virtual timeline computer kiosks, hand-held devices, of life in West Orange in the context podcasts, etc. of Edison’s time period.

• Post Edison’s lab notebooks on the Web-based interpretive services. website (also available at kiosks/ • A web-based virtual tour of the Park, computer terminals on site) via including the Chem Lab, with layered “Turning the Pages”-type or similar information, “hot spots” that provide software that allows viewers to “page additional depth, etc. through” the notebooks, zoom in, etc.

• Produce a film clip of machine-shop • Provide digital access to the in operation for visitors who cannot Edison papers. experience the “live” machine shop action. • Create map-based online program: “Where in the World is Edison’s • Produce a film showing Edison’s impact?” inventions in action throughout the world, including different time periods. • Create a web-based program, “Fade to Black,” in which users gradually • An archive- and collection-based subtract Edison’s inventions, one by online exhibit on the light bulb: one, from a virtual setting. patents, letters, prototypes, etc., based on an onsite temporary exhibit. • Offer experiments/demonstrations to try at home via the website. • A regular website feature highlighting a “quote of the month/week” and/or • Continue to offer web-based “this day/week in Edison history.” “The Invention Factory” activity.

39 Thomas Edison National Historical Park Long Range Interpretive Plan

• Create an Edison NHP presence on • Create digital library/online catalog social networking sites like Facebook, (photos of objects, historical photos, MySpace and Twitter. sound, movies).

• Downloadable Edison images for use • Create finding aids to as screen-savers or wallpaper. archival resources.

• Mini-Wikipedia that asks for input/ • “Curator cam”—the conservation/ letters/quotes/photos from relatives preservation story behind the scenes. of former workers; invite respondees to a worker-descendent “reunion.” Features list of former Edison workers. Hand-held devices • Create a tour of the site for a hand-held • Develop an E-tour: A day in the life device that includes audio and of an Edison recording artist. photographs as well as narrative.

• AV show on the impact of immigration • Walking tour of lab neighborhood, on the Edison work force. presented via handheld device with historical visuals to compare with • Interactive virtual tour of today’s streetscape. Glenmont with hot spots offering layered information. • Spanish-language video tour featuring the Park’s current Spanish-speaking • Marginalia exhibit using “Turning interpreter. the Pages-”type or similar software— featuring Edison’s notes on his books • American Sign Language (ASL) tour for and other reading matter. use on hand-held device, e.g. iPhone.

• Create an online exhibit on the newspapers Edison read. On-site kiosks/computer terminals • Produce a film clip of machine-shop • Digital recipe box; download in operation for visitors who cannot and print out Mina’s recipes. experience the “live” machine shop action. • Download and print map of tree species on the grounds and • Produce a film showing Edison’s greenhouse plants. inventions in action throughout the world, including different time periods. • Live participation in Glenmont tour via webcam (from remote location, or • Provide digital library of for those who are not able to access the sound archives. full tour). • A kiosk/computer terminal featuring • Virtual tour of Glenmont’s access to historical photographs of painting collection . Edison’s life, the site, and his inventions (also available on website).

40 Appendix A

• A kiosk/computer terminal featuring • Cell phone interpretation that focuses clips from Edison’s movies and short on individual workers, including oral films (also available on website). history accounts.

• Kiosk featuring computer list of • Cell phone tour of Glenmont exterior, workers; a mini-Wikipedia that asks focusing on the architecture. for input/letters/quotes/photos from relatives of former workers; invite • Cell phone tour for kids—use respondees to a worker-descendant texting features and family stories. “reunion.” • Cell phone tour of Glenmont interior, • AV show on the impact of immigration focusing on decorative arts. on the Edison work force. • Website activity: “Design your own • Marginalia exhibit using “Turning Glenmont,” focusing on architectural the Pages”-type or similar software— features. featuring Edison’s notes on his books and other reading matter.

Podcasts • A podcast downloadable from website that features invention highlights.

• Podcast on Edison myths and legends: “myth-busters.”

• Podcasts that focuses on individual workers, including oral history accounts.

• Staff members talk about their jobs or other topics.

• Downloadable foreign language podcast tours.

• Spanish-language video tour featuring the Park’s current Spanish-speaking interpreter.

• Cell phone tours

• Cell phone tour of Lab Complex.

Appendix B

Appendix B: Planning Team

Core Group Greg Marshall, Superintendent, Thomas Edison NHP Terri Jung, Assistant Superintendent, Thomas Edison NHP Karen Sloat-Olsen, Chief of Interpretation, Thomas Edison NHP Michelle Ortwein, Curator, Thomas Edison NHP Shemaine Mckelvin, Park Ranger, Thomas Edison NHP Jerry Fabris, Sound Recording Curator, Thomas Edison NHP Beth Miller, Glenmont Curator Harry Roman, inventor Kate Hartwyk, Essex County Department of Cultural and Historical Affairs

Stakeholders (in attendance) Brigid Jennings, Park Ranger, Thomas Edison NHP Tom Ungerland, Edison Innovation Foundation Charley Hummel, Friends of Edison Midge Wohl, Eastern National Patti Reilly, Education Center, NERO, NPS Paul Israel, Edison Papers Project, Rutgers Duncan Hay, Specialist, NPS Eric Olsen, Park Ranger, Historian, Morristown NHP Leonard DeGraaf, Archivist, Thomas Edison NHP John O’Reilly, Friends of Edison Roger Durham, Museum of the Soldier, U.S. Army Ed Wirth, Archivist, Thomas Edison NHP Joan Harris, Collections Manager, Thomas Edison NHP Greg Schmidl, Museum Technician, Thomas Edison NHP Walt Baginski, Maintenance Mechanic, Thomas Edison NHP Staff, Thomas Edison NHP

Stakeholders (read and commented) John Warren, National Parks of New York Harbor Ben Bolger, Governor Livingston High School Teacher, former Park Ranger Monta Harrington, Eastern National Jerry Tarnoff, West Orange Public Schools John F. McKeon, Mayor, Township of West Orange George Keegan, Notre Dame/EIF John Columbus, Black Maria Film Festival President, Committee of Managers, Llewellyn Park Amy Simon, West Orange Arts Incubator Garden Club of the Oranges Ken Mandel, Arts Council of West Orange Tom Laverty, NJ Division of Parks and Forestry

43 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Thomas Edison National Historical Park www.nps.gov/edis

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