Exhibit - Woodrow Wilson, President Electric: Harnessing the Power of Innovation in the Progressive Era

Location

This innovative exhibition will illuminate, for modern audiences, President Wilson’s leadership role in fostering scientific and technological innovation and collaboration during his administration (1913-1921). The exhibition will also explore the many advances in science and technology which took place during President Wilson's lifetime, with an emphasis on the years of his presidency, and explain their impact on the lives of the American people and to all of us today.

Using multimedia content, hands-on interactive experiences, and authentic artifacts, the exhibition will explore scientific and technological advancements during the Progressive Era through the eyes of the first family. Interactive components will include a period telephone, which visitors will use to listen to audio recordings of the President’s speeches; a Victrola player, which will play records of the era; a touch-screen kiosk featuring film footage of inventions at work; a “You Be the President” experience in which visitors will test their speech making skills over a period radio set; and a “Decode Wilson” feature, in which visitors will decode a message in Wilson’s shorthand to reveal hidden content online. Other online features will include the President Electric blog and a multimedia timeline linked to the exhibition through smartphone-readable Quick Response (QR) codes.

The exhibition will remain on view at Woodrow Wilson House through October 2012. Following its close at Wilson House it will travel to other museums, science centers, and historic sites around the country during the Centennial of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency (2012-2021).

The exhibition, Woodrow Wilson, President Electric: Harnessing the Power of Innovation in the Progressive Era, is supported in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Woodrow Wilson House would like to thank the National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Endowment for the Humanities for their support of this exhibition and its online programming.

About Woodrow Wilson House
Washington's only presidential museum is the home of Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)—educator, president, and world statesman—who founded the League of Nations and shaped the modern U.S. presidency. His public career and his life as a private citizen are traced in an impressive collection of White House objects, elaborate gifts of state from around the world, family items, and personal mementoes. Authentically furnished as it was in Wilson’s time, the fashionable 1915 house just off Embassy Row is a living textbook of modern American life in the 1920s—from sound recordings to silent films, from flapper dresses to zinc sinks.

Visitor Information
Open to the public, Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm. All visitors enjoy guided tours with admission. $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and free for those under the age of 12. Group rates available by advance reservation at www.WoodrowWilsonHouse.org.