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Inventors from the Capital Region (NY)

image of poster for National Inventors' Month; Celebrating a Tradition of Invention and Creativity

May 2015

In honor of National Inventors Month, the NYS Library's May exhibit featured Capitol Region inventors. A month-long event celebrating invention and creativity, National Inventors Month began in 1998 by the United Inventors Association of the USA (UIA-USA), the Academy of Applied Science, and Inventors' Digest magazine.

The primary areas of the Capitol Region highlighted by the display were the cities of Albany, Schenectady and Troy. Local inventors from the National Inventors Hall of Fame as well as well-known inventors such as George Westinghouse were featured.

Inventions that originated in this three-county area include knitting machines, stoves, improvements to pianos, and technical research at places such as the General Electric Research Laboratory.

left display case, featuring Schenectady inventors

The case on the left contained inventors from the Schenectady area, with emphasis upon the research of General Electric.

 

center display case, featuring Albany inventors

The center case contained examples of some of the many inventors of the Albany area.

 

right display case, featuring Troy inventors

The case on the right contained examples of inventors from Troy, including Sanford Cluett of Cluett Peabody.

 

Materials on display were from these sources:

  • National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame (39th edition). Akron, OH: National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, 2011.
    NYSL call number: R 608.77305 N277 93-9186
  • P.P. Stewart's large oven air-tight summer and winter cooking stove [microform]. Fuller, Warren & Company, Troy, N.Y., 1863.
    NYSL call number: MA/FF 380.10294 H525, 87-32109, 3151
  • Starr, Timothy. Great Inventors of New York's Capital District. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
    NYSL call number: 609.22747 S796 215-1441
  • US Patent Office. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT).

Exhibit curated by Stephanie Barrett

Last Updated: November 2, 2021