Alexander Graham Bell 's other Achievements

Volta Laboratory

Alexander Graham Bell was 33, he received an honorary award of 50,000 francs from the French government. He promptly put the money into the establishment of the Volta Laboratory for research, invention, and work for the deaf. In that lab he developed the method of making phonograph records on wax discs. Proceeds from this work too were channeled into work for the deaf, this time by establishing the Volta Bureau, which today is an international information center for education of the deaf.

Alexander Graham Bell 's prodigy, Helen Keller

Alexander Graham Bell 's 13-year-old prodigy, Helen Keller, attended the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Volta Bureau. Helen Keller was a lifelong friend and deep admirer of Alexander Graham Bell. She was particularly grateful to Alexander Graham Bell for introducing her to her teacher, Annie Sullivan, known to movie fans as The Miracle Worker. Helen Keller dedicated her autobiography to Alexander Graham Bell and wrote a passage that read:

"I at once felt the tenderness and sympathy which endeared Dr. Bell to so many hearts...He understood my signs. I knew it and loved him at once."

The American Association / Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf

When Alexander Graham Bell was 43, Bell established and financed the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, now known as the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. Alexander Graham Bell also invented the audiometer, an early form of the hearing aid.

Alexander Graham Bell 's contributions to scientific organizations

As if all this wasn't enough, Alexander Graham Bell also made valuable contributions to various scientific organizations. Alexander Graham Bell helped found the eminent magazine Science and he was president of the National Geographic Society for six years. It was Alexander Graham Bell who came up with the idea for the popular National Geographic Magazine, still one of America's favorite publications. Alexander Graham Bell suggested the Society publish a magazine that was bright, colorful, non-technical, and full of interesting maps and dynamic pictures, a guideline the Geographic follows to this day. And finally, Alexander Graham Bell accepted a position as regent of the Smithsonian Institution.

Alexander Graham Bell became an American citizen when he was 35, an achievement in which he took almost as much pride as his work. Alexander Graham Bell once said to his daughter: "You were born an American citizen, but I CHOSE to be one."

Alexander Graham Bell and electric probes (pre- x-ray)

Then, in 1884, a national tragedy turned Alexander Graham Bell 's attention temporarily in another direction. An assassin shot President Garfield and there was a desperate struggle to save his life. Alexander Graham Bell quickly developed an electrical apparatus he thought would locate the bullets in the president's body so they could be surgically removed. The experiment didn't work, mainly because the instrument was thrown off by a steel spring in the president's bed. But after the president died of infection, Alexander Graham Bell perfected an electric probe, which was used in surgery for several years until the x-ray was discovered.