Oral & video history documentation

The Lemelson Center's oral and video history projects increase historical documentation on invention and innovation in the United States.
Above: Guitarist G.E. Smith is featured in the Electric Guitar Video Documentation Project. Smithsonian photo by Jeff Tinsley.

Full descriptions of the following collections may be found by searching the archives and manuscripts section of SIRIS, the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. Unless otherwise noted, all collections are housed in the NMAH Archives Center. For further information, contact the Archives Center Reference Desk.

Oral & video history documentation is listed in alphabetical order by subject of interview. Date of interview is in parentheses.

Akhil Madhani, inventor of a robotic surgical instrument (1999) Video footage documenting the “Innovative Lives” program presented by Akhil Madhani, inventor of a robotic arm called the Black Falcon, used in mininimally-invasive cardiac surgery. The surgeon manipulates the arm with a form of joystick and watches the operation on a television screen through the camera on the arm. Audience participation by students from the Ormond Stone Middle School in Centreville, Va.; the Rosa Parks Middle School in Olney, Md.; the National Presbyterian School in Washington, D.C.; and the Takoma Park Middle School in Takoma Park, Md. 0.25 cu. ft., 1 box containing original videotapes. See related article »