Museum of the Peaceful Arts facts for kids
The Museum of the Peaceful Arts was a museum in Manhattan, New York City. It opened around 1920 on West 40th Street. Later, it moved to the Daily News Building. The museum eventually closed. Its ideas were continued by the New York Museum of Science and Industry.
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What Was the Museum of the Peaceful Arts?
This museum project was very ambitious. It was first imagined as a group of twenty different museums. These museums would be located in Riverside Park in Manhattan. Later plans suggested a spot near the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx.
The museum's original goals were very broad. It aimed to be a lasting reminder of a century of peace. This peace followed the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. The museum wanted to show how different "peaceful arts" helped people.
These "peaceful arts" included many topics. Some examples were:
- Electricity
- Steam power
- Astronomy and navigation
- Safety tools
- Aviation (flying)
- Mechanical arts
- Agriculture (farming)
- Mining
- Health and hygiene
- Textiles (fabrics)
- Architecture (building design)
- Commerce and trade
- Printing and books
The museum also planned to have a library. This library would have books and magazines. They would give information about all the museum's topics. There would also be an auditorium for talks and meetings. The goal was to help schools and colleges. It aimed to boost industrial education and progress.
Who Started the Museum?
George Frederick Kunz first suggested creating this new museum. He called it the "Museum of the Peaceful Arts." There were already museums for science, war, and industry. Kunz wanted one focused on peaceful inventions and progress.
A man named Henry R. Towne left $2.5 million in his will for this museum. He was a lock and hardware businessman. Dr. George F. Kunz, a gem expert, had inspired Towne. Kunz had visited many world's fairs.
Experts from different fields traveled to Europe. They studied museums like the German Museum in Munich. This museum had copies or original versions of important inventions. These included James Watt's first steam engine and Diesel's oil-compression engine. The goal was to create a museum with many working models. This would help inventors and show how mankind has advanced.
Early Success and Exhibits
The museum quickly became successful. In 1929, The New Yorker magazine wrote about it. They mentioned the museum had unusual machines. For example, you could see how much a steel rail could bend under a microscope. A movie showed how air currents moved.
The idea for the collection started in 1913. A group of business people began it. For two years, it was in its main location. Henry F. Towne's large donation helped support it.
Fay Cluff Brown was a physicist and inventor. He worked at the museum. He helped create and manage the educational exhibits. He was known for his research on the element selenium. Early in his career, Brown invented a device using selenium. It could turn printed text into sound.
America's First Submarine
The Museum of the Peaceful Arts even owned America's first submarine! Dr. Peter J. Gibbons and his son bought the old United States submarine boat Holland. They then gave it to the museum association forever. Dr. George F. Kunz, the museum's president, accepted the gift.
Orville Wright's Interest
Many famous inventors were interested in the new museum. Orville Wright, one of the inventors of the airplane, wrote to Kunz in 1925. He thought about giving one of his original Wright airplanes to the museum.
Wright explained why he didn't want to give his plane to the Smithsonian Institution. He felt the Smithsonian didn't want to show his 1903 plane. This was because it flew, but their own 1903 Langley machine did not. Wright wanted his plane to go to a place that truly valued aviation history. He hadn't heard of the Museum of the Peaceful Arts when he first offered his plane to another museum in London.
The Museum's Legacy
Historian George Sarton wrote about the museum. He said the idea came from George F. Kunz in 1912. Great efforts were made to raise money for it. However, they didn't get enough. The museum was later replaced by the New York Museum of Science and Industry. This new museum carried on many of the original ideas.
