Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation is a museum located near the intersection of the Charles River and what is now Moody Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The building was originally built as part of the Boston Manufacturing Company, Francis Cabot Lowell's first textile mill. The mill has now been converted into housing and artist lofts, with the museum taking up only a small portion of the previous mill building.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as America's first factory. (Though many mills existed before the Boston Manufacturing Company, Francis Cabot Lowell's mill was the first to combine all steps of cotton fabric manufacturing under one roof.)
Waltham received a $10 million urban revitalization grant, which allowed the site to be renovated and preserved. As part of the site’s renovation, a group of cultural, civic, and business leaders created the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation in what had been the mill’s massive steam-powered engine and boiler rooms. Following a monumental campaign of fundraising, cleaning, building, planning, and installation, the museum began operation in 1980.
The museum is a nonprofit corporation governed by a Board of Trustees, and funded by private donations.
The mission of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation is to encourage and inspire future innovation in America. The museum accomplishes this through its collections and programs, by exploring the historical impact of industry on American culture, by examining the dynamic process of innovation, by promoting its location in Waltham as a foundation of the American industrial revolution, by connecting the expertise of older generations with the inquisitiveness of young people, and by providing audiences of all ages with an engaging museum experience.
Core exhibits cover the area's role in the American Industrial Revolution, though the museum also has a dedicated gallery of the Waltham Watch Company. The museum includes two revolving exhibit spaces that change out anywhere from 3–6 months, covering anything from science and math to cultural investigation. The museum also hosts many events and festivals in the Waltham area, and was the first to host Steampunk City, which was the first steampunk festival to encompass an entire town.
Famous quotes containing the words river, museum and/or industry:
“A reaction: a boat which is going against the current but which does not prevent the river from flowing on.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“When I go into a museum and see the mummies wrapped in their linen bandages, I see that the lives of men began to need reform as long ago as when they walked the earth. I come out into the streets, and meet men who declare that the time is near at hand for the redemption of the race. But as men lived in Thebes, so do they live in Dunstable today.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“As our boys and men are all expecting to be Presidents, so our girls and women must all hold themselves in readiness to preside in the White House; and in no city in the world can honest industry be more at a discount than in this capital of the government of the people.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)