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200 years ago this Spring, Eli Whitney returned to New Haven to manufacture cotton gins. His gins would make cotton the American fiber, but did not make his fortune. A few years later, with Thomas Jefferson’s support, Whitney built an armory just north of New Haven that would become the first modern American factory. Whitney established for New Haven a legacy of innovation. 200 years ago this Spring, New Haven established its Chamber of Commerce, itself an innovation. The new Chamber unified leadership and policy to support New Haven’s burgeoning sea trade. For 200 years The Chamber has grown to match invention and change in New Haven. The Chamber sustains for New Haven a legacy of innovation. Photography by Robert www.robertlisak.com. Click on thumbnails for larger pictures.
Patents: First to Last
On February 10th, 1994, The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce will open an exhibition of the innovations that mark The Chamber’s 200 year history. The Cotton Gin was among this nations first patents. New Patents are still filed each week. Patent connect invention to development and manufacturing. 200 Years of Innovation will explore the story of invention through patented and unpatented discoveries that surround New Haven‘s commerce and history. Cotton gin, mortise lock, truss bridge, cork screw, stone crusher, carriage spring, telegraph, processed rubber, match book, lever action rifle, bicycle crank, toy motor, lollipop, Silly Putty, metronome, artificial heart... to mention but a few.
In Touch with Invention
200 Years of Innovation will feature models that work, models that make the inventor’s process come alive. One corner of the exhibition will encourage the next generation of inventors to record their ideas.
Build the Exhibition
The Chamber invites its members and interested friends to help tell its story. Do you know of inventions or innovations with origins connected to New Haven? How can we display these ideas at work? We welcome the wild along with the wise: the dripless hotdog bun along with the cellar hatch cover. We welcome the simple along with the scholarly, the little along with the large. Please ask your colleagues or check your basement and call Judy Pitcher at The Chamber, 787.6735.
