WEST ORANGE, NJ — In a partnership between the National Park Service and Google, Thomas Edison National Historical Park will be featured in the Google Cultural Institute, a digital platform that makes hundreds of historically and culturally significant objects in the National Park Service’s museum collection available online. The Google Cultural Institute uses technologies similar to Google’s Street View — providing 360-degree views on Google Maps of locations around the world — to photograph and virtually map important artifacts, photos, records and works of art to share important material with global audiences and digitally preserve them for future generations.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell made the announcement at an event on Feb. 11, marking Black History Month at Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, one of the national parks featured in the Google Cultural Institute collection.
“This marriage of technology and history means that anyone, anywhere can see artifacts and sites that provide a taste of the rich and diverse story of America,” Jewell said in a release. “Our hope is that this partnership will not only illustrate and elevate our nation’s history and culture, but inspire more people to visit the wonderfully diverse places that the National Park Service protects and preserves for current and future generations.”
“Thomas Edison NHP is proud to have objects from its museum collection featured as part of the partnership with the Google Cultural Institute,” NHP Superintendent Thomas E. Ross said in the release. The NHP’s exhibits can be viewed here.
Users can also build their own collections to share or take virtual, panoramic tours of homes of eminent Americans.
“The National Park Service is proud to partner with Google to make important symbols of our shared national heritage accessible to more Americans than ever,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in the release. “Visitors to the National Park Service collection in the Google Cultural Institute will have the unique opportunity to see rare Native American artifacts, browse inspiring works of art that convey our nation’s history and natural beauty, and virtually walk through the homes of great American thinkers, like Frederick Douglass and Thomas Edison.”
“The magic of technology is that it allows us to fold space and time to bring people together with places, experiences, artifacts and each other in ways that before were impossible,” Malika Saada Saar, Google’s Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights, said in the release. “That’s what the Google Cultural Institute does, and we are thrilled to work with the National Parks Service to help preserve these beautiful American places, objects and stories.”
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