Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute (in full: Franklin Institute Science Museum and Planetarium), a science and technology museum and planetarium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Institute also contains a scientific reference library of 250,000 volumes. The Bartol Research Foundation, a scientific research facility associated with the Institute, is located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The Journal of the Franklin Institute has been issued continuously since 1826. The institute awards medals each year to scientists for outstanding achievement.
Franklin Institute was privately founded in 1824 and named for Benjamin Franklin. It was the first institution in the United States to do scientific research and offer training in mechanical arts. In 1908 it received $133,000 from Franklin's bequest to Philadelphia. The Institute also receives financial support from federal, state, and local agencies and private sources.