Editing Bell Labs (section)

=== Bell's personal research after the telephone ===
[[File:Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Georgetown, Washington, DC (31666507267).jpg|alt=An oblique view of a large salmon colored two-story stone building, of some prominence|thumb|Bell's 1893 [[Volta Bureau]] building in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
In 1880, when the [[French Third Republic|French government]] awarded [[Alexander Graham Bell]] the [[Volta Prize]] of 50,000{{spaces}}[[French franc|francs]] for the [[invention of the telephone]] (equivalent to about US$10,000 at the time, or about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000|1879|r=-4}}}} now),{{Inflation-fn|US}} he used the award to fund the [[Volta Laboratory and Bureau|Volta Laboratory]] (also known as the "Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory") in [[Washington, D.C.]] in collaboration with [[Charles Sumner Tainter|Sumner Tainter]] and Bell's cousin [[Chichester Bell]].<ref name="Bruce1990">Bruce, Robert V. ''Bell: Alexander Bell and the Conquest of Solitude''. Ithaca, New York: [[Cornell University|Cornell University Press]], 1990. {{ISBN|0-8014-9691-8}}.</ref> The laboratory was variously known as the ''Volta Bureau'', the ''Bell Carriage House'', the ''Bell Laboratory'' and the ''Volta Laboratory''.

It focused on the analysis, recording, and transmission of sound. Bell used his considerable profits from the laboratory for further research and education advancing the diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf.<ref name="Bruce1990" /> This resulted in the founding of the Volta Bureau ({{circa|1887}}) at the Washington, D.C. home of his father, linguist [[Alexander Melville Bell]]. The carriage house there, at 1527 35th Street N.W., became their headquarters in 1889.<ref name="Bruce1990" />

In 1893, Bell constructed a new building close by at 1537 35th Street N.W., specifically to house the lab.<ref name="Bruce1990" /> This building was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1972.<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1292&ResourceType=Building |title=Volta Bureau |access-date=May 10, 2008 |website=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011145610/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1292&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=October 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{citation |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Volta Bureau |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/72001436_text |date=n.d. |author=Unsigned |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=October 17, 2023 |archive-date=March 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306070329/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/72001436_text |url-status=live }} and
{{NHLS url|id=72001436|title=''Accompanying three photos, exterior, from 1972''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(920&nbsp;KB)}}</ref><ref name="dctravelitin">{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/wash/dc14.htm |title=Volta Laboratory & Bureau |access-date=May 10, 2008 |website=Washington D.C. National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary listing |publisher=National Park Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512051946/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/wash/dc14.htm |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the invention of the telephone, Bell maintained a relatively distant role with the Bell System as a whole, but continued to pursue his own personal research interests.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Alexander Graham Bell, A Life |last=Mackay |first=James |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc. |year=1997 |location=US}}</ref>