Bell Telephone Memorial

The Bell Telephone Memorial, also known as Bell Memorial is a monument commemorating the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in July 1874 at the home of his parents, Melville House, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

In 1906, the citizens of Brantford and Brant County areas formed the Bell Memorial Association. In 1908, the Committee requested the association develops on two continents sculptors to submit proposals for the memorial. Presentation by Canadian sculptor Walter Seymour Allward Toronto won the competition. The monument was originally scheduled to be completed in 1912, but did not finish Allward five years later, aided by his studio assistant Emanuel Hahn. The Governor General of Canada, Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, ceremoniously unveiled the monument October 24, 1917.


Allward designed the monument to symbolize the phone's ability to overcome distance. A series of steps lead to the main section where the allegorical figure floating inspiration appears on a recumbent figure representing men man, inventor, and pointing to the floating figures of knowledge, joy, sadness and at the other end of the table. In addition, there are two female figures mounted on granite pedestals representing humanity ends of the memory, sending and receiving another message.

The magnitude of the Bell Telephone Memorial has been described as the finest example of early work Allward. He brought the renowned sculptor and eventually led to the creation of Allward Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. Some works of the sculptor were also acquired by the National Gallery in Ottawa, Canada art gallery par excellence. The monument itself was used as a central device for many civic events and remains an important part of the history of Brantford, helping the city style itself as "The City Telephone".