MANCHESTER, NH – Starting this weekend, the SEE Science Center in Manchester is hosting a number of workshop activities and opening of a new art exhibit to celebrate the legacy of Ralph Baer, the German-immigrant-turned-New-Hampshire-inventor who created the first home video game systems among many other things.
Today, March 8, is Baer’s 100th birthday. He died in 2014 at the age of 92, a longtime resident of Manchester.
To mark the occasion, his son Mark Baer, an attorney in Salt Lake, Utah, had a birthday cake made and spent the day sharing the story of his father to media outlets. Later this month, he’ll be back in his hometown, the Queen City, to plan for the rededication of the Ralph Baer statue in Arms Park on May 21.
“The rededication is to commemorate the 100th birthday of Ralph Baer and help inspire our youth to explore technology, to see what they are capable of creating while serving as a reminder; it can happen right here,” said Kelley Muir, an organizer of the Ralph Baer events.
Mark Baer, who spoke with Manchester Ink Link from his Salt Lake office, said the rededication and events leading up to it are about his father’s legacy and paying it forward.
“His vocation, avocation, hobby, interest, sideline… were kind of all the same,” Mark Baer said. “It wasn’t work for him.”
He said his hope is to inspire a new generation of inventors, spark interest in fostering a sector of a billion-dollar game development industry in the Granite State and encourage residents to invest in future talent by donating to one of three Baer-related scholarships and funds.
He also wants to see people from all over come to visit Manchester for the festivities in May.
“Come to Manchester, see the museums, support the local businesses,” Baer said. “I’m very proud of that town, of what it’s become.”
He noted how in the 1970s, when he was growing up in the city, it was relatively “run down” compared to today, where the millyards have been reinvigorated by an ecosystem of high-tech companies.
In some ways, Baer said his father’s story is similar to Elon Musk’s, as an immigrant and an innovator.
“He’s also an immigrant story,” Baer said. “It’s equally important to show that example.”
One big difference though: Baer said his father did not keep a financial interest in his products. Instead, he was often paid lump sums for each invention.
The SEE Science Center has already kicked off its weeks-long celebration of Ralph Baer with a Pixel Art Challenge. If folks at schools, businesses, or other spaces put up wall or window art commemorating Baer with large “pixels” like post-it notes, and share the images on social media using the hashtag #Baer100 and tagging the SEE Science Center, they’ll be entered to win five tickets to the center.
On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the SEE Science Center will be hosting a drop-in workshop for kids 5 and older to make “circuits” out of Play-Doh.
This Saturday (from 6 to 8 p.m.) also marks the opening of an art exhibit which will feature about 15 works of video-game-themed art by about a dozen different artists. There is no entrance fee.
One local artist, Christopher Ottinger, who is also an assistant professor of digital media at New England College in Manchester, made an electrical installation out of an old mini portable TV set, removed it from its housing and connected it to an endlessly blinking image of a Pac-Man ghost. He calls it “Blinky Ghost.”
Other pieces include some 2D digital and traditional medium art, a 3D printed display of characters from an Atari game, and an “Easter Egg” by Brenda Noiseux which contains a tiny replica of a Brown Box controller (the same controller Baer invented for the prototype of what would become the Magnavox Odyssey game system).
Other workshops will be added to the SEE Science Center calendar. Another workshop on March 26 will be held for kids ages 12 and up, which will teach them how to recreate another of Baer’s famous inventions, the Simon Electronic Game, using Arduino.
The Center is also looking for any community members willing to sponsor the 100-year celebrations. Links to donate can be found here.
Mark Baer also encourages anyone to contribute to the Ralph H. and Dena W. Baer Scholarship Fund, which helps students at Manchester Central High School who want to study in technology-related fields, the Ralph H. Baer Family Patent Scholarship at UNH School of Law to support students who wish to study patent law, and the more recently formed Ralph H. Baer Endowment for Invention Education at the Smithsonian.
Baer said he created the Smithsonian fund as a “thank you” to the institution for recognizing his father’s achievements by building a faithful recreation of his Manchester basement workshop in the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.
RELATED STORIES
- U.S. Mint honors inventor Ralph Baer with $1 American Innovation coin available June 8
- Central High School tech scholarship fund honors video game pioneer Ralph Baer
- Remembering Ralph Baer: The man, the myth
- March 8: Celebrate Ralph Baer, the ‘Father of the Video Game’
- Celebrating Ralph Baer Day: Yes, there will be a giant Ping-Pong game to play
- $10K Kickstarter for memorial bench honoring Ping-Pong video creator Ralph Baer
- A life well played: Ralph Baer, 92, inventor of video games, playful spirit to the end
- Game Over: Ralph Baer, inventor and ‘father of video games,’ has died
- The Father of Video Games: A retrospective of inventor Ralph H. Baer on his 100th birthday
- Baer it all March 6-19 with Baer Day 2020, Baer Hunt and Baer-inspired art expo
- Give the gift of education and support future innovators with donation to Baer Scholarship Fund
- Celebrate innovation: Baer Bench unveiling at Arms Park May 10
- Let’s make Baer Square a reality: Honoring the legacy of ‘The Father of the Video Game’