Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology owes its existence to the vision and wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, a world-renowned diplomat, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and statesman. Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706, and learned the printing trade here. After working briefly with his father, a tallow chandler, he became an apprentice to his brother James, one of the few printers in Boston, where he learned the trade. Eventually a bitter quarrel with James led to a split that resulted in Ben’s move to Philadelphia in his late teens after James warned his competitors not to hire Ben. Unlike so many of the Founding Fathers who came from the colonial gentry, Franklin belonged to the “leather apron” class. Although one of the most significant men of his era, he remained ever proud of his trade and specified that his gravestone be engraved “Benjamin Franklin, Printer.” Franklin believed that “good apprentices are likely to make good citizens,” and in his will in 1789, he stipulated a gift of £1000 to “the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston.” He noted that the kindness of two friends in helping him set up his business had been the basis of his fortune. “I wish to be useful even after my death…in forming and advancing other young people who may be serviceable to their country.” The interest was to augment the principal continually, and at the end of one 100 years, part of the fund was to be expended for “public works” and the balance was to be compounded