The sound-on-film work that Theodore Case completed in Auburn in 1926 was the foundational technology for synchronized sound in cinema. His collaboration with Lee de Forest produced the Phonofilm system; his subsequent work with Fox Film produced Movietone, the system that made the transition from silent to sound film commercially viable worldwide. The Case Research Lab, a purpose-built facility adjacent to the Cayuga Museum on Genesee Street, is preserved with its original equipment. Open Tuesday through Saturday; the museum also covers the full arc of Auburn's reform history and holds materials related to the Harriet Tubman years at 180 South Street.















