Pittsburgh innovators featured
PITTSBURGH - In celebration of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary, the Heinz History Center's new exhibition, "Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation," celebrates the people of Pittsburgh and the inventions that have changed the way we all live, work and play.
This two-story, long-term exhibition features the stories of hundreds of Western Pennsylvanians who have made our world a better place.
The stories begin 16,000 years ago at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Avella, Pa., and take visitors through George Washington's first experiences in the French & Indian War, Lewis & Clark's groundbreaking expedition, and all the way to Pittsburgh's 21st century role as a leader in medicine, education and robotics.
Throughout the 16,000 square-foot exhibition, visitors will be able to:
• Enjoy more than 50 hands-on activities and audio-visual displays;
• Interact with a "virtual" George Westinghouse as part of a state-of-the-art touch-screen interactive that allows visitors to ask more than 200 questions about Westinghouse's life;
• Step inside a re-creation of Pittsburgh's premier jazz club, the Crawford Grill, and listen to music from some of our region's most prominent jazz musicians, including George Benson, Billy Strayhorn, Stanley Turrentine and Mary Lou Williams;
• Learn about the worldwide impact of Dr. Jonas Salk's incredible development of the polio vaccine;
• Discover "America's First Superhighway," the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and learn about our region's role in creating high-tech aeronautic materials to be used in the Boeing 787 "dreamliner;" and
• Learn the local dialect with a Pittsburgh-eeze speaking robot, developed in conjunction with Red Zone Robotics and the Heinz Endowments, and enjoy "Discovery Place," a learning lab for families.
Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation brings Pittsburgh's 250-year history to life, with:
• Full-size, lifelike recreations of influential Pittsburghers from the past 250 years, including a prehistoric explorer, Queen Aliquippa, Andrew Carnegie, Frank Bolden and Rosie the Riveter;
• An eight-foot model of Calbraith Rodgers' "Vin Fiz," the first airplane to make a successful transcontinental trip across the United States;• A recreated version of Westinghouse's seven-foot-tall Elektro the Moto-Man robot and his dog Sparko, made famous at the 1939 New York World's Fair;• A movable model of George Ferris' amazing revolving wheel, showcased as part of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in an effort to eclipse the Eiffel Tower;• A model of John Roebling's 1846 Monongahela Bridge, the first bridge to successfully demonstrate the strength and stability of Roebling's wire rope cables; and• A full-scale recreation of a Pittsburgh streetscape, including a 1790s Scots-Irish log cabin, a 1907 steelworker house from Homestead, and a 1955 post-World War II suburban home.As a Smithsonian-affiliated museum, the History Center borrowed several items directly from the Smithsonian Institution that showcase the worldwide influence of local innovators, including:• George Washington's "peace pipe," used in Western Pennsylvania during the outbreak of the French & Indian War;n A model of the casting process used at the Fort Pitt Foundry, the Strip District-based iron foundry that cast the largest cannon in the world; and• Several items from the Westinghouse Company, including the first transmitter from KDKA Radio.The Senator John Heinz History Center is the largest history museum in Pennsylvania. The Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum is a museum within a museum, comprehensively presenting the region's remarkable sports story through hundreds of artifacts and interactive experiences for visitors of all ages.The History Center and Sports Museum are located at 1212 Smallman St. in the Strip District, and are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Regular admission includes both the History Center and Sports Museum and is $9 for adults, $7 for senior citizens over age 61, $5 for students with ID, $5 for children ages 6 to 18, and free to members and children younger than 6.More information is available at www.pghhistory.org.
