VOLUME 23 • NO. 4 • SUMMER 2015 MAKING HISTORY The Newsletter of the Senator John Heinz History Center In Association with the Smithsonian Institution Explore Pittsburgh’s Impact on World War II Examine how Pittsburgh affected World War II – and how the war affected our region – IN THIS ISSUE as part of the History Center’s new major exhibition, We Can Do It! WWII. Share Your History Online with As the nation commemorates the • Several artifacts and images We Can Do It! – which is open through Pittsburgh’s WWII Photo Album 75th anniversary of the start of on loan from the Smithsonian, Jan. 3, 2016 – is sponsored by World War II, this 10,000-square- including “Gramps,” a 1940 MSA Safety, Richard King Mellon Page 2 foot exhibit explores Western prototype Bantam Reconnaissance Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pennsylvania’s incredible impact on Car (BRC) that is the oldest The Bognar Family, Bob and Joan the home, industrial, and battle fronts. known jeep in existence and a Peirce, UPMC Health Plan, ABARTA, Coming Soon! Toys of Curtiss-Wright Airplane Propeller, Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation, the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Visitors will learn about the courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., Page 3 development of the jeep, a uniquely National Air and Space Museum; Jendoco Construction Corp., Tricia and American invention produced by the • A U.S. Army Air Corps uniform Bill Kassling, Miryam and Bob Knutson, American Bantam Car Company in jacket worn by legendary Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation, 23rd Annual History Makers Butler, Pa., and will uncover the stories actor Jimmy Stewart, the KDKA-TV, Millcraft Investments, Inc., behind “Rosie the Riveter” and the local Indiana, Pa. native who became Schneider Downs & Co., Catherine & Award Dinner Recap Tuskegee Airmen whose contributions the first Hollywood star to Mark H. Loevner, Juergen Mross, and Page 4 helped to turn the tide of the war. enlist in the military; and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. • A special Veterans Voices Featuring more than 275 rare artifacts, room featuring recordings Please turn to page two for unique gifts Captured! New Exhibition three jeeps, stunning photography, from Western Pennsylvania and a list of upcoming public programs Opens at the Fort Pitt Museum interactive displays, life-like museum World War II veterans and related to WWII. Please visit Page 5 figures, and immersive museum 7,000 recreated dog tags www.heinzhistorycenter.org/exhibits settings, We Can Do It! WWII helps suspended from the ceiling for photographs, videos, and much more. bring the 1940s to life. in honor of our veterans. Histor-E: The New Heinz Exhibition highlights include: The History Center partnered with History Center Blog The History Center • Four new life-like museum several organizations to develop the Page 6 figures of local heroes, including exhibit, including the Smithsonian is proud to celebrate Gen. George C. Marshall, Tuskegee Institution, Pennsylvania Historical 15 years as an affiliate of Airman Lt. Carl J. Woods, Iwo and Museum Commission, the Smithsonian Institution. Pittsburgh’s Hidden Treasures Jima legend Sgt. Michael Strank, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Appraisal Event and the Westinghouse Company- Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Page 7 inspired Rosie the Riveter who help Veteran’s Voices, Bantam Jeep The History Center is open daily from to personalize the stories of WWII; Heritage Festival, Association of the 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $16 for • A powerful “Hall of Industry” United States Army (AUSA) adults, $14 for seniors (age 62+), $6.50 display featuring artifacts Fort Pitt Chapter, the Tuskegee for military, $6.50 for students and produced for the Allied forces Airmen of the Western Pennsylvania by a variety of Western Pa. Region, Zippo/Case Museum, youth (age 6-17), and free for children companies including Westinghouse, Butler County Historical Society, (age 5 and under) and History Center U.S. Steel, Dravo, Alcoa, MSA, First Frontier Mechanized Cavalry, members. For more details, please visit Heinz, American Bridge Company, and more. www.heinzhistorycenter.org. Zippo, and many more; Smithsonian Spotlight: Gramps In 1940, just prior to our nation’s Share Your History participation in WWII, the U.S. Quartermaster General issued a Online with Pittsburgh’s request for proposals to 135 car WWII Photo Album makers in America for a motorized vehicle that would replace the horse. The We Can Do It! WWII exhibition can only display a fraction of the stories and photos from the World The big car companies laughed off the 49-day War II era in Pittsburgh. To supplement the exhibit, deadline for the production of a prototype vehicle Visitors to the new We Can Do It! WWII exhibit will the History Center has developed “Pittsburgh’s that would weigh less than 2,000 pounds, climb a 30 enjoy this 1940 prototype Bantam Reconnaissance WWII Photo Album,” a web gallery that allows local degree grade, pull a cannon, and go anywhere a horse Car (BRC) on loan from the Smithsonian Institution residents to share their family stories and images could go. Only one company met the Army’s deadline and showcase how the region helped to win WWII. and requirements: the tiny American Bantam Car that is the oldest known jeep in existence. Contribute today! If you have family photos from Company in Butler. After working day and night to WWII – either from overseas or on the home front – meet the Army’s 49-day deadline, the jeep was born – please take a moment to submit your images and the cobbled together with equal measures of spare parts, story behind them at www.heinzhistorycenter.org/ ingenuity, and “can-do” spirit. pittsburgh-wwii-photo-album. On July 25, 1940, Bantam was officially awarded a contract for 70 vehicles. But by 1941, the government feared that little Bantam could not meet wartime production demands and turned to Willys Overland and the Ford Motor Company for nearly 700,000 vehicles. To mark the 75th anniversary of the car Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said helped to win the war, the COPYRIGHT DAVID E. DALE History Center is recognizing the jeep’s key role in the Allies’ victory as part of the new exhibition, PHOTO COURTESY OF SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. We Can Do It! WWII. For more information about the jeep and the The men who developed the jeep pause to Earl Dale, from Sharon, Pa., with B-24 bomber crew We Can Do It! WWII exhibit, please visit commemorate the event outside of the Bantam members in Italy in the early 1940s. www.heinzhistorycenter.org/exhibits. factory in Butler, Pa., 1940. WWII Events Calendar Stock Up on New We Can Do It! Gift Shop Items American Flag Folding Ceremonies There’s no need to ration. After exploring the We Can Saturday, July 4 (Independence Day) • Noon Do It! WWII exhibit, stop by the History Center’s Tuesday, Aug. 25 (V-J Day) • Noon 3. We Can Do It! new pop-up Museum Shop near the exit of the gallery Monday, Dec. 7 (Pearl Harbor) • Noon 3 Logo Dog Tag ($1.75): to take home a memory of your own. The Museum Join U.S. veterans and fellow History Center visitors Featuring the full color Shop is open to the public seven days a week with to help ceremoniously unfurl and fold a giant 36-foot logo of the new We Can no admission fee. To shop online, visit our eStore at American flag in the museum’s first floor Great Hall. Do It! WWII exhibit, shop.heinzhistorycenter.org. Learn how to properly fold the American flag and this dog tag makes a help sing a stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled great souvenir or gift. Banner.” Following the patriotic ceremony, visit the 1 1. Rosie T-Shirt History Center’s new We Can Do It! WWII exhibit. ($16.95): The flag folding ceremonies are included with Originally regular museum admission and free for History designed for Westinghouse Center members. 4. Western Pennsylvania by Pittsburgh artist 4 History Magazine: J. Howard Miller, Special WWII Issue Rosie the Riveter Innovating for Victory: How Pittsburgh Helped Win ($8.95): This special issue quickly became a WWII featuring the Smithsonian’s Dr. Jeremy Kinney is dedicated to WWII and symbol of America’s Saturday, July 25 • 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. includes an in-depth look at “can-do” spirit during Learn how Pittsburgh’s industrial might played a key the We Can Do It! WWII WWII. Miller used a role in the Allied victory during World War II. Special exhibit, including articles on photograph of a Westinghouse Electric worker guest speaker Dr. Jeremy Kinney, curator at the Rosie the Riveter, the jeep, rolling up her sleeves to help lend muscle to the Allied Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, will and Japanese Americans. war effort. Cotton/poly blend. Colors red and graphite. discuss the exhibit’s Curtiss-Wright propeller along Paperback, 105 pages. with Pittsburgh’s connections to the development of Unisex sizes S-XL. propeller technology. Following Jeremy’s presentation, 5. Pittsburgh Remembers members of the First Frontier Mechanized Cavalry 5 WWII Book ($19.99): will be stationed throughout the WWII exhibit to talk Featuring the memories of 17 about their historic vehicles and discuss how people residents who lived through and companies from Western Pa. helped to innovate the war years, from GIs transportation solutions during WWII. The event is serving overseas to real-life included with regular museum admission. Rosie the Riveters, this book 2 includes stories from all theaters of combat, as well For more information about upcoming We Can 2. Toy, Jeep Willys Diecast ($11.00): Manufactured as hardships at home, and Do It! WWII public programs, please visit from 1941-1945, the Willys Jeep was a small, four-wheel recollections of scrap metal www.heinzhistorycenter.org/events or drive utility vehicle that helped to inspire today’s drives, USO dances, and contact Caroline Fitzgerald at 412-454-6373 SUVs.