Ingersoll Rand donated 25 pneumatic and cordless power tools to the National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH) in Bethlehem, Pa. NMIH staff and volunteers will use the Ingersoll Rand tools to clean, repair and restore a wide array of industrial equipment ranging from steam engines to textile looms.
NMIH was founded to preserve the history and accomplishments of American industry, and to tell the story of America’s rise as the world’s leading economic power through invention and innovation beginning with the Industrial Revolution. NMIH was the first museum in the country to be established as an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
Ingersoll Rand’s tools, with a retail value of more than $5,000, include pneumatic Impactools, ratchets, grinders, sanders, scalers, cordless drills and accessories.
The museum will display machines of the 19th and 20th centuries and honor the people who built America in a 1913 electrical repair shop owned by the Museum at the former Bethlehem Steel Plant. NMIH is currently preparing, restoring and conserving its collection of machines that will become a part of the museum exhibits.
"We are thrilled to support NMIH with this donation. It’s fitting that Ingersoll Rand, with its 140-year legacy of innovation in industrial products, can contribute to the very museum that honors American industry," said Bill Dwyre, Americas marketing leader for Ingersoll Rand.
Mike Medaska, strategy leader for Ingersoll Rand, joined Dwyre in presenting the tool donations.
Steve Donches, president of NMIH, said, "We are grateful to Ingersoll Rand for this donation because it will allow our staff and volunteers to work with world-class equipment to improve our conservation capabilities and reduce the time it takes to repair and restore machinery and equipment. It’s especially meaningful that Ingersoll Rand, once a critical supplier of industrial equipment for the mills at this former Bethlehem Steel Plant and now a 21st century global business leader, returns to this site to help honor America’s industrial achievements."
The museum is currently conducting the quiet phase of a capital campaign and is finalizing detailed design plans for the exhibits and working drawings for the interior of the building. Previously, it invested about $2.5 million in restoring the exterior of its building. An opening date has not yet been set.
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