It was a birthday party of sorts for George Westinghouse on Sunday in the Nott Memorial.
Charles A. Ruch, historian for the Westinghouse Museum in Pittsburgh, played the part
of the man (born 150 years ago to the day) who invented the train air brake and a.c. power
in a one-man show titled “George Westinghouse Returns” to open this fall's
exhibit in Mandeville Gallery.
“George Westinghouse: Inventor, Entrepreneur and Humanitarian” runs through
Dec. 1.
Born in Central Bridge and raised in Schenectady, Westinghouse got his start as an
engineer at his father's threshing machine factory, located on the site of the current
General Electric complex. Westinghouse also studied engineering at Union College — albeit
for one semester — while pursuing his invention of an improved rotary steam engine.
Westinghouse received some 360 patents and started 60 companies that had a total of
50,000 employees. At his peak, he was the largest employer in industrial history. He was
also the first industrialist to introduce a shortened workweek.
Susan Staffa is curator. Also contributing was Frank Wicks, author of an article on
Westinghouse in this month's Mechanical Engineering. Sandra Ericson is director of the
Mandeville Gallery.