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Celebrate the story of Arthur A. Collins and and the Collins’ inventions that forever changed communication.
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Arthur Collins has been described as a genius, a visionary, a fireball casting a brilliancy across the sky. There is no doubt Arthur and his Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company engineered many pioneering technologies that greatly influenced significant moments in our world and in space.
“Your progress will depend on your individual imagination. I urge you to give it free reign.”
Discover the world-changing technologies developed at this small radio communications company headquartered in Iowa.
Explorers in the Richard Byrd expedition regaled Americans with stories of their discoveries at the bottom of the Earth through Collins’ radio equipment.
Be inspired by learning more about The Collins Story with these tools and archives located right here at your fingertips.
Bring Arthur’s story and his world-changing inventions to life for children and classrooms K-12.
Explore a topic and the research materials for your next class project.
Discover the Collins’ legacy of innovation that influences employees’ work today.
Investigate the little known history of Arthur Collins, his Iowa-based company, and its global impact.
The Collins Story comes to life in these award-winning films. Click on the film title to watch and learn more about each documentary.
Donations of money and artifacts support future documentaries, the Collins Museum operations and efforts to promote STEM programming in grades K-12. Gifts are tax deductible.
Arthur’s first QST article “Getting Acquainted With the Short Waves” is published by the ARRL.
The Collins Radio Company, already incorporated in Delaware, reorganized as an Iowa corporation.
The first issue of Collins Column, an internal company publication, was delivered to the employees.
A Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7), with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds.
A Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7) with Astronaut, M. Scott Carpenter, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This multi-orbit flight lasted 4 hours, 56 minutes, 5 seconds – a duplicate of Glenn’s flight.
A Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) with Astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This twenty-two-orbit flight lasted 34 hours, 19 minutes, 49 seconds. Faith 7 was the last Mercury mission.
It’s World War II. The United States government needs rugged, hi-tech radio equipment for U.S. and Allied Forces. It needs lots of it, and fast. One of the companies the U.S. military turns to is Collins Radio, an Iowa company led by a young CEO known for his engineering genius. The small company answers the call to help defend liberty, producing thousands of state-of-the-art radios to provide troops, sailors and airmen with reliable, long-distance communications essential to liberating Europe and the world.
