Quality, reliable radios and systems for air, land, and sea.
The Collins Story
The Life and Legacy of Arthur A. Collins
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.”
Explorers in the Richard Byrd expedition regaled Americans with stories of their discoveries at the bottom of the Earth through Collins’ radio equipment.
1934
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Bring Arthur’s story and his world-changing inventions to life for children and classrooms K-12.
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.
Admiral Richard Byrd makes his first formal radio transmission from the Antarctic using the Collins 150B and 20B transmitters.
February 1, 1942
The first women production workers were hired at Collins Radio Co. to support the war effort.
February 25, 1987
The man who started it all, Arthur Andrews Collins, died at the age of 77.
February 20, 1962
A Mercury-Atlas 6 (Friendship 7), with Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This three-orbit flight lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds – thus marking the first American in orbit.
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World War II Production Defending Liberty
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.