Putnam highlights ‘success stories,’ local innovators

Visitors to the new Quad City Innovators exhibit at the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport will see an old chair at the start of the exhibit. It’s a rocking and reclining chair that was invented by Charles Knell of Moline in 1874. The chair sold for $10 in its day. Next to the […]

Visitors to the new Quad City Innovators exhibit at the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport will see an old chair at the start of the exhibit. It’s a rocking and reclining chair that was invented by Charles Knell of Moline in 1874. The chair sold for $10 in its day.

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Next to the chair are other creations that helped the world in their own ways. There’s a set of “pig pullers” – or pig forceps – to assist with the delivery of piglets. These were invented by John Reimers of Davenport in 1890. A few feet away is a Biehl Harp Guitar invented by Anthony Biehl of Davenport in 1897. All of these items have at least one thing in common: they were invented by local residents and helped – some in big ways, others in small ways – to change the world. And they are all part of a new permanent history exhibit at the Putnam. “I tell people ‘Did you know sliced bread was invented in the Quad Cities?’ … People don’t believe you, but it’s true,” said Kelly Lao, the Putnam’s vice president of museum experience and education, on Friday, April 26, during a Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Quad City Innovators exhibit. That ceremony attracted about 30 people from the business community and museum to look over the new exhibit. The Quad City Innovators opening also caps off a remodeling and construction project that expanded the footprint of  the museum, the news release said. That remodel added 1,000 square feet of public exhibit space that was  closed to the public. It also made it easier to access the Putnam’s GIANT Screen Theater lobby. Renovation  work was made possible, in part, by  Bechtal Trust, Carver Trust,  SCRA, Ascentra Foundation, Hubbel-Waterman Trust, Goldstein Family, Schermer Family and Arconic Foundation.  But the stars of the show on Friday were the many inventions made by local residents and the residents who did great and interesting things with their lives. It’s an exhibit that tells “success stories,” said Brian Irby, chief strategy officer of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, during the ceremony. “Quad City Innovators shares the incredible stories of these innovators, inventors, and trailblazers through hands-on interactives and fun learning experiences in our updated Fab Lab. This exhibit will spark hometown pride and inspire future change-makers!,” according to information from the museum. Ms. Lao said one of her favorite success stories is that of Mary Heidenreich Solberg. The area woman and her husband, Oscar, built a Curtiss biplane together in the early part of last century. They took the plane to air shows together for aviation demonstrations.  Ms. Solberg had perfect pitch and a talent for mechanics, so she maintained the plane’s engine and – with the help of her perfect pitch – could tell by the sounds of the engine if there were mechanical problems. “She literally held her husband's life in her hands every time the plane went up,” Ms. Lao said. The Putnam official added that she’s happy the exhibit tells the story of Ms. Solberg because that story is almost unknown because women of the era often did not get the credit they deserved for their work. Some of the other items, the inventors and their works on display at the exhibit include:

• Otto Rohwedder, bread slicer.
• J.F. McCullough, Cecil Medd and Henry C. Duke, Dairy Queen and soft serve ice cream.
• Palmer Family, chiropractic.
• Voss Brothers, washing machine.
• John Deere, steel plow.
• Joe Whitty, taco pizza.
• Fred Lundahl, Buddy L toys.
• Fred Boetje, Boetje’s Mustard.
• Nelly Cheboi, CNN Hero of the Year 2022 and founder of TechLit Africa.
• Dr. William West Grant, first successful appendectomy.
• Gene Baker, first African American on the Chicago Cubs roster.
• Chad Pregracke, environmentalist and 2002 Jefferson Award recipient.

The exhibit also features a “wall of patents” that tells the story of the many inventions and patents made by local residents. One of those is the flight recorder, or “black box,” for aircraft patented by Dr. James Ryan of LeClaire in 1960. Another is the gum vending machine, patented by MIlton Griswold of Rock Island in 1915. Shortly after Friday’s brief ceremony, one of the visitors looking over the exhibits was former Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch. He called the Quad City Innovators exhibit an inspiration to the community. “This is fantastic. … It gives kids and families hope that there is a place for them here for the future,” he added. Even though there are many “fantastic stories” in the exhibit, there’s room for more. Ms. Lao asked museumgoers on Friday to keep their eyes open for more stories of Quad Cities innovators. If there are more innovators in the community who are not showcased in the exhibit, let the museum know about them. They can be added to the exhibit. (Go here to submit a suggestion.) “We can keep laying it in. … This is a permanent exhibit, but that doesn’t mean it's a static exhibit,” she added.