The Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $50,000 Grant From the Siragusa Foundation

The Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $50,000 Grant From the Siragusa Foundation

CHICAGO, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is announcing it has received a $50,000 grant from the Siragusa Foundation in support of the Museum's capital campaign. The gift will be used for exhibit development and for the expansion of the new media museum in downtown Chicago.

With the grant from the Siragusa Foundation, the MBC will develop "Inventors & Inventions" -- an exhibit that will showcase the technical contributions to the development of radio and television by introducing the inventors, inventions, and early manufacturers that shaped mass communications in America.

"The support of the Siragusa Foundation in the development of 'Inventors & Inventions' is fitting given the significant role Ross D. Siragusa played in the evolution of consumer electronics in America," said MBC President Bruce DuMont. "Ross Siragusa was a product development genius who led a major effort to produce affordable television sets after World War II and he led Admiral to the forefront of pioneering television manufacturers," DuMont added.

Ross D. Siragusa founded the Admiral Corp. in Chicago in 1934 and transformed it from a small radio and phonograph company into one of the leading makers of televisions. By the 1950s, Admiral was a major TV brand and one of the first to produce color sets. Admiral was also a major sponsor of groundbreaking television programs like Sid Caesar's Admiral Broadway Review (NBC) and Bishop Fulton Sheen's Life is Worth Living (DuMont).

In making the grant announcement, Irene Phelps, President of the Siragusa Foundation, said, "We are excited to be a part of The Museum of Broadcast Communications' educational efforts and recognize that the new MBC will provide opportunities for young people to learn about the important role that technology played in American broadcasting. And, this is a great way to honor my grandfather."

Located near the new museum's ticketing area, the "Inventors & Inventions" exhibit will feature a timeline and display vintage pop culture artifacts, classic radios and televisions, period advertising and images of notables in the field. A montage of audio and video clips will play on continuous loops on the period pieces, progressing from early crystal radios to I-Pods and plasmas.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is one of three broadcast museums in the United States. Currently, it is building a new 70,000-square- foot home at State and Kinzie streets in downtown Chicago. The new MBC will open in the late summer of 2006. Visit http://www.museum.tv/ for more information.

Source: Museum of Broadcast Communications

CONTACT: Raissa Allaire of MBC, +1-312-396-0104

Web site: http://www.museum.tv/

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