Westinghouse Memorial Renewal Draws On Inventor’s Legacy

On a sunny fall day, like the one said to have welcomed the George Westinghouse memorial at Schenley Park 86 years ago, a crowd of park enthusiasts, Westinghouse companies’ alumni and 16 of the inventor’s descendants sang “Happy Birthday to George” on Thursday morning.

The youngest descendants cut the ceremonial cake, celebrating the restoration of the site to its near-original glory after a $2.7 million renewal by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

“The Lord blessed Pittsburgh when he gave us George Westinghouse,” said Ray Betler, president and CEO of Wabtec Corp., the Wilmerding-based company that grew out of Mr. Westinghouse’s first major invention — the air brake.

“The seeds of George Westinghouse still live,” he said.

The original memorial was unveiled on Oct. 6, 1930, on the inventor’s birthday 16 years after his death. Nearly 60,000 employees of his various companies pulled together the funds, commissioning the same sculptor who molded the sitting Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.... Read the full article