About the Museum
The Mission of the online museum of the Endowment for the Preservation of Elevating History is to develop a flexible framework that will allow the individuals, companies and organizations, concerned with the preservation of elevator/escalator (and associated short-range automated transportation), to easily contribute suggestions, photos and graphics that will flesh out the structure and clarify flow of the historical content. The ultimate purpose is to develop an educational tool that will provide students and researchers, as well as youngsters entering the industry, with a broad picture of how the practice, then the art and discipline, of lifting evolved through the ages, beginning with the laborious irrigation process in the fertile deltas of the Middle and Far East to the swift and safe multi-dimensional movement of passengers within the first half of the 20th century. As most online visitors have personally experienced the real life environment of brick and morter museums – the Wings, Halls, Galleries and pertinent explanations – an attempt has been made to provide such an atmosphere within this museum's structure.
The Museum curator is Dr. Lee Gray, author of "From Ascending Rooms to Express Elevators: A History of the Passenger Elevator in the 19th Century". Gray is Chairman of the Department of Architecture at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte where he teaches Architectural History. He has earned bachelor's degrees in Architecture from Iowa State University, a Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. in Architectural History from Cornell University. He is also a member of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. He has published several articles and one book on vertical transportation and skyscrapers. Gray claims to have had a twenty-five year fascination with vertical transportation - - we are pleased to indulge that fascination in these web pages.
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