ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center will host a program presented by William Johnson, If you build it: A History of Heathkit.

Johnson, a past president of Heath Company, will take a look at the company’s history, including many personal anecdotes from his 30 year career. A display of Heath catalogs, unassembled kits and Heath products will be on display at the program. Light refreshments will be served.

During the last half of the 20th Century, people across the globe were assembling their own electronic equipment from kits created by a company headquartered in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph.

Heathkit began in 1925 when Edward Heath founded the Heath Airplane Company in Chicago. After Heath’s untimely death in 1931, the company was purchased by Howard Anthony, who moved operations to Benton Harbor. Heath prospered through the World War II production years, but after military contracts dried up, Anthony searched for a new direction for the company’s development. Through the purchase of a surplus of electronic parts in 1947, Anthony created the first Heathkit, the O1 oscilloscope which consumers could purchase and assemble for a fraction of the price of a new oscilloscope.

“We will not let you fail,” was the company slogan. Even a novice could successfully complete a working Heathkit. By 1962, there were over 200 Heathkits for products ranging from transistor radios and stereo receivers to color televisions and robots. Heathkit developed an international following. People all over the world ordered kits through Heath catalogs or purchased them in-person at Heath retail stores. Closely following market trends and investing in research and development placed Heath at the forefront of the personal computer revolution in the 1970s, even as the kit business was waning. Through several changes in ownership, Heath managed to maintain its strong brand identity and sales until the 1990s.

Admission to the program is $5 and free for students and members of the Heritage Museum. The Heritage Museum & Cultural Center is located at 601 Main Street in St. Joseph, Michigan. Current exhibits are Sports in Southwest Michigan, Take Me Back: Photographs of the Twin Cities from the 1950s, The Big Three: Boat and Shipbuilding in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Lighting the Way: Fresnel Lenses from St. Joseph’s Lighthouses, and In Style: 50 Years of the Heritage Museum’s Fashion Collections.

For more information, call (269) 983-1191 or visit www.theheritagemcc.org for more information.