**Friends of the Springfield Armory Museum**

**P.O. Box 4781 Springfield, MA 01101**\
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**Date**\
July 1, 2006\
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**Contact**\
Charles Fitch, Chairperson

413-792-2975\
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FRIENDS OF THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY MUSEUM, Inc.

Dear Friend,

To help tell the story of our nation's first Armory to a greater
audience, and to help protect the historic site and collection, a group
of interested people formed a private non-profit organization to provide
assistance to the Armory. The Friends of the Springfield Armory Museum,
Inc., has been able to help in a wide variety of ways. Members have
raised funds for special projects such as purchasing display cases to
show some of the large collection that is normally not on public view.
We have sponsored special events and funded advertising that the Park
Service is not permitted to do. Behind the scenes, volunteers help with
preserving and documenting the collection, restoring the Commandant's
Quarters, and hosting special events.

Our members are not always able to help at the Armory site, as they are
from all around the globe, but they are just as important to keeping the
history of our country's arms manufacturing alive. You too can help.
Join the Friends of the Springfield Armory Museum. Please help continue
that tradition of excellence.

During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army \[rebel colonial
forces\] needed an arsenal to store and repair arms and to manufacture
ammunition. Springfield, Massachusetts, because of its central and
defensible position along the Connecticut River, was chosen for that
purpose by Congress on the recommendation of General Washington in
January 1777. By the early 1790's, the new nation needed an armory to
manufacture arms to maintain its independence. The Arsenal at
Springfield was chosen by President George Washington to house that
facility. The country's first National Armory was established in 1794 on
ground high above the city and at the nearby Water-shops. For 174 years,
the Springfield Armory designed and produced the weapons that armed our
forces in every conflict that the United States found itself engaged.
From flintlock muskets to percussion rifles to breech-loading, bolt
action, semi-automatic and selective fire arms, the Armory can trace its
history alongside the history of the United States and the wars fought
in defense of the liberty and freedoms won more than two hundred years
ago.

The history of the Industrial Revolution in America can also trace many
of its major developments to machines and production techniques first
introduced at the Springfield Armory. In the early 1800's, the Armory
was the largest manufacturing facility of any kind in America. The
"American System of Manufacture", which used gages and fixtures to
produce identical interchangeable parts, was in large part developed by
Armory workers. The history of technology in America is the story of the
Springfield Armory.

In 1964, the Defense Department decided to close the nation's first
armory by 1968. Private manufacturers was deemed capable of providing
for the nation's arms requirements. But the Springfield Armory did not
die in 1968. A significant arm of the facility, which had been
established in 1862, continues its mission. The Springfield Armory
Museum has continued to operate for a century and a half. Today, the
Springfield Armory National Historic Site, operated by the National Park
Service, is home to the finest small arms museum in the world. The site
also includes several significant buildings from the Armory's heyday.
Steady progress is being made toward restoring the buildings and
preserving and protecting the collection. There is also a dedicated
staff of Park Service personnel working to tell the story of the
Springfield Armory in our nation's history.

Consider joining us today.

Friends of the Springfield Armory Museum P.O. Box 4781 Springfield,MA
01101