Mike Augspurger Innovative Lives Presentation and Oral History
name: label: Creator
content: Augspurger, Mike
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Cater, Anita
label: Names
content: One-Off Titanium
topic: label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1980-2000
label: Topic
content: Bicycles
label: Topic
content: Mountain bikes
label: Topic
content: Bicycle industry
label: Topic
content: Slides
label: Topic
content: Photographs
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on May 5, 2000. The Innovative Lives series brings Museum visitors and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
creator: label: Creator
content: Augspurger, Mike
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Cater, Anita
setName: label: See more items in
content: Mike Augspurger Innovative Lives Presentation and Oral History
abstract: label: Summary
content: Mike Augspurger was born in 1956 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Working with steel land titanium, he invented an all terrain rear wheel drive handcycle. Collection contains approximately eight hours of video footage documenting Augspurger discussing his life and work and a promotional video titled One-Off Handcycle.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Mike Augspurger (1956-) was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he built, modified, and raced bicycles, motorcycles, and go-karts from a young age. He attended motorcycle mechanic school at the Indiana Institute of Technology and received his B.A. from Hampshire College in 1981. Augspurger founded Merlin Metalworks in 1987 with business partners and began using titanium to manufacture bicycle frames because of its flexibility, corrosion resistance, and lightweight nature. It was his friendship with neighbor Bob Hall, a wheelchair racing athlete, which prompted him to create an all terrain arm-powered cycle. He founded One-Off Titanium, Inc., to design, manufacture, and custom-build handcycles in 1989.


The Jermone and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. The Center's mission is: to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; to encourage inventive creativity in young people; and to foster an appreciation for the central role invention and innovation play in the history of the United States. The Innovative Lives series brings together museum visitors and, especially, school-aged children and American inventors to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product. This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.25 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1998
label: Date
content: 2001
label: Date
content: 2000
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred from the Lemelson Center to the Archives Center in 2001.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0689
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Betacam sp (videotape format)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized into three series.

Series 1, Original Videos, 2000

Series 2, Reference Videos (viewing copies), 1998; 2000

Series 3, Supplemental Documentation, 2001
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Kimberly Tarr (project archivist), December, 2009; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Original videos digitized in 2014.  See repository for details.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: BetaCam SP (videotape format)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection contains seven (7) hours of original (BetaCam SP) recordings and eight (8) hours of reference (viewing) copies documenting the life and work of Mike Augspurger, inventor of the One-Off All Terrain Handcycle. The recordings include a presentation by Augspurger for the Lemelson Center's Innovative Lives Program. Audience participants are students from Jefferson Junior High School (Washington, D.C.), Nysmith School (Herndon, Virginia), Nicholas Orem Middle School (Hyattsville, Maryland), and Rosa Parks Middle School (Olney, Maryland). The collection also contains interviews with Leni Fried, Augspurger's wife, and Provi Morillo, an owner of a One-Off Handcycle.