Learn about twelve recently processed new collections and additions to twelve other existing collections. This post is the first of what will be a regular blog feature announcing recently available collections.
Join the Manuscript Division for a special night of Live! at the Library on Thursday, May 19, from 5 pm to 8 pm in the Thomas Jefferson Building in honor of the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial.
George S. Patton kept a personal journal during his involvement in the 1916 Mexican Expedition. While serving as aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing, he recorded many observations of the military campaign against Pancho Villa’s forces - everything from day to day activities, to the first use of airplanes by the U.S. Army in a combat roll and its last use of mounted cavalry. This is the first of many wartime diaries that Patton kept during his military career.
The Library of Congress Manuscript Division holds the papers of aviation pioneer Octave Chanute, which include correspondence between Chanute, George Spratt, and the Wright Brothers. These letters provide insights into their aeronautical experiments as they share ideas on wing design, lift, drag and other problems facing early experimenters.