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Posted by: Josh Levy
Sometime in the mid-1930s, an aeronautical engineer sent out a particularly un-Christmassy looking Christmas card, one that featured a sleek aircraft soaring above a speeding train and automobile, with an art deco cityscape in the background.
Posted by: Michelle Krowl
In summer 1861, William J. Rhees, chief clerk of the Smithsonian Institution, wrote to his wife about Professor Thaddeus Lowe’s balloon experiments on the National Mall . . . including the reason one ascent never got off the ground. Because (almost) nothing in Washington happens without first securing a purchase order or an appropriation.
Posted in: Aviation, Civil War, Science and Technology, War and Society
Posted by: Andrea J. Briggs
A brief look at the life and collection of Robert A. Lavender, and an archivist’s one-sided but deeply felt relationship with the collection.
Posted in: Aviation, Behind the Scenes, War and Society
Posted by: Josh Levy
On September 25, 1910, in Aotearoa New Zealand, a stunning Maori kite caught Alexander Graham Bell's eye. His journals show Bell's brief encounter with an indigenous scientific tradition and reveal his own obsession with transporting human beings through the air in enormous tetrahedral kites.
Posted in: Aviation, International History, Of Note, Science and Technology
Posted by: Lewis Wyman
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.
Posted by: Laura Kells
Wilbur Wright’s letter to his sister describing of a 30-mile bike ride he took with his brother Orville in September 1892 illuminates an enthusiasm for bicycles and bicycling adventures that was a precursor to their pioneering work in aviation.