This series contains materials relating to the long-running legal disputes involving Curtiss. The litigants were Curtiss versus Augustus M. Herring, Curtiss' wife, Lena versus Herring (she replaced her husband in the litigation upon his death in 1930) and Curtiss versus the Wright brothers. The last protracted case involved patent infringement alleged by the Wrights against Curtiss. The other two cases revolved around Herring's false claims of possessing aeronautical patents (Curtiss had hoped to use these patents in his legal battle with the Wrights) and a hostile bid by Herring to win control of the Herring-Curtiss Company in 1910. This failed maneuver did succeed in bankrupting the firm and placing it in receivership.
These papers include U.S. District Court (Western District of New York) and State of New York Supreme Court testimony, other types of court documents (including a court-issued injunction filed by the Wright brothers against Curtiss) as well as Herring-Curtiss Company bankruptcy reports and papers. They are organized chronologically.
Please note that volume 1, 2 and 6 of the Testimony, State of New York Supreme Court, Curtiss versus Herring, is missing from this collection.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged into subseries:
1) Curtiss versus Herring
2) Curtiss versus Wright Brothers
3) Lena P. Curtiss versus Herring
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
Glenn H. Curtiss Collection, Acc. XXXX-0053, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Inst.
