This accession consists of records documenting the various curatorial activities of Valerie Neal, curator in the Space History Department. Documents pertain to exhibit
planning, display updates, National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Trophy process and events, collections care and plans, Space Telescope History Project, exhibit space upgrades,
special events, object worksheets, loan materials, agreements, schedules, funding, royalty reports, visitor comment forms, and inquiries. A significant topic covered in this
accession includes the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 101 Enterprise Space Shuttle, which was transferred to NASM and maintained at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in 1985 from the
United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Some records date to when the department was known as the Department of Space Science and Exploration (1980-1986),
the Department of Space History (1987-1996), and Space History Division (1997-2013). Some records originated from other organizations at earlier dates and provide more context.
Materials include correspondence, agreements, charts, memoranda, contracts, outlines, floor plans, illustrations, presentations, captions, scripts, budget plans, proposals,
photographs, negatives, transparencies, agendas, notes, pamphlets, invitations, meeting minutes, reports, articles, news clippings, newsletters, brochures, publications, VHS
cassettes, and related materials. Some materials are in electronic format.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Army Aeronautical Museum (Wright Field, OH) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
United States Aeronautical Museum (Portage County Airport, OH)
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
United States Aeronautical Museum (Portage County Airport, OH) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Army Aeronautical Museum (Wright Field, OH) [Photos]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Army Aeronautical Museum (Wright Field, OH) [Negatives]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
These records document the history of the Department of Aeronautics from 1966-1986, a period marked by intensive planning for the new museum, its construction and opening
in July 1976, and the emergence of the National Air and Space Museum as a large and important bureau of the Smithsonian and the most visited museum in the world.
At the beginning of this period, departmental correspondence with any person or group outside the Institution was maintained in one file on a year-by-year basis. Later,
it was separated into correspondence with persons, with other museums, with organizations and corporations, and with the military. In this collection, all correspondence dated
1966-1976 has been combined into one series. Correspondence dated 1977-1986 is separated into four series, divided as above, arranged alphabetically. Internal memoranda are
arranged chronologically. Also included in the collection are files concerning the Milestones of Flight First Day Cover Series, 1972-1981; a file of correspondence with artists
and modelers, 1966-1978; and a few miscellaneous subject files.
Although a large portion of this correspondence consists of fairly routine requests for information from the public, there is also much concerning specimens and serious
aviation research. The latter reflects the growing commitment of the Aeronautics staff to research. The records document some on-going controversies of aeronautical history,
such as that regarding Amelia Earhart's last voyage and, more importantly, the claims that Gustav Whitehead flew before the Wright Brothers.
The internal memoranda are a particularly rich source of information on the day-to-day operations of the Department. They concern everything from yearly goals and long-range
projects to the small details of exhibits upkeep. The planning for the new building is evident even in 1966, and it remains a central focus, gathering momentum. The memoranda
provide documentation of the task of planning so many galleries at the same time, coordinating the move, and achieving the opening - on schedule.
For earliest records of the National Air Museum, researchers should consult Record Unit 162. Other records documenting the time covered in this collection include those
of the Office of the Director, Record Units 306 and 338; the Department of Astronautics (later Space Science and Exploration, and Space History), Record Units 347, 348, and
398; and the Contractors' Files, Record Unit 358.
Historical Note:
In July 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed into law a bill authorizing construction of a new building for the newly-renamed National Air and Space Museum (NASM).
It had been twenty years since the National Air Museum was established, also by law, in 1946. During that period the growing collection had been exhibited partly in the Smithsonian's
Arts and Industries Building and partly in a hangar, known since World War I as the Aircraft Building, in the south yard of the Smithsonian Castle. Additional aircraft and
reference materials were in storage at Silver Hill, Maryland. S. Paul Johnston, who became Director of the Museum in 1964, initiated a Master Plan in 1965 which called for
reorganization and improvement at Silver Hill, improvement of exhibitions on the Mall, and planning for the new building.
There had been a Section of Aeronautics under the old administrative hierarchy since 1933. Paul E. Garber, who had joined the staff of the Institution in 1919, had risen
to Assistant Curator of Aeronautics. By 1966, Garber's title was Assistant Director (Education and Information), and Aeronautics was divided into three parts: Flight Craft,
Flight Materiel, and Flight Propulsion, headed by curators Louis S. Casey, Kenneth E. Newland, and Robert B. Meyer, respectively. Garber officially retired in 1969 but remained
as Historian Emeritus and Ramsey Research Associate into the 1990s. With Garber's retirement, Casey became Acting Assistant Director, while Frank A. Taylor succeeded Johnston,
becoming Acting Director in 1970.
Meanwhile, the Apollo 11 voyage to the moon of 1969 helped fuel the desire for building the new Air and Space Museum. Ex-astronaut Michael Collins was named Director in
1971, a ground-breaking ceremony was held in November 1972, and the entire staff began detailed preparations for an expected opening during the 1976 Bicentennial.
The plans for the new museum called for twenty-three exhibit halls, many of which were related to aeronautics, making aircraft restoration and exhibit preparation the major
concerns of this period.
In 1975 the staff moved into the new building and completed installation of the exhibits in time for the July 1, 1976 opening.
The late 1970s and the early 1980s were a period of new emphasis on historical and scientific research. The Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History was established
in 1977, and Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith, Keeper Emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, became the first occupant. An international fellowship was established,
along with the Verville Fellowship. Various symposia on figures such as Lindbergh, the Wright Brothers, and Amelia Earhart were held, and the General Electric Lecture Series
began. In 1980 the department held a seminar on Forty Years of Jet Aviation. The Aeronautics Department initiated a new aviation book series, Famous Aircraft of the National
Air and Space Museum, and plans were made to issue a bibliography called a Guide to Aerospace History Sources. In 1986 NASM announced the establishment of the National
Air and Space Archives, a national center for research in aerospace history.
Donald S. Lopez was named Assistant Director (Aeronautics) in 1972. In 1980 his title was changed to Chairman, Aeronautics Department. Paul Garber had been named Historian
Emeritus. By the late 1970s, the department included Curators Walter J. Boyne, Louis S. Casey, Robert B. Meyer, Jr., Robert C. Mikesh, Claudia M. Oakes, Edmund T. Wooldridge,
and C. Glen Sweeting. In 1981 curators Tom D. Crouch and Von D. Hardesty joined the aeronautics staff, and Boyne became Assistant Director of the Museum, now led by Noel Hinners.
In 1982 Boyne became Acting Director and then Director of the Museum in 1983, with Donald S. Lopez becoming Deputy Director, and Edmund T. Wooldridge, Jr., Chairman of the
Aeronautics Department. Wooldridge served as Chairman of the Department, 1983-1986.
Important correspondents include Paul E. Garber, Esther Goddard, Philip S. Hopkins, and S. Paul Johnson. Institutions collaborating with NASM include the United States
Army, Navy, and Air Force, NASA, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Historical Note:
The National Air Museum (NAM) was created as a separate bureau of the Smithsonian Institution by Act of Congress in 1946. Twenty years later its name was changed to
the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) as part of the Congressional Act authorizing construction of a separate building to house its collections.
Previous to 1946 the NASM collections were under the custodial care of the Department of Anthropology, Division of Mechanical Technology, 1887-1919, and the Department
of Arts and Industries, Division of Mechanical Technology, 1919-1931, then the Division of Engineering, 1931-1946.
With the creation of NAM, Carl W. Mitman, head curator of the Division of Engineering, became Assistant to the Secretary for NAM. Mitman retired from the Smithsonian in
1952 and Philip S. Hopkins was appointed as the Museum's first director in 1958. Hopkins was succeeded by S. Paul Johnson, 1964-1969, Frank A. Taylor, acting director, 1969-1971,
and Michael Collins, 1971 to the present.
Though the first accessioned artifact in the collection was the John F. Stringfellow engine in 1889, the NASM collection dates back to the close of the 1876 Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia when the Smithsonian received a group of kites from the Chinese Imperial Commission.