On June 26, 1940, it was announced by the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (IAS), a scientific society founded in 1932 that was made up of leading aeronautical specialists, that Paul Kollsman and Square D had provided the IAS with an endowment of $50,000 to found an aeronautical lending library at Rockefeller Center, New York City. The Paul Kollsman Library was a library of books, pamphlets, and other published materials which could be borrowed by people interested in aeronautics via postal mail within the United States. In 1941, $10,000 from the original endowment (the Paul Kollsman Fund) was used to found the Pacific Aeronautical Library at Hollywood, California, which was opened on October of that year. This collection consists of a scrapbook of press releases and clippings regarding the founding of the IAS' Paul Kollsman Library and Pacific Aeronautical Library.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a scrapbook of press releases and clippings regarding the founding of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences' Paul Kollsman Library and Pacific Aeronautical Library. The scrapbook also includes portrait photographs of Kollsman and F. W. Magin, President of the Square D Company; a menu signed by attendees of a luncheon held in honor of Kollsman and Magin at Rockefeller Center, New York City, on July 18, 1940; a list of organizations using the Kollsman Library during 1940 to 1941; and a portrait of and biographical information relating to Sherman Fairchild.
Arrangement:
Collection is a single item.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Kollsman (1900--1982), a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1923, founded the Kollsman Instrument Company in Elmshurst, Long Island, New York, in 1928, to manufacture precision aeronautical instruments. In 1939, the Kollsman Instrument Company was acquired by the Square D Company of Detroit, Michigan. On June 26, 1940, it was announced by the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (IAS), a scientific society founded in 1932 that was made up of leading aeronautical specialists, that Paul Kollsman and Square D had provided the IAS with an endowment of $50,000 to found an aeronautical lending library at Rockefeller Center, New York City (home of the IAS). The Paul Kollsman Library (as it was known) was a library of books, pamphlets, and other published materials which could be borrowed by people interested in aeronautics via postal mail within the United States. In 1941, $10,000 from the original endowment (the Paul Kollsman Fund) was used to found the Pacific Aeronautical Library at Hollywood, California, which was opened on October of that year. Kollsman provided an additional $65,000 to the IAS on December 17, 1941, to further aid in the operation of these libraries. The Institute of Aeronautical Sciences merged in 1963 with the American Rocket Society to form the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Provenance:
Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, Gift, NASM.XXXX.0319.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Subgroup II: Technology and Culture Records
Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-1988
Files are restricted for thirty years from the most recent date of the correspondence. They may be opened, on a case-by-case basis, through appeal to the SHOT Editorial Committee.
Series 4: Editorial Review of Articles, 1960-1993
Files are restricted for thirty years from the most recent date of the review. They may be opened, on a case-by-case basis, through appeal to the SHOT Editorial Committee.
Series 9: Published Files, 1982-1994
Files are restricted for thirty years from the date of the last correspondence in the individual folder. They may be opened, on a case-by-case basis, through appeal to the SHOT Editorial Committee.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Society for the History of Technology Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
