This collection consists of material relating to Francis Gary Powers's flying career in the Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency, and later pursuits. The majority of the documents deal with the May 1960 U-2 incident, in which Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union during a reconnaisance mission and imprisoned. Materials include: logbooks; flight records from his military and civilian careers; a pocket diary and journal he kept during his Soviet imprisonment; letters to his parents; materials collected by his parents as his father attempted to visit him including a telegram from Nikita Khrushchev and a New Testament given to Powers by his mother during his Soviet trial; Congressional hearing material; newspaper articles; Life magazine; and several photographs of Powers.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of documents relating to Francis Gary Powers and his aviation career, particularly the 1960 U-2 incident with the Soviet Union. Materials include: logbooks; flight records from his military and civilian careers; a pocket diary and journal he kept during his Soviet imprisonment; letters to his parents; materials collected by his parents as his father attempted to visit him including a telegram from Nikita Khrushchev and a New Testament given to Powers by his mother during his Soviet trial; Congressional hearing material; newspaper articles; Life magazine; and several photographs of Powers.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series: Early Career, the U-2 Incident, and Post U-2 Incident Life and Career.
Series 1 contains materials relating to Francis Gary Power's early career with the United States Air Force before resigning to join the CIA, including his birth certificate, military orders and forms, and his individual flight records.
Series 2 contains materials relating to the U-2 incident, in which Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union and imprisoned. The first set of materials relates to Powers' imprisonment, including his prison journal, pocket diary, New Testament, correspondence, and the subsequent congressional hearing. The second set of materials relates to the Powers family during the incident, including correspondence and telegrams with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and the United States government and Oliver Powers' passport. The third set of materials relates to the media reactions to the incident, including complete newspapers, article clippings, a television script, and artwork.
The Soviet Prison Journal and Soviet Prison Pocket Diary were on display in the Looking at Earth Gallery when the collection was digitized. The photocopies were scanned for digital access.
Series 3 contains materials from Powers' life and career after his return to the United States, including logbooks, public relations documents, flight training and insurance records, an employment application, and memorial items.
Documents with personally identifiable information (PII) have been redacted or not digitized.
Biographical/Historical note:
Francis Gary Powers (1929 -1977) learned to fly during high school. He enlisted in the United States Air Force after graduating from Milligan College in 1950. In 1956, he resigned from the Air Force to become a "civilian employee" of Lockheed on loan to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, authorized to fly Air Force aircraft. In reality, he was a covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), training for Operation Overflight—U-2 reconnaissance missions.
Powers was captured and imprisoned after his U-2 was shot down over the Soviet Union during an aerial reconnaissance mission on May 1, 1960. Powers was placed on trial and exchanged nearly two years later for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet agent. After his return to the United States, Powers continued to work for the CIA, but then left to work at Lockheed. Powers was working for NBC's Los Angeles affiliate KGIL in 1977, when his helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed, causing his death.
Provenance:
Claudia Sue Powers, Gift, 1994, NASM.1994.0010.
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.
Topic:
United States -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union Search this
This collection consists of 7.31 cubic feet of material created by Edward Baldwin during his tenure as a engineer for Kelly Johnson at Lockheed Skunk Works, 1944-1982. The collection consists of original pencil on vellum Skunk Works drawings, blueprints, design studies, logs, engineering notebooks, photographs, technical manuals, correspondence, newspaper articles and newsletters relating to his work on Lockheed aircraft, including the development of the P-80, SR-71, F-94, F-104, F-117 and the U-2.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Baldwin received his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1940 from West Virginia University. After graduation he moved to California and began working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was first assigned to the Special Airplane Projects group, where he worked on the Model 10 Electra, Model 12 Electra Jr, Model B-14, Hudson Bomber and the Model 18 Lodestar. Baldwin was then placed on loan to the P-38 and R6-O Constitution projects. In March of 1944, Baldwin was asked by Dick Boehme to join the Fuselage Design Group of the Advanced Development Projects (ADP) "Skunk Works." Baldwin worked on the P-80, before working on the F-94C and the XF-104. In November of 1954, Baldwin was placed on the U-2 project, where he developed the configuration of the aircraft and completed the design. Baldwin also worked on the ADP's Archangel Program to develop a Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft, which became known as the SR-71. Baldwin was then assigned to the "Have Blue" program, which was the Skunk Work's entry into the Stealth Prototype competition. Baldwin was responsible for all structural design of the two test vehicles and when Lockheed won the contract, became the Deputy Program Manager for Structures of the F-117. He retired in September 1982, after the first four production F-117 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force.
Provenance:
Barbara Sulier and Robert Baldwin, Gift, 2016
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Citation:
Desert Shield and Desert Storm Collection, NASM.1991.0087, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
