Continental Div. ; Lincoln Motor Co. ; Lincoln Motor Car Div. ; Fordson Div. ; Mercury Div. ; Lincoln-Mercury Div. ; Henry Ford & Son, Inc. ; C.E. Johansson, Inc. ; Dearborn Village ; Ford Tractor Operations (Troy, MI) ; Ford Motor Co. Ltd. (Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom) ; Upholstery Leather Group, Inc. (New York, NY) Search this
Notes content:
twenty five envelopes OVERSIZE ; Organized by divisions and subject categories
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual, photographs and histories
This collection consisted of 10 cartons of photographs that were at first loaned, and then donated, from the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (IAS) in 1968 when they were dissolving their library. After the photographs arrived at NASM, they were divided and placed in the Technical Files. As of 2009, 817 images have been identified and cataloged as being from the Sherman Fairchild Collection. The images include shots of balloons, gliders, airships, aircraft, aircraft instruments, engines, uniforms, aerial photographs, and early concepts of flight.
Biographical / Historical:
Sherman Fairchild (1896-1971) had a long and varied aviation career; included in his many contributions to the aerospace field was his work with aerial cameras and his aircraft companies, including Fairchild Industries.
Provenance:
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Gift, 1968
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
AC Electronics, Milwaukee, WI ; AC Spark Plug, Flint, MI ; Adam Opel AG, Germany ; Allison Engineering Co., Indianapolis, IN ; Buick Motor Co., Flint, MI ; Buick Motor Div., Flint, MI ; Cadillac Motor Car Co., Detroit, MI ; Cadillac Motor Div., Detroit, MI ; Central Foundry Div., Saginaw, MI ; Chevrolet Motor Div., Detroit, MI ; Chevrolet Motor Co., Detroit, MI ; Cleveland Diesel Div., Cleveland, OH ; Cleveland Diesel Engine Div., Cleveland, OH ; Dayton Engineering Lab Co. (DELCO), Dayton, OH ; Delco Hyatt ; Delco-Light Co., Dayton, OH ; Delco Appliance Div., Rochester, NY ; Delco Marine, Dayton, OH ; Delco Products, Dayton, OH ; Delco Radio, Kokomo, IN ; Delco-Remy, Anderson, IN ; Detroit Diesel, Detroit, MI ; Diesel Equipment, Grand Rapids, MI ; Domestic Engineering Co., Dayton, OH ; Eastern Aircraft Div., Bloomfield, NJ ; Electro-Motive Div., La Grange, IL ; Euclid Road Machine Co., Hudson, OH ; Euclid Crane & Hoist Co. ; Fabricast Div., Bedford, IN ; Fisher Body Co., Warren, MI ; Frigidaire, Dayton, OH ; General Motors Sales Corp., Rochester, NY ; General Motors Truck Co., Pontiac, MI ; Guardian Refrigerator Co., Detroit, MI ; GM Acceptance Corp., New York, NY ; GMC Truck-Coach, Pontiac, MI ; Guide Lamp Div., Anderson, IN ; Harrison Radiator Co., Lockport, NY ; Hummer ; Hyatt Roller Bearing Co., Harrison, NJ ; Hydra-Matic, Ypsilanti, MI ; Hyatt Roller Bearing Co., Harrison, NJ ; Inland Mfg. Co., Dayton, OH ; Lovejoy Mfg. Co., Boston, MA ; Moraine Products Div., Dayton, OH ; Motors Holding Div., Detroit, MI ; Motors Insurance Corp., New York, NY ; New Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, CT ; Oakland Motor Car Co., Detroit, MI ; Olds Motor Car Co., Lansing, MI ; Olds Motor Works, Lansing, MI ; Oldsmobile Motor Div., Lansing, MI ; Packard Electric Co., Warren, MI ; Pontiac Motor Div., Pontiac, MI ; Remy Electric Co., Anderson, IN ; Reliance Engineering Co., Lansing, MI ; Rochester Products Div., Rochester, MI ; Rumely Products Co., Chicago, IL ; Saginaw Steering Gear, Sagniaw, MI ; Saturn Corp. ; Sunnyhome Electric Co. ; Ternstedt Div., Detroit, MI ; United Delco, Detroit, OH ; United Motors Service Div., Detroit, MI ; Terex Div., Hudson, OH ; Winton Engine Co., Cleveland OH ; Yellow Truck & Coach Mfg. ; Vanxhall Motors Ltd., United Kingdom Search this
Notes content:
Twenty-two envelopes OVERSIZE. Organized by companies and divisions. Some German language materials. Includes 1942 Annual Report to Employees, "War Tugs Tell Their Tales of the Sea", "Three R's of General Motors War Products Training Program", "Delco War Products All Over the World", "Century of Buick" with CD, "Making of a Motor Car," souvenir guide book to Chevrolet-Fisher Mfg. Exhibit, Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago, 1933. Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility 2006 Results Brochure.
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual, photographs and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
2074 pieces; 147 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Date range:
1800s-2000s
Topic (Romaine term):
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this
Packard Electric Co. ; Packard-Studebaker Motor Car Co. ; Packard Motor Car Co. of New York (New York, NY) Search this
Notes content:
Two envelopes OVERSIZE ; automobiles. Unique high quality color catalogs included among the following : undated (est. 1931) full color catalog for eight-cylinder Packard automobiles ; "The Packard Six 5-26 and 5-33" full color catalog in a unique horizontal layout ; "The Packard Eight : ask a man who owns one" (1926) full color catalog ; "Packard for 1938: The 12 - The Super 8" spiral bound full color catalog (copyright 1937) contains photographs and illustrations of the cars' exteriors, interiors and chassis, of upscale lifestyles, of the testing processes (orthopedic science, safety, durability) and of the Packard factory. "Packard Standard and Simplified Accounting Systems for Packard Motor Car Co. Distributers and Dealers" (1934, originally 1924) ; "Packard Service Letters" (1932) body, brakes, chassis, clutch, electrical, motor, axle, steering, tires, transmission, steering, shock absorbers, adjustments, accessories ; "Service Parts List Packard Single-Eight 136-143" (June 1923) ; "The Packard Liberty Motor" (January 1919), World War I, aviation, engine Pershing ; "Packard Aircraft Engines" (November 1926), direct drive, geared drive, inverted drive ; "Packard Master Motor Builders" (c. 1928) includes list of records with Packard airplane, seaplane, automobile, airship and boat motors ; "Packard Advanced Training School Lecture Course" (1919), subjects include tools, inspection and scrap, time study, systems, stock, production, care of machinery, timekeeping, safety and sanitation ; "Instructions for Care and Operation of Packard Aircraft Engines" (May 1928) ; "Information Packard Worm Drive Motor Trucks" (no date) includes general information such as starting the motor, inspection, the operation of the various systems and cold weather procedures ; "The Packard-Diesel Aircraft Engine" (1930) ; "Information Model 268 Packard Junior Marine Engine" (February 1923) ; "Information Model 357 Packard Eight Marine Engine" (April 1924) ; motor trucks ; worm drive motor trucks ; chainless motor trucks ; "Stereoscopic Presentation of Packard Superiorities"
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual, samples and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Types of samples:
ledger forms
Physical description:
110 pieces; 7 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this
Aeronautical Div. ; B.F. Goodrich Chemical Co. ; B. F. Goodrich General Products Co. ; B. F. Goodrich Tire Co. ; Engineered Systems Div. ; Environmental Products ; Industrial Products Div. ; Mechanical Div. ; Miller Rubber Industrial Products Div. ; National Accounts Div. ; U.S. Army Training School ; B. F. Goodrich Rubber Co. Search this
Notes content:
one envelope OVERSIZE. Geon polyvinyl materials: resins, plastic compounds, lattices, latex, polyblends. Hycar rubber products: dry rubber, lattices, cements, vinyl blends, hard rubber, phenolic blends, latex. Good-rite placticizer. Industrial rubber clothing; rubber transmission, conveyor belting; air, water, steam, suction, oil, gasoline, hydraulic hoses and couplings; tubing; packing; mats and matting; rubber springs; sponge products; anode rubber covering molded goods; rubber cement; vibro insulators; sheet rubber; electronic rip detection system for belting. PVC conveyor and elevator belting; protective clothing; power transmission belting; trolley guard; sheet rubber; abrasive resistant rubber linings; fire hoses; matting. Tires: zero pressure tires for tractors, graders, mowers; rubber tired wheels for industrial trucks; farm tires; industrial tires; wireless truck tires; off-road tires. Data books; maintenance manuals. Airplane de-icers; tires and accessories; brakes. Cutlass bearings; Koroseal flexible plastics; Rivnut rivets and bolts; rubber footware; Flexseal pit and pond liners; vinyl cores for wastewater treatment. ; bicycle tires ; motor trucks ; Palmer tires ; rubber printing plates. National Accounts Div. bulletins on client companies: Aetna Life Insurance Co; Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.; Automobile Insurance Co.; Standard Fire Insurance Co.; American Bakeries Co.; American Can Co.; American New Co., Inc.; Armour & Co.; Beatrice Creamery Co.; Borden Co.; Carnation Milk; Coca-Cola; Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Co.; Continental Automobile Co.; Continental Oil Co. (CONOCO); Crane Co.; Cudahy Packing Co.; Dairymen’s League; John Deere; E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.; Fleishmann’s Yeast; Foremost Dairy Products Co.; Galion Iron Works & Mfg. Co.; General Foods, Inc.; General Mills Corp.; General Motors Corp.; Golden State Co., Ltd.; H. J. Heinz Co.; Samuel Insull; Kingan & Co.; Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corp.; Libby, McNeill & Libby; P. Lorillard Co.; Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp.; Morton Salt Co.; National Biscuit Co.; National Dairy Products Corp.; National Refining Co.; NuGrape Co. of America; Pacific Lighting Corp.; Pillsbury Flour Mills; Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.; Procter & Gamble Co.; Pure Oil Co.; Quaker Oats Co.; Railway Express Agency, Inc.; Reo Motor Co.; R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; W. A. Riddell Co.; Standard Sanitary Mfg. Co.; Stone & Webster, Inc.; Swift & Co.; Texas Corp. (Texaco); United States Dairy Products Corp.; United States Steel Corp.; Western Dairy Products Co.; Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.; Wilson & Co.; Standard Sanitary Mfg. Co., Div. of American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corp. Promotional and historical documents on “the wonder of rubber” and B.F. Goodrich Co. Books of advertisements run between 1939-1945. “The manufacture of rubber goods: Notes from mimeographed book prepared by Dr. J. W. Schade”
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual, samples and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Types of samples:
Tire rubber; vinyl.
Physical description:
287 pieces; 10 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Akron, Ohio, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Architectural designs and building materials Search this
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this
Aviation ; commercial aviation ; passenger transport ; aviation and airplanes for motion picture work ; aerial advertising and photography ; teaching ; lessons ; service ; maintenance ; accessories
"Shavex" converter for house current AC to DC ; display demonstrator ; display case ; sales aids ; "Kar-Shave" converters for trailers, cars, boats, and planes ; D.C. to A.C. miniature converters ; includes sheet for Terado "Trav-Electric" D.C. to A.C. miniature converters for cars, boats, trucks, and planes (distributed by Shavex Co.)
Contactors, relays, remote control switches, automatic transfer switches, two-way direct acting solenoid valves. 1970 & 1983 catalogs ; two way solenoid valves ; three way solenoid valves ; four way solenoid valves ; manual reset two, three, and four way solenoid valves ; special purpose valves ; combustion valves for fuel gas and fuel oil service ; air operated two, three, and four way valves ; check valves ; flow control valves ; quick exhaust valves ; shuttle valves ; shut-off valves ; strainers ; mini-proximity sensors ; air switches ; electric switches ; AC solenoids ; manually reset valves ; electrically reset valves ; "Asco" "Red Hat II" 2, 3 and 4 way solenoid valves ; valve position indicators ; pressure and temperature switches...this comprises the uncataloged portion.
Includes:
Trade catalog and price lists
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
99 pieces; 4 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Florham Park, New Jersey, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this
Victor Talking Machine Co. ; Solid State Div. (in Somerville, NJ) ; Electronic Components (div. in Harrison, NJ) ; RCA Victor Co., Inc. (Camden, NJ) ; R. C. A. Institutes, Inc. ; RCA Laboratories ; Acoustical and Electromechanical Research Laboratory (Princeton, NJ) ; Missile and Surface Div. (Moorestown, NJ) ; National Broadcasting Co. ; RCA Victor Co. Ltd. (Montreal, Canada) Search this
Notes content:
Some items OVERSIZE. Radio equipment ; Two publications in Spanish. 1920-1971 ; aviation radios ; early radios (1921-29) ; electron microscopes ; history and research ; marine radios ; radio and phonograph service data ; record catalogs ; technical papers ; television service data ; color television ; TV ; tube catalogs ; radio telephone broadcast transmitter equipment ; shortwave transmitting tube ; RCA Institutes School of Radio and Communication Technology course catalog ; David Sarnoff Research Center ; dual diversity receiver system ; intercontinental communications system ; radar set AN/PPS-12 ; 1923-1937 radio receivers and phonographs ; 1938-1942 radio receivers and phonographs ; service notes 1934 ; "Radio Enters the Home," (1922) ; Patent Notes for Engineers ; batteries ; computer transistors for switching applications ; silicon transistors ; silicon rectifiers ; "Why America Leads in Radio" ; electron tube handbook ; solid-state technology overlay ; "Radio Age" publication (Oct. 1942) ; Brenkert "80" motion picture projection
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual, photographs and histories
Chicago, IL ; Boston, MA ; Cincinnati, OH ; Buffalo, NY ; New York, NY ; Philadelphia, PA ; Detroit, MI ; Wilkes-Barre, PA ; Pittsburgh, PA ; Cleveland, OH ; St. Louis, MO ; New Haven, CT Search this
This collection consists of material gathered by Captain Garland Fulton, USN. Comprising 20 cubic feet, the Fulton Papers includes correspondence and memoranda regarding the U.S. Navy's LTA program from the 1920s to the beginnings of the expansion of the Navy's LTA program prior to World War II. There is also extensive material on Naval airship policy, and on defense policy between the world wars. As head of the Lighter-than-Air Design Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Fulton was an insider in the art of defense procurement and spending - his memoranda and letters provide an illuminating look into defense policy and congressional affairs between the World Wars. Of particular interest is Fulton's correspondence from his service as Inspector of Naval Aircraft during the construction of the USS Los Angeles in Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1922-1924. His correspondence with other leading figures in LTA and naval affairs - William A. Moffett, Ernest J. King, Jerome Hunsaker, Karl Arnstein, Hugo Eckener, F. W. von Meister, and Charles E. Rosendahl are an invaluable resource of the heroic period of airship development. The collection also includes technical data on airships, airship design, and naval architecture. There are many photographs, including photos documenting the construction and the first flight of the Los Angeles.
Scope and Contents:
The Garland Fulton Collection consists of material gathered by Captain Garland Fulton, USN (1890-1975), naval officer and proponent of lighter than air (LTA) flight. The collection was originally donated by Fulton's estate to the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation of Washington D.C. in 1979, and was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum as a permanent deposit in 1982. The collection was formally donated to NASM in May of 2000. Comprising 16 cubic feet, the Fulton Papers includes correspondence and memoranda regarding the US Navy's LTA program from the 1920s to the beginnings of the expansion of the Navy's LTA program prior to World War II. There is also extensive material on Naval airship policy, and on defense policy between the world wars. As head of the Lighter-Than-Air Design Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Fulton was an insider in the art of defense procurement and spending --his memoranda and letters provide an illuminating look into defense policy and congressional affairs between the World Wars. Of particular interest is Fulton's correspondence from his service as Inspector of Naval Aircraft during the construction of the USS Los Angeles in Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1922-1924. His correspondence with other leading figures in LTA and naval affairs --William A. Moffett, Ernest J. King, Jerome Hunsaker, Karl Arnstein, Hugo Eckener, F.W. von Meister, and Charles E. Rosendahl are an invaluable resource of the heroic period of airship development.
The collection also includes technical data on airships, airship design, and naval architecture. There are many photographs, including photos documenting the construction of the Los Angeles.
The collection includes books on lighter-than-air history naval history, and engineering. A number of the books have been transferred to the NASM branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries; others were transferred with the permission of the Fulton family to other institutions. Several books with personal inscriptions were retained with the collection.
The collection also includes a series of photographs of airships, including many detailing the construction and first flight of the Los Angeles.
Arrangement:
The Garland Fulton Collection is arranged in the following series:
Series I: Personal Files, Correspondence, Fulton's Writings
Subseries 1 --Biography, personal papers
Subseries 2 --Correspondence
Subseries 3 --Papers, articles, and notes by Garland Fulton
Series II: Lighter Than Air (LTA)
Subseries 1 --Navy airships; Navy LTA policy and doctrine
Subseries 2 --Civilian and foreign airships
Subseries 3 --LTA, general
Subseries 4 --LTA articles, papers and data
Subseries 5 --LTA general publications
Subseries 6 --LTA gases
Series III: Aeronautics, general
Series IV: Publications, Papers, Reports, Journals
Subseries 1 --Arranged by organization and/or individuals
Captain Garland Fulton, USN, one of the U.S. Navy's leading proponents of lighter-than-air (LTA) flight, was born in University, Mississippi on May 6, 1890. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. His roommate at the Academy was Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957), and another classmate was Donald W. Douglas, later founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company. Serving at the Academy during Fulton's career as a midshipman was Lieutenant Ernest J. King, later head of the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), 1933-1937, and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet (COMINCH) during World War II. An early advocate of naval aviation, King sparked Fulton's interest in aeronautics. Fulton graduated from the Naval Academy in 1912. Following duty with the fleet, Fulton attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying naval architecture and, under Commander (and Dr.) Jerome C. Hunsaker, aeronautical engineering. Fulton received his master's degree in 1916. Fulton entered the Naval Construction Corps in 1915, serving in the Industrial Department at the New York Navy Yard, where, during World War I, he was in charge of mounting guns on armed merchant ships. In May 1918, Fulton asked to be assigned to aeronautical engineering duties in the Aviation Section of the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair. Fulton transferred to the Bureau of Aeronautics when that organization was founded in 1921. In 1922, now a lieutenant commander, Fulton was sent to Europe to assist in the negotiations for the purchase of the "Reparations Airship" to replace the German rigid airships that had been awarded to the United States by the Versailles Treaty but were destroyed by their crews before transfer to the US. As Inspector of Naval Aircraft (INA), Fulton served at the Zeppelin works (Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin) at Friedrichshafen, Germany during the construction and flight trials of the rigid airship LZ 126. Assigned the service designation ZR-3, the airship was christened the USS Los Angeles upon its delivery to the US Navy at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ in 1924. Fulton resumed his service at the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington DC after the completion of Los Angeles. As head of the Bureau's Lighter-Than-Air Design Section until his retirement, Fulton oversaw the design and construction of the USS Akron (ZRS-4) and the USS Macon (ZRS-5), and worked actively to help further the acceptance of large airships in both the Navy and in commerce. Under Fulton's guidance, expansion of the Navy's non-rigid airship (blimp) program was initiated in the years prior to the United States' entry into World War II.
Garland Fulton retired from the Navy with the rank of captain in 1940 and joined the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia as a director. After retirement from Cramps as vice president in charge of engineering in 1947, Fulton served on several corporate boards of directors. In later years, Fulton was a frequent unofficial consultant to the Navy and industry on LTA issues. He continued to correspond with other participants of the airship age, including Admiral Thomas G.W. "Tex" Settle, Admiral C.E. Rosendahl, Commodore George H. Mills (NASM Collection 1994-0022), Jerome C. Hunsaker (NASM Collection XXXX-0001), Karl Arnstein, and F.W. "Willy" von Meister. As the dean of American airshipmen, Fulton frequently served as a source of information to airship historians like Douglas Robinson, Richard Smith, Robin Hingham, and William Althoff. Fulton wrote extensively on LTA and aeronautical history, and planned to write a history of U.S. Naval Aviation until prevented by failing health. Garland Fulton died on October 24, 1974 --the same day as his friend George Mills. They were buried on the same day in Arlington National Cemetery.
Provenance:
Naval Aviation History Foundation, Gift, 1981
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 http://airandspace.si.edu/permissions
This collection consists of 37 glass negatives, 22 glass lantern slides, and 4 transparencies depicting the life and career of Stevens, circa 1900-1915. There are also corresponding negatives and contact prints for these 63 images.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Leo Stevens (1873-1944) was an accomplished balloonist and aviation pioneer. Stevens began making ascensions when he was twelve and began manufacturing balloons and dirigibles at the age of 20. Stevens was an exhibitor in parachute, balloon, dirigible, and human cannonball shows and also was a participant in races such as the Gordon Bennett Balloon Races. Stevens flew one of the very first successful dirigibles in the United States in 1906 and opened the first private airfield in the nation in 1909. In the latter part of his career, Stevens became a flight promoter and worked with such pioneering aviators as Harry Atwood, Harry Bingham Brown, George Beatty, and Harriet Quimby. Stevens also played a key role in the development of safety features for parachutes.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Chris and Maureen Lynch, Valhalla Aerostation, Purchase, 1997, 1997-0039, Public Domain
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
This small collection consists of material relating to George C. Schnitzer, Jr. (1894-1925), Chief Radio Operator of the US Navy airship ZR-1 Shenandoah. The collection includes five letters written by Schnitzer to family and friends while aboard the Shenandoah; two newspaper clippings; and several photographs, panoramic photographs, and color post cards by photographer R. S. (Rell Sam) Clements depicting the Shenandoah and the US Navy airship ZR-3 Los Angeles at or near NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes five letters handwritten by George Conrad Schnitzer, Jr., to family and friends while aboard the USS Shenandoah, and two newspaper clippings from the Friday, September 4, 1925, edition of the Newport Herald reporting the crash of the Shenandoah and Schnitzer's death. The collection also includes six colorized post cards, nine photographs, and three panoramic photographs by photographer R. S. (Rell Sam) Clements (plus one unattributed photograph) depicting the Shenandoah and the US Navy airship ZR-3 Los Angeles at or near Naval Air Station (NAS) Lakehurst, New Jersey. The name "R. F. Schnitzer" on the backs of several of the post cards is assumed to be that of Schnitzer's brother Robert Ferns Schnitzer Sr.
Arrangement:
The material is grouped in folders by type.
Biographical / Historical:
Plans for the construction of the US Navy airship ZR-1 USS Shenandoah, the first rigid airship to be built in the United States, were begun in September 1919; her parts were manufactured at the Naval Aircraft Factory and then shipped to NAS Lakehurst for final assembly. The assembly began on February 11, 1922, and the Shenandoah was christened on October 10, 1923. Despite her relatively short life of two years, the Shenandoah achieved many firsts during her operational career. She was the first rigid airship to be inflated with helium; the first to use water recovery apparatus for the continuous recovery of ballast from the exhaust gas of fuel burned; and she completed the most extended operation accomplished by an airship up to that time, completing 57 flights, logging 740 hours in the air, and covering about 28,000 miles on flights designed to train crewmen in the science of handling large airships in naval missions. Sadly, the airship was to meet a tragic end. Before dawn on the morning of September 3, 1925, over eastern Ohio, the Shenandoah encountered a severe storm. She broke in two; the control car separated and fell to the ground while the forward section of the ship rose to a great height and remained in the air for the greater part of an hour before making a free balloon landing at Sharon, Ohio, with the bulk of the airship crashing near Ava, Ohio. Fourteen of the 43-person crew were killed.
George Conrad Schnitzer, Jr., born April 9, 1894, in Newport, Rhode Island. Schnitzer enlisted in the Navy in 1912 and served as the Chief Radio Operator of the USS Shenandoah, from which he dropped letters to friends and family as the airship was in flight over Newport. Schnitzer was killed in the crash of the Shenandoah on September 3, 1925.
Photographer R. S. (Rell Sam) Clements was born September 22, 1886, in Meade County, Kentucky. After service with the US Army, Clements worked out of the Washington, D.C. area before moving to Lakehurst, New Jersey, in the early 1920s where his skills with panoramic photography made him well-suited to capture views of the new US Navy airships based at NAS Lakehurst. Clements died on June 22, 1963, age 76.
Related Materials:
See related collection ZR-1 Shenandoah Christening Invitation, NASM.1988.0054.
The radio used by Chief Radio Operator George Schnitzer aboard the Shenandoah is now part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection: Receiver, High Frequency Radio, Experimental, Airship, Shenandoah, A19590205000.
Provenance:
George C. Schnitzer, gift, 2002, NASM.2002.0030
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
Emark Battery Div. ; Edison Storage Battery Div. ; Edison Storage Battery Co. ... See also Edison Electric Light Co. ; Edison Lamp Works of General Electric Co. ; Edison Portland Cement Co. ; Edison Electric Institute ; Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of New York ; Edison-Splitdorf Corp. ; Edison Mfg. Co. ; Edison Swan Electric Co., Ltd. ; Edison Electric Pen & Writing Agency ; Edison Phonoplex ; Edison Co. for Isolated Lighting ; Edison Phonograph Works ; A.B. Dick Co. ; General Electric ; Edison Blue Amberol ; National Phonograph Co. Search this
Notes content:
One item OVERSIZE - Music re-creation discs (unique item). Aircraft instruments ; automatic valves ; thermometers ; thermostats ; relays ; "EDiphones" electronic dictation machines ; Emark batteries ; radio receivers ; catalogs of record releases ; phonographs ; "Edison" steel alkaline storage batteries ; nickel, iron, alkaline storage batteries for industrial trucks, marine power, and light systems ; battery charge test forks ; electric safety mine lamps ; motorcycle batteries; Edison Blue Amberol records ; cylinder records ; projecting kinetoscopes
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
201 pieces; 7 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Orange, New Jersey, United States
Date range:
1800s-1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Automobiles and automotive equipment (including trucks and buses) Search this