National Air and Space Museum Archives

Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.1997.0034
Creators:
DeVorkin, David H., 1944-
Dates:
circa 1930s-1960s
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.35 Cubic feet
3 legal document boxes
1.26 Linear feet
Repository:
This collection consists of the photographs used in
Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America
and collected by David DeVorkin for research. It also includes a few engineering drawings of balloon gondolas.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
David DeVorkin, a Space History Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, completed
Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America
in 1989. The book traces the history of manned scientific ballooning from the 1930's to the 1960's, beginning with the flights of Auguste Piccard, and proceeding through the manned flights by the Army Air Corps, up to the Apollo Space Missions.
This collection consists of the photographs used in the book and collected by David DeVorkin for research. The collection is organized by chapter. There are also a few engineering drawings of the gondola of balloons.
There are three series in this collection. Series 1 consists of the photographs actually used in the book, arranged by chapter. Series 2 consists of photographs collected for research by David DeVorkin, but not used in the book. They are arranged by chapter. Series 3 consists of two subseries: Miscellaneous and Duplicate Photographs, and Science Service Photographs.
There is one appendix to this collection. It is a list of all the Smithsonian Institution negative numbers from all the images that David DeVorkin used that came from the National Air and Space Museum's collections.

Arrangement

Arrangement
There are three series in this collection. Series 1 consists of the photographs actually used in the book; it is arranged by chapter. Series 2 consists of photographs collected for research by David DeVorkin, but not used in the book; it is arranged by chapter. Series 3 consists of two subseries: Miscellaneous and Duplicate Photographs and Science Service Photographs.
There is one appendix to this collection. It is a list of all Smithsonian Institution negative numbers from all images that David DeVorkin used that came from the National Air and Space Museum's collections.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
David DeVorkin, a curator of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum, completed
Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America
in 1989. The book traces the history of manned scientific ballooning, beginning with the flights of Auguste Piccard, and proceeding through the manned flights by the Army Air Corps, up to the Apollo Space Missions.

Administration

Author
Meghan Cummings
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Meghan Cummings, 1997.
Encoded by Amanda Buel, 2014.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
David DeVorkin, Transfer, 1997

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions Governing Access note
No restrictions on access.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airships Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America Title Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Balloons Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scientific apparatus and instruments Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DeVorkin, David H., 1944- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
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