National Air and Space Museum Archives

Richard Porter Papers

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.1997.0037
Creators:
Porter, Richard W. (Richard William), 1913-1996
Dates:
circa 1930s-1980
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
6.54 Cubic feet
6 records center boxes
Repository:
This collection consists of six feet of material documenting Porter's many scientific contributions. The following types of material are included: photographs, lecture notes, correspondence, trip notes, newspaper clippings, symposium programs, papers, and periodicals, circa 1930s-1980s.

Scope and Content

Scope and Content
The Richard Porter Collection reflects Porter's career as an electrical engineer, rocketry expert, and a corporate manager and consultant. Almost the entirety of this collection consists of materials related to his professional work. This includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, notes, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, newsletters, papers, articles, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous materials (directories, mailing lists, transcript, etc.), as well as a scrapbook. It is worth singling out a few of the aforementioned materials for their particular historical significance pertaining to the development of rocketry and space exploration. Some of the correspondence, memoranda and notes reveal the inner workings of Operation Paperclip: the U.S. plan to seek out, debrief, recruit and evacuate German rocket scientists from war-torn Germany to America. Additionally, other examples of correspondence and notes give candid appraisals of some key figures in the aerospace field, as well as to illustrate exchanges between Porter and such scientific luminaries as Carl Sagan, Wernher von Braun, Simon Ramo, Holger Toftoy, Fred Durant III, Edith Goddard and Clyde Tombaugh.
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title and then chronologically.
The reader should note that the Porter Collection was exposed to a fire in Porter's office sometime during the late 1970s. The fire, along with the subsequent dousing of water from the firefighters, destroyed much of this collection. All that remained are the materials described here. While the surviving materials generally suffered only minor damage (mainly to their original folders), scorch marks can be occasionally observed on some correspondence, speeches, reports, etc.. More serious problems exist with seven folders containing photographs. For conservation purposes, they have been separated from the rest of the photographs in this collection and are currently unavailable to researchers.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
As an established authority on rockets, GE placed Porter in overall charge of the company's guided missiles department in 1953. By the mid-1950s, his great knowledge in this field also lead to a position as head of a panel of scientists tasked with developing a U.S. space program in time for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. On February 1, 1958, Porter was given the honor of announcing to reporters that the U.S. had launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, the previous night. The booster employed for this endeavor, an Army Jupiter-C, was designed and built mainly by the German rocket scientists (including their leader, Wernher von Braun) Porter helped to bring to America thirteen years earlier. By this time, GE assigned him as a company-wide consultant. Besides serving as leader of the U.S. IGY effort, he also served on many other boards and panels such as the International Relations Committee of the Space Sciences Board, U.S. National Academy of Science, the U.S. Academy in the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the U.S. delegation for the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. During his long career in engineering and aerospace development, Porter was also the recipient of numerous honors and awards. These included the Coffin Award, Goddard Award and the Scientific Achievement Award given by Yale University.
Aside from his career, Porter had a busy personal life. In 1946, he married Edith Wharton Kelly. The couple had two daughters and a son. Porter enjoyed horticulture -- especially growing orchids, as well as skiing and playing the clarinet. He died on October 6, 1996 at the age of 83.

Administration

Author
Mark Kahn
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Susan Porter Beffel and Thomas Andrew Porter, Gift, 1997, 1997-0037, NASM
Processing Information
Processed by Mark Kahn, 2005.
Encoded by Rena Schergen, February 2012.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
No restrictions on access

More Information

General note

General note
Dr. Porter had a fire that destroyed most of his papers. These six boxes are all that remain.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Notes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Programs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
V-2 rocket Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Launch complexes (Astronautics) -- White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics and state Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rockets (Aeronautics) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rocketry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
International Council of Scientific Unions. Committee on Space Research. United States Academy Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
General Electric Company Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
General Electric Company. Guided Missiles Department Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Project Hermes Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Space Sciences Board. International Relations Committee Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Porter, Richard W. (Richard William), 1913-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. Earth Satellite Program. Technical Panel Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Von Braun, Wernher, 1912-1977 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United Nations. Committe on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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