National Air and Space Museum Archives

Rand History Project Interviews

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.1999.0037
Creators:
Collins, Martin
Dates:
1985-1990
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2.35 Cubic feet
12 boxes
Repository:
The Rand History Project Interviews constitute one of several oral history projects conducted within the National Air and Space Musuem's Department of Space History. The principal investigator for this project was Martin Collins and the following individuals were interviewed: Bruno Augenstein, Robert Bacher (with Lee DuBridge), Edward Barlow, Robert Belzer, Paul Blasingame, Edward Bowles, Frank Collbohm, Merton Davies, Richard Frick, Lawrence Henderson, Charles Hitch, Amrom Katz, Scott King, Burt Klein, David Novick, Malcolm Palmatier, Ernst Plessett, Edward Quade, Arthur Raymond, Ben Rumph, Robert Salter, Bernard Schriever, Gustave Shubert, Robert Specht, Hans Speier, George Tanham, Crawford Thompson, and Albert Wohlstetter.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of the compact audio cassettes and transcripts for the Rand History Project interviews, which is a dual institutional study of the RAND Corporation and its military sponsor, the Air Force. This collection covers the period 1945 though the early 1960s and consists of 104 hours of interviews with 29 individuals. The RAND interviews were conceived as another angle of inquiry on the relations between expert knowledge and the military in the early Cold War. RAND drew together engineers, scientists, and mathematicians whose specialties were oriented toward military hardware design and the physical sciences and sociologists, political scientists, economists, psychologists, and other social science and humanities specialists. All were organized within a single institution to study the problem of warfare in the cold War, especially from the perspective of the Air Force.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The RAND History Project Interviews are arranged alphabetically by interviewee. Series I (boxes 1-9) contains interviews on audio cassette tapes. Series II (boxes 10-12) contains the transcripts.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
This collection contains the interviews for the RAND History Project Interviews. These interviews explore the non-profit research firm's efforts to study the various problems of U.S. national security during the Cold War, in particular, from the perspective of the U.S. Air force (USAF). RAND brought together physical scientists, political scientists, sociologists, engineers and mathematicians and organized them within this single institution to pursue such research efforts. The RAND Project constitutes one of a number of oral history endeavors conducted by the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) Department of Space History. The principal (though, by no means the only) interviewer for this project was Martin Collins, and the interview set consists of 104 hours of interviews with 38 individuals. The following people were interviewed for this project: Bruno Augenstein, Robert Bacher (with Lee DuBridge), Edward Barlow, Robert Belzer, Paul Blasingame, Edward Bowles, Charles Carey, Frank Collbohm, Merton Davies, Robert Davis, James Digby, Gene Fisher, Richard Frick, Olaf Helmer, Lawrence Henderson, Charles Hitch, Victor Jackson, Amrom Katz, Scott King, Burt Klein, Charles Lindblom, Hugh Miser, David Novick, Malcolm Palmatier, Ernst Plessett, Edward Quade, Arthur Raymond, Ben Rumph, Robert Salter, Bernard Schriever, Lloyd Shapley, Gustave Shubert, Robert Specht, Hans Speier, George Tanham, Crawford Thompson, and Albert Wohlstetter.

Administration

Author
Mark Kahn
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Department of Space History, NASM, Transfer, 1999, NASM.1999.0037, Varies.
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Mark Kahn, 2007.
Encoded by Amanda Buel, 2014.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
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.
Preferred Citation
Rand History Project Interviews, Acc. NASM.1999.0037, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Similar materials, specifically a series of videohistories on the same topic, are housed in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in the The Research and Development (RAND) Corporation Interviews, local collection number SIA 9536.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Military art and science Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Military Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics and state Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautical engineers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics designers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cold War Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Salter, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schriever, Bernard Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shubert, Gustave H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Specht, Robert D. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Quade, Edward Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Raymond, Arthur Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rumph, Ben Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wohlstetter, Albert. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rand Corporation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Speier, Hans. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tanham, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thompson, Crawford Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Air Force Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davies, Merton E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Frick, Richard Henry, 1916- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bowles, Edward Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blasingame, Paul Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collins, Martin Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collbohm, Frank Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Novick, David Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Klein, Burton H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plessett, Ernst Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Palmatier, Malcolm Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hitch, Charles Johnston Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Henderson, Lawrence Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
King, Scott Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Katz, Amron H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barlow, Edward J. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Belzer, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Augenstein, Bruno W. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu