National Air and Space Museum Archives

Kite Aerial Photography [William Eddy]

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0752
Dates:
bulk 1886-1897
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.05 Cubic feet
Repository:
This collection consists of photographs relating to the work of aerial kite photography pioneer William Abner Eddy (1850 - 1909).

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a cabinet card portrait photograph of William Eddy taken in 1886; three photographs of Eddy kites made by photographer William Snell in a studio at Bayonne, New Jersey, on July 23, 1892 (featuring children Margaret D. Eddy and Henry Wood Shelton); and three 3.5 x 3.5 inch aerial kite photographs of Washington, DC, including two of the Capitol Building, taken in September 1897 by Eddy with the assistance of Edward Herbert Young, an aviation writer and member of the Aero Scientific Club of Washington, DC. Also included in the collection is a round blue cardboard badge, with string, issued to Edward Young for the Aeronautical Trials of the Wright Military Flyer held at Fort Myer, Virginia, in 1908.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Materials are arranged chronologically within a single folder.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
William Abner Eddy (January 28, 1850 - December 26, 1909) developed the diamond-shaped kite that bears his name and was a pioneer in kite aerial photography. On May 30, 1895, Eddy took the first mid-air kite photograph in the Western Hemisphere, lifting a 9 x 9 cm format camera using a train of his dihedral diamond kites.

Administration

Author
Patti Williams and Melissa A. N. Keiser
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Edward Herbert Young, Gift, 1958, XXXX.0752
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Melissa A. N. Keiser, 2018.

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
Kite Aerial Photography [William Eddy], Acc. XXXX-0752, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kites Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aerial photography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
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