The Paul E. Garber Collection documents Paul Edward Garber's life, both personal and professional, prior to and during his 72-year tenure at the National Air and Space Museum.

These records document the history of the Department of Aeronautics from 1966-1986, a period marked by intensive planning for the new museum, its construction and opening in July 1976, and the emergence of the National Air and Space Museum as a large and important bureau of the Smithsonian and the most visited museum in the world. At the begi...

Carl Myers (1842-1925) was a meteorologist, photographer and balloonist. In 1875, Myers and his wife Mary ("Carlotta, Queen of the Air") began experimenting with balloons and made their first ascensions in 1880. Myers constructed and flew a variety of balloons and airships, and worked on the following technical advances: he developed a varnishing machine for producing fabrics impervious to hydrogen gas; he produced a portable system for generating hydrogen gas; he patented an apparatus for guiding balloons; and he made the first balloon ascension using natural gas as the lifting medium. Myers manufactured balloons for the U.S. Weather Bureau's rainmaking experiments and also supplied the United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) with twenty-one balloons for use in Spanish American War. Myers retired in 1910. The collection consists of 91 images of the following: balloons, airships, and aeronautical gear in various stages of construction and flight; interior and exterior views of the Carl Myers Balloon Farm; and a number of portraits taken of the family and visitors, including Thomas C. Benbow, a noted pioneering aeronaut. It also contains correspondence written by Myers to Professor Henry Allen (H.A.) Hazen, a meteorologist connected with the United States Signal Office, and one letter to George E. Curtis, head of the U.S. Weather Bureau.

Hans Groenhoff (1906-1985) was a celebrated American aviation photographer from the 1930s through the 1960s, also working as a pilot, journalist, editor, correspondent, and—in his retirement years—as an aviation tourism publicist for the Bahamas. This collection of 25,550 images consists of Groenhoff's collection of negatives and transparencies, spanning his career from 1933 to 1975.

These records consist primarily of Special Events files. Also included is a small amount of administrative material and records of the annual Frisbee Festival, 1977-1983. Other Frisbee Festival materials can be found throughout the collection.

This 19th and 20th century ballooning memorabilia collection contains the following items, which have been meticulously inventoried: 112 stereoscopic photographs; 107 photographs; 84 postcards, trade cards, valentines, and similar items; 80 prints; and 23 miscellaneous items.

This collection includes information about Samuel P. Langley and his colleagues, as well as documentation of Langley's work. The collection includes biographies of Langley and his assistant Charles Manly, newspaper clippings, correspondence, manuscripts regarding Langley's aircraft, photographs and drawings, work requisitions for the Aerodromes, a sketchbook, specifications and measurements for Langley's experiments, the Langley Memoirs on Mechanical Flight and the Langley "Waste Books."

The Smithsonian Videohistory Program, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 1986 until 1992, used video in historical research. Additional collections have been added since the grant project ended. Videohistory uses the video camera as a historical research tool to record moving visual information. Video works best in historical r...

Farouk El-Baz (1938- ) was born in Zagazig, Egypt. He received a B.S. in Chemistry and Geology in 1958 from Ain Shams University, Cairo. In 1960 he came to the United States, where he earned an M.S. in geology at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1961 and a Ph.D. in geology at the University of Missouri in 1964. After teaching ...

This record unit traces the operation of the Smithsonian from 1925 to 1949. It contains records from the last years of Secretary Charles D. Walcott's administration, perhaps most notably the ambitious but abortive fund raising campaign to add $10,000,000.00 to the Smithsonian's endowment. The Depression and consequent cut-backs in government ...