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Summary

This collection consists of items sent from Jeannette Piccard to National Air and Space Museum curator Claudia Oakes about her 1934 flight.

Biographical / Historical

Jeannette Piccard (1895 - 1981) was the first women to reach the stratosphere. Piccard earned her balloon license in the summer of 1934, and on October 23rd of that year she, along with her husband Jean Piccard, lifted off in their balloon, A Century of Progress. Jeannette Piccard piloted the balloon to a height of 57,979 feet, while Jean Piccard was the scientific observer. With this flight Jeannette Piccard became the holder of the women's altitude record; she held this record until Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's space flight in 1963.

Identifier

NASM.2019.0045

Creator

Piccard, Jeanette.

Date

1979

1930s

Provenance

Jeannette Piccard, Gift, 1979, NASM.2019.0045

Extent

0.01 Cubic feet (One legal folder.)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the following: a 1979 letter from Jeannette Piccard to National Air and Space Museum curator Claudia Oakes, about her flight; a four page description by Piccard about the October 23, 1934 flight; a copy of a page of the flight log; and copy negatives and prints of 13 images, presumably lent by Piccard to the Museum for copying.

Arrangement note

No arrangement.

Rights

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.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Jeannette Piccard Documents and Copy Prints, NASM.2019.0045, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics

Ballooning

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Copy prints

Correspondence