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Lovell Lawrence, Jr. (1915-1971) was an amateur rocket experimenter in the 1930s under the American Rocket Society, of which he became president in 1946. He worked as assistant to the chief engineer of IBM from 1933 until 1941, when he joined with John Shesta, James Wyld, and Hugh Franklin Pierce to form Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI), the first US rocket propulsion company, with Lawrence as president. Lawrence left RMI in 1951 over the gradual loss of administrative and technical authority. In 1953 he joined Chrysler's Missile Division as manager of power plant design. By 1956 he was director of the Redstone project. He went on to Chrysler's Advanced Project organization, first as chief engineer (1959), then as director (1961). In 1964 he became chief research engineer for Chrysler.
NASM.XXXX.0010
Lawrence, Lovell, Jr., 1915-1971
1943-1953
Mrs. Lovell Lawrence, Jr., gift, 1972, XXXX-0010, Unknown
3.12 Linear feet
National Air and Space Museum Archives
The bulk of this collection consists of documents relating to Lawrence's work at RMI, including technical reports and administrative papers, as well as personal and business correspondence. The collection also includes some material on ARS and Lawrence's Chrysler years.
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Aeronautics
Airplanes -- Rocket engines
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Financial records