There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.
To view items in this collection, use the Online Finding Aid
This collection consists of one letter, dated May 7, 1937, from Roger Laws to his wife Mildred Laws describing his experience guarding the Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg crash site at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The collection also contains a photograph of Roger Laws, in uniform, and a photograph of Mildred Laws, both taken in the 1930s and both measuring 4 by 6 inches.
The Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg belonged to the longest class of flying machines and was one of the largest airships by envelope volume. It was able to carry 50 passengers plus crew members and made many transatlantic flights which took two to three days. The Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg flew from March 1936 until May 6, 1937 when a fire at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, destroyed the airship and killed 36 people. Roger Laws was stationed aboard the USS Antares in Philadelphia at the time of the disaster. Laws was rushed along with other personnel to Lakehurst Naval Air Station to act as a guard to prevent looters from combing over the crash site.
NASM.2022.0013
Laws, Roger
1937
Daniel Bacigalupo, Gift, 2022, NASM.2022.0013, donated in honor of John Roger Laws-Bacigalupo.
0.01 Cubic feet (1 folder)
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of one letter, dated May 7, 1937, from Roger Laws to his wife Mildred Laws describing his experience guarding the Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg crash site at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The collection also contains a photograph of Roger Laws, in uniform, and a photograph of Mildred Laws, both taken in the 1930s and both measuring 4 by 6 inches.
Collection is arranged by type of material.
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.
No restrictions on access
LZ 129 Hindenburg Disaster Letter, NASM.2022.0013, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Aeronautics
Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Photographic prints