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The third Secretary of the Smithsonian, Samuel Langley, held a strong interest in aeronautics, astrophysics and astronomy. It is not surprising then that during Langley's 1887-1906 tenure the Institution began a concentrated effort to start collecting material on these subjects. The growing aviation collection was housed in different locations within the Smithsonian complex until 1946, when The National Air Museum (NAM) was created as a separate bureau of the Smithsonian Institution by Act of Congress, Public Law 722. Twenty years later the Museum's name was changed to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) to reflect the need to document space topics.

 Identifier

NASM.XXXX.0379

Creator

Arnold, Henry Harley, 1886-1950

Date

1932-1946

Provenance

No donor information, gift, unknown, XXXX-0379, unknown

Extent

0.2 Cubic feet ((4 folders))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 'Report on the Status of Aircraft Museums, 1932,' and correspondence (mostly copies) sent to General Henry 'Hap' Arnold discussing the establishment of a National Air Museum (1945-1946).

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

Topics

Military museums

Aeronautics

Astronautics

Aeronautics, Commercial

Aeronautics, Military

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Publications