In the early 20th century, airships were seen as the ideal air transportation for carrying freight and most notably, passengers, around the world. Garland Fulton was an early advocate of lighter-than-air vehicles (LTA) for the United States Navy. During his life he studied and collected articles on airships.
Among those articles were many detailing the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, which greatly damaged public opinion about airships.
In the archival collection of Garland Fulton, held in the National Air and Space Museum Archives, he possessed articles and investigative reports about this disaster, but also had a wealth of materials about the Hindenburg when it, and the corresponding era of airships, were seen as the ideal standard for air travel. Such materials include advertising brochures, dining menus, travel schedules, and maps. The following image highlights this diverse array of archival materials.
In addition, the Garland Fulton Collection also contains folders with archival materials that focus on the two main gases used to provide lift for airships, hydrogen and helium. These gases perfectly highlight Fulton’s interest in how these two gases were used in the development of not only Zeppelins but other lighter-than-air vehicles.
A selection of pages from a report on how gases lift in balloons and airships can be viewed here.
What is most interesting about this part of the collection is the folders of information that Fulton collected on the topic of helium. This pertained to his interest around the politics of helium, specifically the mining of this gas during the 1920s and 1930s. In particular, Fulton himself was involved in a controversy when Hugo Eckener, then president of the Zeppelin Company, tried to purchase helium from the United States immediately after the destruction of the Hindenburg.
An article from “The Aeroplane” magazine about the Eckener helium controversy can be viewed here.
Besides these materials on the Eckener controversy, Fulton’s collection also contains general reports and articles on helium over the years.
First page of a bill related to the conservation, exploitation, production, and sale of helium gas.
Cover to US Department of the Interior report on helium activity and the gas’ centennial of discovery, 1968.
The materials highlighted in this blog post only show a fraction of Garland Fulton’s interest in the various aspects of lighter-than-air vehicles. Overall, Fulton’s archival collection perfectly encapsulates how the U.S. Navy was interested in the development of this branch of aeronautics during the first half of the 20th century.
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