Scope and Content Note
The papers of Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977) span the years 1796 to 1970, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the decades 1950 to 1970. A few items in the collection predate Von Braun's emigration to the United States and his postwar duties with the United States Army as part of the “Paperclip” project, but most of the papers relate to his work at the Redstone Arsenal and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. Consisting largely of office files and fan letters, the collection includes extensive public relations matter, general correspondence, an invitation file, subject files, speeches and writings, and miscellaneous printed matter. Nearly half of the papers consist of fan mail, some of it topical and scientific correspondence requiring original replies by staff members, but more of it from autograph seekers and admirers who were especially prolific following major space accomplishments. Also in the collection are bound volumes of photocopies of Von Braun's scrapbooks, 1930 to 1958, which treat the evolution of rocketry from the perspective of his V-2 research for Nazi Germany and his guided missile work for the United States Army after World War II.
Born in Wirsitz, East Prussia, in 1912, Wernher Von Braun early became interested in rocketry and pursued studies at the Berlin Technical Institute and the University of Berlin which prepared him for his career. His success as a rocket expert coincided with the technological outburst of the World War II period and the space and arms developments in the postwar period. These papers emphasize Von Braun's scientific contributions to the United States space program as well as focusing on his role as a spokesman for space exploration in competition with the Soviet Union. They portray his association with the American Rocket Society and the Gellschaft für Weltraumsforschung, his duties as chief of Guided Missile Development at Huntsville, and his directorship of NASA's Marshall Flight Center. The files most reflective of Von Braun's official responsibilities are the subject files and the general correspondence, which include letters, notes, memoranda, and such related material as technical reports, drawings, charts, and personnel forms.
Von Braun was an early advocate of space conquest and exploration whose views were carried by popular weeklies and the daily press years before the success of Sputnik imparted greater urgency to a stepped-up American space effort. Two files of more than usual interest are the subject files regarding Congress and space, and a folder entitled “A. V. Grosse Action” which contains responses to Grosse's plan for the launching of an American satellite in the mid-1950s. Also of significance are speeches which Von Braun gave before scientific, business, and other organizations. These speeches delineate his projections and later his reminiscences of the development of space science. Other important papers include manuscripts of some of Von Braun's books, his correspondence with German and American publishers, his exchanges with such former German rocket specialists as Herman Oberth, and his correspondence and memoranda concerning the major American space shots from the Explorer firings to Apollo 11.
Von Braun moved from Alabama to NASA headquarters in Washington shortly after the 1969 moon landing, and in 1972 he left government service for private industry. The latter facets of his career are not covered by the papers in this collection. Absent also are family papers and primary documentation of his work on the V-2 and his capture and impressment into the service of the United States Army.
Correspondents in this collection include Aristad V. Grosse, Donald Jackson, Robert C. Truax, Frederick C. Durant III, F. D. McHugh, Armitage Watkins, Igor Sikorsky, Fred L. Whipple, John S. Burlew, Wilbur M. Brucker, J. B. Medaris, I. M. Levitt, Willy Ley, Cornelius Ryan, Chesley Bonestell, H. H. Koelle, Heinz Gartmann, G. Loeser, K. Shuette, Jupp Gerhards, Otto Wolfgang Bechtle, D. C. Fahrney, Kenneth W. Gatland, Bert J. Slattery, Ernst Stuhlinger, Lee James, J. Preston Layton, James J. Harford, Walter R. Dornberger, A. J. Eggers, and John Sparkman.
Von Braun had considerable correspondence with leaders in the aerospace industry, including Aerojet General Corporation, Lockheed, General Dynamics, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Sperry-Rand, Douglas Aircraft, General Electric, Northrop Corporation, and International Business Machines. The bulk of the letters and memoranda, however are from NASA headquarters in Washington and from Marshall Space Flight Center.
Appended to the collection is an addition which consists mostly of speeches from the mid-1960s and fan mail from the Apollo 11 mission.