Scope and Content Note
The papers of Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948) span the years 1809 through 1979, with the bulk of the material dating from 1900 to 1948. The papers document the lives and work of the brothers who designed, built, and piloted the first machine to achieve powered, sustained flight in 1903 and the first practical airplane in 1905. The papers are primarily in English but include material in French and German as well. They are organized in the following eight series: Diaries and Notebooks, Family Papers, General Correspondence, Subject File, Scrapbooks, Marvin W. McFarland File, 2019 Addition, and Oversize.
The Diaries and Notebooks are among the most significant of the Wright material. Orville Wright's entry for 17 December 1903 gives an account of the first successful powered flights. The diaries describe the brothers' flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and their scientific experiments and include entries and financial notes on their 1907 trip to Europe, Wilbur Wright's trip abroad in 1908, and Orville Wright's European tour of 1913. Another group of entries refers to their flights at College Park, Maryland, in 1909 and at Montgomery, Alabama, in 1910, where the Wrights conducted flight training. Apart from the biographical information which they contain, the logs are also significant for the scientific data, formulas, and computations related to the aerodynamic and design factors which enabled the Wright brothers to produce a successful airplane where others had failed.
The Family Papers series consists primarily of correspondence between Wright family members. Most of the letters are from Orville and Wilbur Wright, their only sister, Katharine, and their father, Milton Wright, a bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Other letters are written by two older brothers, Lorin and Reuchlin. Letters from Wilbur and Orville Wright to their sister and father provide details of their thoughts and activities while they were conducting aeronautical experiments at Kitty Hawk or making flight demonstrations in Europe. The letters and coded cables exchanged between Orville and Wilbur while one was in Europe and the other in the United States document their concerns as they conducted contract negotiations for the sale of the Wright flyer. Letters from Katharine Wright in the fall of 1908 describe the aftermath of Orville's accident in Fort Myer, Virginia, and his recovery from serious injuries. The correspondence between the siblings possesses a light and humorous element that is usually less evident in their correspondence with others. Additional items in this series include the wills of Orville and Wilbur Wright, printed matter relating to Milton Wright and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, notes made by Lorin Wright on a trip to Hammondsport, New York, in 1915, and genealogical notes.
The largest series is the General Correspondence comprising letters exchanged with the general public, pioneer aviators, business associates, and many world notables. A group of correspondence relating to the Wrights' aeronautical experimentation includes letters from the American engineer and aeronautical pioneer Octave Chanute. Replies to Chanute's letters, mainly written by Wilbur Wright, are located in the Manuscript Division's collection of Chanute Papers. This exchange of letters begins with Wilbur Wright's prophetic statement of 13 May 1900, "for some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man." The letters, with their discussions of the unresolved scientific and philosophic problems posed by manned flight, indicate a shared dedication to a common goal.
The largest group of correspondence in the series is with Griffith Brewer, a lifelong friend and supporter and the first Englishman to fly. Further correspondence with Brewer is located in the foreign business section of the Subject File. Among the Wrights' business contacts was Hart O. Berg, an agent with Flint & Company who helped promote and sell the Wright flier in Europe. Berg also figures prominently in the foreign business section of the Subject File. Attorneys who assisted the Wrights include Harry A. Toulmin, who procured the basic patent for the Wright brothers' invention of the airplane, and Pliny W. Williamson. Individuals involved in the American Wright Company include aeronautical engineer Grover Loening and Roy Knabenshue, who managed the Wrights' exhibition department. Other correspondents include Henry Harley Arnold, Robert J. Collier, Earl N. Findley, Benjamin Delahauf Foulois, Fred C. Kelly, Frank Purdy Lahm, Charles A. Lindbergh, Glenn L. Martin, Charles Stewart Rolls, George A. Spratt, and Paul Tissandier. Correspondence with the Smithsonian Institution begins with the Wrights' initial request for information on aeronautics in 1899 and extends through Orville's lengthy dispute with the Smithsonian over whether Samuel P. Langley had created an aircraft capable of flight prior to the Wright brothers' flight in December 1903. As a result of this dispute Orville Wright lent the 1903 Wright flying machine to the Science Museum in London in 1928, and it was not installed in the Smithsonian Institution until after his death in 1948. Additional information on the controversy appears in the Subject File.
Among the topics in the extensive Subject File are the Wrights' business ventures and patent negotiations in the United States and such nations as France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Russia, and Japan. Foreign business files pertain to the work done by the Wrights' European business representatives at Flint and Company as well as their overseas patent agents, Brewer and Son and Thierry Brothers. Other folders in this section focus on the companies established in Great Britain, France, and Germany to produce and sell Wright aircraft. Files on the Wright Company, established in the United States in late 1909, include contracts for appearances at air shows by the Wright exhibition team and promotional brochures for the Wright Flyer and the Wright Company School of Aviation. United States War Department files cover the sale of the Wrights' airplane to the United States Army and their work with the Signal Corps.
A patents section contains files relating to patents obtained by the Wrights in the United States and abroad as well as airplane patents by others. As the airplane came into more general use, numerous instances of unauthorized application of features the Wrights had patented came to their attention. The Subject File includes legal papers relating to their lawsuits and patent claims. Of the various cases in which the Wrights were involved, both in Europe and the United States, the records of the Wright Co. v. Curtiss Aeroplane Co. and Wright Co. v. Herring-Curtiss Co. are the most extensive.
Other subject files include journals and ledgers from the Wright & Wright printing shop and the Wright Cycle Company; records of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, on which Orville Wright served for over twenty years; printed matter relating to the Wright brothers and aviation in general; and writings by Wilbur and Orville Wright.
A series of scrapbooks contains newspaper and magazine articles relating to flights and other activities of the Wrights beginning in 1902 when they were conducting glider experiments at Kitty Hawk. Printed matter concerning other members of the family and many of their prominent friends is included. The scrapbooks also contain memorabilia such as cartoons, guest badges, posters, telegrams, and autographed testimonial dinner programs. The subject most fully documented is the Wright's controversy with the Smithsonian Institution. There are also a number of rare aero-philatelic items and mementos pertaining to honorary degrees and other tributes.
The Marvin W. McFarland File was not part of the original gift of papers but was generated by the publication of Wright material. It consists of typescripts, research material, and photographs collected for The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, edited by McFarland and published in two volumes by McGraw-Hill Book Co. in 1953. The book includes correspondence and extracts from the diaries and notebooks contained in the Wright brothers' papers. Transcripts record Bishop Milton Wright's diaries,1901-1907, which are not included in the Wright papers.
The 2019 Addition contains several items, including correspondence with H. S. Molineu regarding the test flight of the Signal Corps No. 1 aeroplane made on July 30, 1909, a letter to United States Senator Hiram Bingham from Orville Wright concerning the appointment of a custodian of the Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawk, N.C., and an award from the L'Academie des Sports presented to steam car pioneer Amédée Bollée.