Robert R. Gilruth Papers,
Scope and Content
The collection consists of Robert R. Gilruth's papers, notes, records, articles, photographs, awards, degrees, certificates, and artifacts. A majority of the collection contains professional papers from Gilruth's work in NACA and NASA, including speeches and presentations, reports, photographs, oral history transcripts, notes, and newpapersclippings, as well as certificates, awards, and artifacts. Personal materials include a typescript diary, Gilruth's 1936 M.S. Thesis, and an unpublished memoir. A small collection of books has been removed and cataloged for the Rare Book Collection at Special Collections.
Dates
- Creation: 1936 - 1989
Creator
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from Robert R. Gilruth Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Biographical Note
Robert R. Gilruth (1913-2000) was an aerospace engineer and NACA/NASA administrator. He received his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Minnesota (1935), as well as his M.S. (1936). Gilruth was also a flight research engineer for Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (1937-1945). From 1945 to 1950, he worked as chief of the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division, and assistant director (1950-58). He headed the Space Task Group for NASA (1958-61), and was charged with directing Project Mercury. From 1961 to 1972, he was the first director of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston.
The NASA website has a number of more extensive resources on Gilruth's work, including interviews and press releases, discoverable by going to the siteand searching "Gilruth."
Full Extent
6.6 Cubic Feet (6 boxes; 7 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection consists of Robert R. Gilruth's papers, notes, records, articles, photographs, awards, degrees, certificates, and artifacts from 1936-1989.
Arrangement
Materials in the collection are in their original physical order. Newspaper clippings and oversize materials were removed from boxes and are located in flat files. The contents list below shows the collection grouped by subject or material type into nine series, arranged alphabetically by series title.
Series I: Artifacts includes awards and other objects collected by or given to Gilruth during his career. Series II: Awards, Certificates, and Degrees, contains a variety of certificates marking Gilruth's achievements, degrees, and memberships to organizations. Series III: Correspondence includes primarily incoming professional letters and telegrams received by Gilruth. Series IV: Interviews and Memoirs consists of transcripts and memoirs relating to Gilruth and other aeronautics professionals. Series V: Lectures and Speeches contains texts and drafts of speeches given by Gilruth. Series VI: Newspaper Clippings includes a variety of complete newspapers and specific articles about or collected by Gilruth. Series VII: Personal Papers consists of diaries, itineraries, writings, and other personal materials. Series VIII: Photographs contains photographs of professional projects, including Gemini and Apollo missions, as well as images of colleagues and NASA locations. Series VIIII: Reports, Notes, and Professional Writings consists of writing created by Gilruth during his career, notes, research articles, and subject files.
Acquisition Information
The Robert R. Gilruth Papers were donated to Special Collections in multiple accessions during 1990 and 1994.
Separated Materials
The following books were removed to the rare book collection:
Title/Author
Spacewatch, Screening Copy/27:40 (Video Cassette)
Shaping Tomorrow, NASA-Langley 70th Anniversary, 17 July 1987 (Video Cassette)
Gemini Program, Ivan D. Ertel
This Was Air Travel, Henry R. Palmer, Jr.
10:56:20PM EDT 7/20/69, CBS News over CBS Television Network
Arizona Highways, Raymond Carlson
Men of Space, Shirley Thomas
Frontiers of Astronomy, Fred Hoyle
Model Research: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 1915-1958, Volumes 1 & 2, Alex Roland
Biomedical Results from Skylab, Richard S. Johnston and Lawrence F. Dietlein
Wind Tunnels of NASA, Donald D. Baals and William R. Corliss
The Moon Book, Bevan M. French
A Continent for Science: The Antarctic Adventure, Richard S. Lewis
Engineer in Charge, James R. Hansen
Managing NASA in the Apollo Era, Arnold S. Levine
Processing Information
An initial description of the collection was completed after the donations in the 1994. In October and November 2012, the papers were re-housed as needed, books were removed for cataloging, artifacts were moved to a new box, and a finding aid was completed.
- Title
- Robert R. Gilruth Papers, 1936-1989
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Tyler Dodson, Student Assistant, and Kira A. Dietz, Archivist
- Date
- © 2012 Virginia Tech. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu