Collecting Aerospace History

The Huntington has been awarded a $367,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to archive the history of the aerospace industry in Southern California.

The grant provides The Huntington with funding for two years to collect original documentary materials and oral histories and make them accessible for researchers. It is a project of the Huntington/USC Institute on California and the West (ICW), a research collaboration between The Huntington and USC’s College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.

“The aerospace industry was born in Southern California and provided tremendous thrust to this economy throughout much of the last century,” said Steven S. Koblik, Huntington president. “To study it is to understand how the world’s sixth largest economy came to be. Taken as a whole, the emergence of aerospace, its dominance, and then its decline in the region is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of Southern California. In fact, Southern California as we know it would not exist without aerospace.”  Full story...
 

Tail section of Constitution aircraft under construction, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, 1946. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Amelia Earhart in Vega cockpit, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1930. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Amelia Earhart on factory floor, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1930. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Workers with aircraft fuselage, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1930s. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Woman working with wiring bundles, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, 1956. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

PV-1, row of engines, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1940s. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Parts listing coordination room,  Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1940s. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Employee shift change, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, ca. 1940s. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

High school aerospace worker, Lockheed Aircraft Co., Burbank, 1943. Harvey Christen collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.