Wright Brothers Collection Scope and Content

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The Wright Brothers Collection

Wright Brothers Collection Scope and Content

In these records the history of the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright dealing not only with their achievements in powered flight but also with their personal and family background is very well described. All activities occuring both in Dayton, as well in North Carolina, Kitty Hawk, and elsewhere in the United States and Europe before and after the first flight, provide information on the brothers' intellect, self-reliance, and determination to succeed. This information is made available in:

genealogical records written by their ancestors (1832-1909);
newspapers published by Wright & Wright Printers, including Midget, by Sine & Wright (1886) West Side News, (1889-1890), The Evening Item, (1890), and many other newspapers and newspaper clippings up to the present time;
journals, including Snap Shots at Current Events (1886), and many other aeronautical journals;
correspondence mostly on microfilm, including correspondence of their ancestors (1814-1916), and diaries, including Milton Wright's diary in microfilm form (1852-1857);
scrapbooks compiled by Wilbur and Orville Wright as well as by Dayton Collection Librarians;
photographs taken by the family as well as others, in the United States and abroad; most of the photographs are in microfiche form; postcards are also included in this collection;
many technical reports and aeronautical papers written by the brothers as well as other aviation pioneers;
programs celebrating their innovations in aviation;
rare and valuable books pertaining to aviation as well as books written by Daytonians on the subject.

The importance of this collection lies in the following:

it describes the progress of aviation throught the world and its impact on people's lives in peace and war;
it illustrates the Wright brothers' contributions to aeronautics;
it gives a good picture of the personalities and inventive genius of both of the brothers.

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