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HUD 3123

Harvard Aeronautical Society. Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society : an inventory

Harvard University Archives

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Harvard University

©President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2008

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Harvard University Archives
Call No.: HUD 3123
Creator: Harvard Aeronautical Society
Title: Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society, 1909-1911, 1946, 1959, and 1986.
Quantity: 0.7 cubic foot (3 containers)
Abstract: The Harvard Aeronautical Society was organized on November 11, 1909. The records document the activities of this society; documents dated later than 1920 are not records created by the Society, but instead recount the history of the organization.

Note

This document last updated 2009 June 15.

Conditions on Use and Access:

The records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society are open for research.

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History of the Harvard Aeronautical Society

The Harvard Aeronautical Society was organized on November 11, 1909. Membership was open to any present or former member of Harvard University. The Society began with 250 charter members; three months later they had an active membership of 360, including undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, and faculty. Abbott Lawrence Rotch was the founding president. In 1910, the Society incorporated and became officially affiliated with the Aero Club of North America. The Society was organized as an educational and scientific institution. It established a library, sponsored lectures, featured exhibits, and hosted both international and intercollegiate aviation and glider meets. Members built their own glider and bi-plane, the latter named Harvard I. In 1910 and 1911, the Society sponsored the Harvard-Boston Aero Meet (also known as the Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet); the third Harvard-Boston Aero Meet was held in 1912. The Society was especially active between 1909-1911 and 1919-1920.
An aviation club was revived at Harvard with the establishment of the Harvard Flying Club, an organization of Harvard undergraduates founded in March 1925. It is unclear whether or not the two organizations were related.

Scope of the Collection

The Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society document its history and activities. Records include general information about the group, such as newsclippings and pamphlets. The largest part of the collection documents the Harvard-Boston Aero Meets of 1910 and 1911: these records include programs, souvenirs, and photographs. Such records document not only the early history of the Harvard Aeronautical Society, but also document the early years of international aviation; many of the programs and souvenirs include biographies and photographs of early aviators and airplanes. Documents dated later than 1920 are not records created by the Society, but instead recount the history of the organization.

Series Descriptions and Folder Lists

Acquisition Information :

The Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society were acquired through donation. The acquisitions are as follows:
  • 1910 October 29, The Society
  • 1942 March 17, Gratis
  • 1943 March 12, Gratis
  • 1972 July 19, Peter Wick, Houghton Library
  • 1972 November, Dartmouth College Archives
  • 1987 January, Crick Wight
  • Accession number: 13272; 1996 February 29

    • Processing Information:

    The Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society were first classified and described in the Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980. In November 2007, Juliana Kuipers re-processed the material. Re-processing involved integrating and reorganizing the collection, re-housing materials in the appropriate containers, establishing a series hierarchy, and creating this inventory.
    All call numbers were simplified. A list of obsolete call numbers is included in this finding aid.

    Obsolete Call Numbers

    The following list provides a map to call numbers that were made obsolete by the archivist during the 2007 re-processing. All the materials for The Records of the Harvard Aeronautical Society now fall under the single call number HUD 3123.

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