Since 1949, when the Wright papers were given to
the Library of Congress by the Orville Wright estate, the Library has
paid tribute to the Wright brothers on several occasions.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of powered flight,
a two-volume edition of The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright,
Including the Chanute-Wright Letters and Other Papers of Octave Chanute
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1953) was published under the sponsorship
of Oberlin College. The Wrights' letters, diaries, notebooks, and other
records of their scientific and technical work in inventing and perfecting
the airplane were edited at that time by Marvin W. McFarland of the
Library's Aeronautics Division.
A subsequent anniversary was observed by the Library
with the publication of Wilbur & Orville Wright: A Bibliography
Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Wilbur Wright,
April 16, 1867 (Washington: Library of Congress, 1968), listing
more than 2,000 printed and audiovisual research materials on the Wright
brothers.
Commemorating the 100th anniversary in 1971 of the
birth of Orville Wright, the Library here presents a chronology and
flight log, through which the fortunes of the Wright brothers and their
flying machines may be traced: their early trials, with little of the
encouragement of public notice; the growing interest in their work by
the time they exhibited their airplane and technique for the Army in
1908; their demonstration flights abroad in 1908 and 1909, which brought
them public acclaim and meetings with kings; their triumphant return
to the United States, with the presentation of medals by the President
and a memorable two-day homecoming celebration in Dayton; the period
of public exhibition flying; Wilbur's unexpected death from typhoid
fever; the protracted Wright patent litigation with Glenn H. Curtiss;
the sale of the Wright Company in 1915; the subsequent retirement of
Orville from public life, his lengthy controversy with the Smithsonian
Institution, and awards to him of numerous medals and honorary degrees;
and finally, the continuing tribute tendered the Wrights in anniversary
celebrations and testimonial dinners and the building and dedication
of memorials and monuments in their honor.
The nucleus of the present publication was an article
entitled "Wright Chronology," contributed by the compiler
of this work to the July 1953 issue of the aviation journal Aero
Digest, a commemorative issue marking the 50th anniversary of powered
flight by the Wright brothers. Prepared in connection with the tasks
associated with The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, it consisted
of 366 individual entries and covered the period from the birth of Wilbur
Wright on April 16, 1867, through the Wright golden anniversary celebrations
on December 17, 1953.
The present chronology comprises over 2,600 individual
entries, extending the period covered through August 19, 1971, the hundredth
anniversary of the birth of Orville Wright. The information presented
is based upon an extensive survey of the Library's unique Wright collection,
as well as other related documentary sources in the Library. One of
the primary sources for the later years was the extensive chronological
scrapbook collection maintained by the Wright brothers. Initiated by
them in 1902, when the Wrights were conducting gliding experiments at
Kitty Hawk, the scrapbooks were maintained in later years largely by
Mabel Beck, secretary to Orville for many years, who also faithfully
presided over the voluminous files and helped preserve the valuable
documents for future historians. Additions to the scrapbooks ceased
on February 29, 1948, shortly after Orville's death on January 30 of
that year. A related source was the Library's Hart O. Berg collection,
including 14 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on the Wrights.
Supplementing the main chronology is a flight log,
in which an attempt has been made to record the flights of Wilbur and
Orville from 1900, when their first gliding experiments were carried
out at Kitty Hawk, through 1918, when Orville made his last flight as
a pilot at Dayton on May 13, flying a Wright 1911 model aircraft. A
total of 21 detailed flight logs are presented. So far as is known,
no previous attempts have been made to record the Wright flights systematically.
Wright documents have served as primary sources for 12 series of flights:
1900, Orville's letter from Kitty Hawk to Katharine Wright, dated October
14; 1901, Wilbur Wright's Diary A; 1902, Orville Wright's Diary B and
Orville Wright's Notebook C; 1903, Orville Wright's Diary D; 1904, Wilbur
Wright's Diary E, 1904 - 1905; 1905, Wilbur Wright's Diary F; 1908,
Wilbur Wright's Diary T (Kitty Hawk) and Signal Corps "Log of Wright
Aeroplane" (Fort Myer, Va.); 1909, Signal Corps "Log of Wright
Aeroplane" (Fort Myer, Va.) and Orville Wright's Diary X (Tempelhof
Field, Berlin); 1910, Orville Wright's Diary Y; and 1911, Orville Wright's
Diary V.
The Wright brothers' scrapbooks and contemporary
accounts in American and European newspapers and in aviation and technical
journals were the primary sources for the remaining Wright flight logs.
No diaries or notebooks were maintained by Wilbur in France in 1908
recording his flights at the Hunaudieres Race Course and Camp d'Auvours
at Le Mans, or in 1909 at Pont-Long, at Pau, and at Centocelle Flying
Field, Rome. Nor did he keep detailed records of his flights at Governors
Island, N.Y., and at College Park, Md., in 1909. Likewise, no accurate
and detailed records survive of Orville's numerous flights at Dayton
during the period 1910 - 18. Consequently, it is exceedingly difficult
to record all flights for these periods, and no claim is made for completeness.
Furthermore, accurate time, distance, and altitude records for these
years are frequently unavailable.
A comprehensive index of persons, institutions,
and geographic names cited in the publication is provided to facilitate
use of the chronology.
The amount of pertinent material uncovered as the
preparation of the chronology progressed resulted in an enlargement
of its original scope, and consequently it was not possible to achieve
publication in the 1971 anniversary year.