Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection Archive
National Air and Space Archives
National Anthropological Archives
National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Research & Scholars Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
The U.S. Army's first powered aircraft — Signal Corps No. 1, a
dirigible designed and built by Thomas Baldwin — in flight over
Fort Myer, VA. August,
1908. Photo by Carl H. Claudy (SI 7A45593).
Mailing
Address (both locations)
National Air and Space Museum Archives Division
Smithsonian Institution
MRC 322
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Mall
location
6th & Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20560
202.633.2320
202.786.2835 fax
www.nasm.si.edu/research/
arch/
Hours
Tuesday
–
Friday
10am to 4:30pm
Appointment Required
Metro
Stop: Smithsonian
or L'Enfant Plaza
Paul
E. Garber Preservation & Restoration Facility
3904 Old Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746
Hours
Appointment Required
Metro Stop: Suitland
The National Air and Space Museum Archives Division acquires for public and curatorial use materials
documenting the history of air and space flight. These documentary materials
include a wide range of visual and textual materials, many emphasizing
the technical aspects of air and space craft and their propulsion systems.
The archival collection contains approximately 12,000 cubic feet of material
including an estimated 2 million photographs, 700,000 feet of motion
picture film, and 2 million technical drawings. Researchers are encouraged
to inquire initially by mail or email to determine availability of materials pertinent
to their interests. Most materials, except those restricted by copyright
and those items that might be damaged by copying, may be duplicated for
a fee.
Highlights: The archives holds more than five hundred collections and
many other accessions too small to be treated as collections. Personal
and professional papers document the professional activities of their
creators as well as personal matters. Corporate and organizational records
reflect the activities of those entities. Artificial collections compiled
by someone other than the creator consist of documentary materials gathered
from a number of sources to form reference files around one or more topics.
Descriptions of many of these collections are available to the public
at www.siris.si.edu. Finding aids
to some recently processed collections are available at
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/
Collections_Index.cfm.
Most of these collections are housed at the Paul E. Garber Facility in
Suitland, MD.
A major attribute of these collections is their visual representation
of air and space craft through photographs and technical drawings. The
latter vary from three-view drawings to detailed engineering plans, many
of which are on microfilm. The Archives also holds many technical manuals
that document the design, construction, and performance of air and space
craft and the engines that powered them. These documents assist aircraft
restorers and modelers as well as historians of technology.
The NASM Technical Files located in the Museum on the Mall contain 1,300
cubic feet of aviation and space-related materials arranged as vertical
files. The files are organized by subject in twenty-two series and include
photographs, press releases, clippings, correspondence, reports, brochures,
and many other materials on individuals, organizations, events, and airplanes
and space craft.
The archival film and videotape collection consists of approximately 20,000
titles. Copies of these films and tapes are generally available for a
fee. Reference service in the film and video collection is also subject
to a fee.