January 2020 Auction Ends Thursday, January 30th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/30/2020
Fascinating letter signed by Orville Wright, defending the Wright brothers' legacy as the inventors of human flight. Dated 28 February 1928 on his personal letterhead, Orville Wright here writes to Senator Hiram Bingham III, a pilot who wanted to construct a memorial for the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Wright objects to the Kitty Hawk location, believing instead that he needs to reach ''the university man; the man who writes history'', rather than the ''tourist'', since the Smithsonian Institution was, according to Wright, waging a campaign of disinformation at the time. The Smithsonian had previously been headed by Samuel Langley, an aviation pioneer who fancied himself the inventor of human flight with his ''Langley Aerodrome'', and Orville Wright believed that the Smithsonian was using its influence to further Langley's reputation at the expense of the Wright brothers.
Letter reads in part, ''I have given your letter of the 22nd careful consideration. I have discussed with a number of my friends, in whose judgement I have confidence, the proposal of placing the Kitty Hawk machine in a museum at Kitty Hawk. Not one of them has thought Kitty Hawk the place for it.
It is not my purpose to try to reach the tourist. I am trying to bring the facts to the university man; the man who writes history. The Smithsonian campaign of propaganda has been addressed almost altogether to these people. The influence on public opinion will be as great from the machine be it in the Science Museum of Great Britain as it would be from being in the Smithsonian; but of course from national pride I would much rather have had it in the latter.
America is not the only place the Smithsonian has spread its propaganda. Evidently you are not aware of the extent to which this has been broadcast. NATURE and DISCOVERY, supposed to be scientific publications, both published the interpolated quotation in the 1910 Smithsonian Report. Then DISCOVERY adds: 'It was by following the scientific guidance of Langley and using mechanical ingenuity to extend it, that they (Wrights) were able to give practical effect to the desire of man to rise above the clouds'.
You, no doubt, are already aware of the movement here in Dayton to erect a memorial building to house the Kitty Hawk machine. This has been talked of for several years; but I have given no encouragement to it. Yet in giving consideration to the proposal to put the machine at Kitty Hawk I have had to consider this one also. I do not favor either proposal, but I think you will see that the Dayton proposition would be at least as important and Dayton as suitable a place as Kitty Hawk, since the machine was designed and built in Dayton, and only the assembling and testing took place at Kitty Hawk...[signed] Orville Wright''.
Two page letter on two sheets measures 7.25'' x 10.5''. Folds, else near fine condition.
Orville Wright Letter Signed Regarding ''...placing the Kitty Hawk machine in a museum...I would much rather have had it in...[The Smithsonian]...and Dayton as suitable a place as Kitty Hawk...''
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