Browse Items · UAH Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kKJDkHGcr9g/default.jpg

Dr. Charles Lundquist (Space History Interviews)

Interview by David Christensen on February 10, 2005

Transplanted Rocket Pioneers.

The information in this dataset is reproduced from Charles Lundquist's 2014 monograph Transplanted Rocket Pioneers. The information includes biographical and professional information that he compiled to produce the book. Each individual represented in the dataset also has a vertical file in the Lundquist Collection at UAH.

Transplanted Rocket Pioneers is a recognition of the early members of the von Braun rocket team, many of whom were key players in the successful moon landing. Many historians conclude that the lunar missions of the Apollo Program could not have been possible without the leadership and experience provided by a corps of engineers, scientists and managers transplanted from Europe to the Unites States after World War II. This fact motivated Dr. Lundquist to deposit this work in the Archives of the Library at the University of Alabama in Huntsville by assembling a file on each of the individuals who came from Europe to participate in the rocketry activities in Huntsville, or, in a few cases, individuals who had other ties to Huntsville.

This dataset includes a standard one-page summary sheet for each subject. Although most sheets are relatively complete, some data are still missing.

The first two lines on each page records fundamental identification information:

Family name Date of birth Place of birth Given names Date of death Place of death

The next standard entry is a statement of the extent of the Archives Holdings, either i) A primary collection of documents housed in one or more banker boxes, usually a separate individual collection ii) A secondary collection in a standard archive box, or iii) a file folder. Next, if there is an oral or video history for the individual, this fact is noted. A statement about the highest education levels of the individual follows. The next five entries, in chronological order, record whether the individual participated in activities at five sites:

1. Raketenflugplatz-Kummersdorf: Individuals engaged in the activities at these sites of early rocket development experiments sponsored first by VfR and subsequently by the German Army.

2. Peenemünde: Included here are individuals who participated in Peenemünde programs under several auspices, including as Army civilian employees, as members of the German military, as contractor employees on site or visiting as needed, and as university employees collaborating as required.

3. Fort Bliss: Individuals who were brought to Fort Bliss from 1945 to 1950.

4. GMDD-ABMA: Individuals who came to Huntsville, Alabama to work for the US Army rocket programs in the decade 1950 to 1960.

5th MSFC: Individuals who were employed by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s.

Some people had various relationships with UAH and that is so noted. Additionally, a statement of immigration details is noted if pertinent. Finally, a great variety of incidental information is included under Incidental Remarks.

UAH Special Collections welcomes additions of biographical materials to the vertical file in the Charles Lundquist Collection. Please note that the work is that of Dr. Lundquist and may contain errors or omissions which are solely the product of his work on the project, as noted in the introduction of the work.: " Finally, it is pertinent to note that any document containing large files will surely have some mistakes or omission. Any errors are the responsibility of the author alone." As was the wish of Dr. Lundquist, we will strive to make factual corrections to the online copy when necessary.

Wernher von Braun presents an Award of Achievement to Jean Drake at the 1969 MSFC employee picnic.

Drake worked in the Safety Office. Lois Smith is shown seated at left.

Wernher and Maria von Braun claim a table with son Peter at the 1969 MSFC employee picnic.

Wernher von Braun with daughter Margrit and son Peter in the crowd at the 1969 MSFC employee picnic.

MSFC Director of Administration and Technical Services David H. Newby is shown in the foreground.

Space Shuttle Atlantis float on campus at UAH.

The float was made by Marshall Space Flight Center. Von Braun Research Hall can be seen in the background. The photo likely dates from the 1980s or early 1990s, when the NASA worm logo was still in use, as seen on the sides of the float.

President John F. Kennedy being interviewed by a reporter while MSFC director Wernher von Braun looks on.

Kennedy visited Huntsville for a second time on Armed Forces Day 1963. His first visit occurred on September 11, 1962.

President John F. Kennedy visits Marshall Space Flight Center.

Shown in the photograph, left to right: President John F. Kennedy, Robert C. Seamans, Wernher von Braun, James E. Webb, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert S. McNamara, Jerome D. Wiesner, and Harold Brown.

Ivo Sparkman, Jim Daniels.

Short phone call where Bob Ward inquires about Ivo Sparkman's husband, Senator John Sparkman, and his relationship with President Roosevelt. Side 1 to 3:00 mark.

Browse Items (96 total)