UAH Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives

Browse Items (215 total)

  • spc_nick_000530_000531.pdf

    Handwritten notes regarding the Nickerson case. These include lists of various aspects related to Nickerson and other witnesses including Dr. von Braun and Dr. Stuhlinger.
  • spc_nick_000532_000535.pdf

    These notes contain detailed information about Dr. Ernest Stuhlinger including his background, experience, training, knowledge of John C. Nickerson, Jr., his thoughts on the Wilson Memo, and the Jupiter missile program.
  • spc_nick_000536_000536.pdf

    Various handwritten notes on aspects of the Nickerson trial including published news articles, the Jupiter missile and army ballistic missile agency, and statements made by Dr. von Braun.
  • spc_nick_000537_000540.pdf

    These notes related to Dr. Wernher von Braun's testimony and knowledge of the situation surrounding Colonel Nickerson. It also includes factual information on the missile program and its switch from Army control to Air Force control.
  • spc_nick_000603_000608.pdf

    A conversation between Lieutenant General Austin W. Betts, Colonel Henk, and Colonel Wahle, published as a part fo the US Army Military History Research Collection. This conversation details the "Army versus the Air Force difficulties in the late '50's" during the transfer of the missile and space program. This program switch was the basis of the case United States v. Colonel John C. Nickerson, Jr. as Nickerson was in charge of the program. This document contain only the portion relative to Colonel Nickerson.
  • spc_nick_000609_000609.pdf

    This is a copy of an index that contains entries related to Colonel John C. Nickerson, Jr. and his court martial. The index contains entries that are found in the Army Navy Register and the Army Navy Journal.
  • spc_nick_000611_000615.pdf

    This article, "Army 'Leak' Probe Agitates Redstone", published in the February 1957 issue, details secret information that went public in 1957 through Drew Pearson. The "leak" concerns the "Wilson Memorandum" that transfers the Army's role to the Air Force in the development and control of guided and ballistic missiles and rockets. The leak is traced back to Colonel John C. Nickerson, Jr. The article states that the "prevailing opinion is that Col. Nickerson is being made a scapegoat by persons very high up in the Army." The article further details the events that led to the court martial of Colonel Nickerson.
  • spc_nick_000616_000616.pdf

    Colonel John C. Nickerson was accused of leaking classified information after expressing anger when the missile and rocket program was transferred from the Army to the Air Force. He was tried by court martial, fined $1,500, and exiled to Panama for two years. A few years later on March 1, 1964, Nickerson and his wife, Carol, died in a car accident in New Mexico.
  • spc_nick_000617_000617.pdf

    Medaris assumed command of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in 1955 under which Dr. Wernher von Braun and the German Rocket Team developed the Jupiter missile in 1958.
  • spc_nick_000618_000618.pdf

    Ray H. Jenkins (center) was a lawyer that, along with Robert K. Bell, Lt. Col. Charles Zimmer, and Lt. Lewis G. Cole, would make up Nickerson's defense counsel for his court martial trial. Jenkins was considered the best lawyer in East Tennessee and appeared on the cover of Time magazine on May 17, 1954 during the Army-McCarthy hearings.

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