loc_hilt_000006_000042

Transcript of a speech given by Wernher von Braun to the Alabama Legislature.

Von Braun, then the director of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, delivered this speech to the legislature in 1961. In the speech, he emphasizes that Alabama must take advantage of its position in the aerospace industry and create a robust "academic and research environment" in Huntsville to attract businesses that "will give birth to major new industries throughout the state." He exhorts the legislature to fund the newly established University of Alabama Research Institute (now part of the University of Alabama in Huntsville), arguing that "the Institute will not only be self-sustaining, but will enrich the State both financially and culturally." The legislature later approved von Braun's request of $3 million for the Research Institute, enabling the purchase of 200 acres of land for the campus and the construction of the Institute in 1964. The speech includes copies of slides von Braun used during his presentation, including diagrams of Saturn and Nova rockets as well as a mockup of a Saturn rocket on the lawn of the state capitol in Montgomery.

1961-06-21

Heinz Hilten Collection

Box 2

University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama

This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.