Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Charles E. Duryea and J. Frank Duryea Papers, 1894-1944
GC 1362
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Charles E. Duryea and J. Frank Duryea Papers, 1894-1944
Dates: 1894-1944
Collection Number: GC 1362
Creator/Collector:
Duryea, Charles E., 1861-1938
Duryea, J. Frank (James Frank), 1869-1967
Extent: 1/2 letter
Repository:
Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, California 90007-4057
Abstract: Publications, advertising booklets, correspondence and ephemera. An artificial collection about the Duryea brothers and their
contributions to the start of the automobile industry in the United States. 1894-1944, undated.
Language of Material: English
Research is by appointment only
Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright
holder
Charles E. Duryea and J. Frank Duryea Papers, 1894-1944. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum
of Los Angeles County
Biography/Administrative History
Charles E. Duryea (1861-1938) and J. Frank Duryea (1869-1967) collaborated in Springfield, Massachusetts to build a gasoline-powered
motor vehicle in 1892. Frank contended that he alone successfully invented the car.
Scope and Content of Collection
Publications, advertising booklets, correspondence and ephemera. An artificial collection about the Duryea brothers and their
contributions to the start of the automobile industry in the United States. 1894-1944, undated.
Some papers document the Kiwanis Club of Springfield, Massachusetts, that honored Charles in 1937 as the "Father of the Automobile".
The state governor’s office sought to lay a plaque to similarly honor Charles in 1942. Several publications from the 1940s
reveal the rivalry between the brothers, with the surviving younger brother Frank’s attempts to correct the historical fact.
These publications contain reprinted manuscripts, typescripts, clippings, letters and notarized affidavits attesting to Frank’s
involvement as inventor and his contention that his older brother fabricated lies.
Correspondence includes those received and written by the museum curator of Physical & Mechanical Sciences.
Contact the Detroit Public Library, National Automotive History Collection, for Charles E. Duryea Papers 1878-1957 (bulk 1898-1930).
Automobiles--United States--History
Springfield (Mass.)