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Harvey C. Christen papers
mssChristenpapers  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administration Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Harvey C. Christen papers
    Inclusive Dates: 1916-2000
    Bulk Dates: 1944-1993
    Collection Number: mssChristenpapers
    Creator: Christen, Harvey C., 1910-1993
    Extent: 13 boxes, 14 albums, and 1 oversize folder
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department
    The Huntington Library
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2203
    Fax: (626) 449-5720
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: The collection contains the papers and photographs of Lockheed executive Harvey C. Christen.
    Language of Material: The records are in English.

    Administration Information

    Access

    Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please go to following web site .

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Harvey C. Christen papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Acquisition Information

    The collection was a gift to the Huntington Library from Mr. & Mrs. Burt Basney, February 2007 and February 2017.

    Biography

    Harvey Carl Christen was born in Wisconsin in September 1910. By high school, his family had moved to Pasadena, California where Christen attended Pasadena High School and Pasadena City College. Christen began working for Lockheed as a summer "office boy" in 1928. Over his four decades of employment at Lockheed he held several positions including: assistant factory superintendent, assistent works manager, chief inspector, director of inspection, director of quality control, design engineer, and project engineer. Christen was interested in all aspects of aviation and its history. He was active in social and community programs such as Rotary and Boy Scouts of America. He was married to Vera Doane who also worked at Lockheed. Christen died in Pasadena in October 1993.

    Scope and Content

    The Christen papers consist of papers and photographs saved by Harvey C. Christen, chronicling his career in management through more than four decades of his service to the Lockheed Corporation, as well as his personal interests in aviation in the twentieth century.
    The majority of the collection is made up of correspondence, manuscripts, and clippings all related to various aspects of aviation and Lockheed. There are several folders of material related directly to Lockheed Corporation including corporate memos and press reports. Harvey C. Christen was interested in Amelia Earhart and there are two folders of material related to Earhart, her plane, and her dissapearance. Christen also collected information about the crash of Wiley Post, and the disappearance of the Lady Southern Cross.
    Series 2 contains published material such as magazines or journals collected by Christen. There are also large runs of Lockheed newsletters including: Star, Star Dusters, and Stardust. Series 3 contains a small selection of loose photographs of Lockheed personnel and airplanes.
    Series 5 consists of 9 VHS related to “Out -- Takes, Harvey Christen Interview Lockheed History” and “Birthplace of Lockheed.”
    Series 6 contains material that was found later. The contents are similar to the original collection's contents.
    At the end of the collection, Series 4, are 13 photograph albums. These albums include photographs of early aircraft, more modern planes (Vega, Sirius, Constitution), Lockheed personnel, including Harvey C. Christen, the Hoover Dam, World War 1 and 2, and foreign aircraft. Photograph album 13 contains photographs of Amelia Earhart. Other pilots present in the photograph albums are: Clarence Johnson, Howard Hughes, Charles Lindbergh, Roscoe Turner, and many others. Album 14 is a complete inventory of the photographs in the albums.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following manner: Boxes 1-3: Correspondence, Manuscripts and Subject Files; Boxes 4-7: Published Material and Newsletters; Box 8: Photographs; and Photograph Albums (1-14); Box 9: VHS; Boxes 10-13: Additional Material

    Indexing Terms

    Personal Names

    Christen, Harvey C., 1910-1993
    Johnson, Clarence L. -- Photographs
    Earhart, Amelia, 1897-1937 -- Photographs
    Hawkins, Willis M.
    Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976 -- Photographs
    Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974 -- Photographs
    Post, Wiley, 1898-1935 -- Photographs
    Turner, Roscoe, 1895-1970 -- Photographs

    Corporate Names

    Lockheed Advanced Development Company -- History
    Lockheed Aircraft Corporation -- History
    Lockheed Corporation -- History
    Vega Aircraft Corporation -- History

    Subjects

    Aeronautics -- History -- 20th century
    Aircraft industry -- California -- History -- 20th century
    Air pilots -- United States
    Air pilots -- Photographs
    Airplanes -- History
    Airplanes -- Photographs
    Airplanes, Military -- History -- 20th century
    Biplanes
    World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations, American -- Photographs
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, American -- Photographs

    Geographic Areas

    Hoover Dam (Ariz. and Nev.) -- Photographs

    Genre

    Clippings (information artifacts) -- 20th century
    Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century
    Manuscripts -- 20th century
    Memorandums -- 20th century
    Newsletters -- 20th century
    Photograph albums -- 20th century
    Photographs -- 20th century