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