Aerospace Oral History Project mssHM 80611
Gina C Giang
The Huntington Library
February 2019
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on October 27, 2020 by Maggie Hughes.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Aerospace oral history project
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 80611
Physical Description:
0.0313 Gigabytes
(61 digital files)
Date (inclusive): 2005-2020
Abstract: The aerospace oral history project
consists of oral histories in PDF format and provides a range of perspectives related to the
aerospace industry in Southern California.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
Conditions Governing Use
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]. Aerospace oral history project, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired from interviewees, 2005-2020.
Biographical / Historical
These oral histories were conducted under the Huntington-USC Institute on California and
the West. The project, which started in 2005 and is still ongoing, is documenting the
history of the Southern California aerospace industry.
Scope and Contents
The aerospace oral history project consists of 61 oral histories in PDF format and
provides a range of perspectives related to the aerospace industry in Southern California.
Interview subjects were selected to provide a range of perspectives on the aerospace
industry, from senior corporate leaders to design engineers, manufacturing engineers, major
airframe manufacturers, think tanks, smaller suppliers, and both military and civilian
programs. Most of the interviews cover the period from World War II and the Cold War up to
the present, although several interviews include memories of the 1920s and 1930s. The
transcripts reflect guided oral histories conducted by professional historians; interviews
have been transcribed for clarity, and reviewed for accuracy by the interviewee before being
entered into the catalog. Some interviewees were interviewed multiple times.
The oral history transcripts are available on the
Link in PDF
format only. The collection is ongoing and new oral histories will be added to the
collection as they are completed. Because some of original audio files included
off-the-record discussions, the original audio files are not accessible to researchers.
Processing Information
Finding aid created by Gina C Giang in February 2019. Maggie Hughes added 12 oral histories in May and October 2020.
Related Materials
Lockheed Marin Oral History Project, 1982-2010. mssLMO
Arrangement
Interviews are listed alphabetically by interviewee last name. The PDFs in the Huntington
Digital Library can be sorted a number of ways.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Oral histories (document genres) -- California
Aeronautical engineers -- California, Southern -- History
Aerospace engineering -- California, Southern -- History
Aerospace engineers -- California, Southern -- History
Aerospace industries -- California, Southern -- History -- 20th
century
Aircraft industry -- California, Southern
Airplanes -- Design and
construction
Airplanes, Military
Fighter planes
Guided missile industries
Jet planes, Military
Reconnaissance aircraft
Stealth aircraft
Supersonic planes
Test pilots
Women air pilots -- United
States
Women aircraft industry
employees
Women in aeronautics
Women in engineering
Axtell, James
Ayres, David
Baker, Andrew
Beall, Donald R.
Brown, Alan
Bullock, Frank E.
Cashen, John
Clauser, Francis
H.
Cleven, Curtis
Cohen, Clarence Budd
Currie, Malcom R.
Davis, Allen V. C. (Allen Van
Cleve)
Duffendack, Jack C.
Dyson, Ken
Friedman, Louis
Gasich, W.E. (Welko E.),
1922-
Gibb, Ron
Gordon, Dale, 1955-
Graham, Lloyd
Harris, Vernon, 1926-
Hicks, Donald A.
Huben, Michael Gerald (Jerry)
Husmann, Richard, 1927-
Janssen, Volker,
(Historian)
Johnson, Betty
Jones, Thomas V., 1920-2014
Jonkey, Les, 1918-
Karafantis, Layne
Katz, Elliott
Keville, Jesse F.
Kibble, Larry
Kinnu, James
Kresa, Kent
Lackman, Les
Loschke, Robert
MacDonald, Forrest
Mitzner, Kenneth
Morgenfeld, Thomas, 1943-
Mullin, Sherman N.
Murphy, Robert
Namba, Wataru, 1927-
Nelson, Donn, 1932-
Nichols, Donald L., 1932-
Noller, Eugene, 1930-
Paulikas, George,
1936-
Pidhayny, Denny, 1919-
Ragsdale, James
W.
Rosen, Harold, 1926-2017
Smith, Steven R., 1928-
Stacey, Alvin
Szep, Joseph
Waaland, Irving
Westwick, Peter
J.
Wilson, E. Milton
Zadorozny, Edward
Zoller, Curt J.,
1920-2014
Aerospace Corporation
California Institute of
Technology
Douglas Aircraft Company
Hughes Aircraft Company
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Rand Corporation
Rockwell International
David "Dave" Ayres interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (46)
2019 June 6
James "Jim" Axtell interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (45)
2019 April 10
Andrew Baker interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (32)
2010 May 5
Donald Beall interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (3)
2009 November 24
Alan Brown interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (1)
2010 November 15
Frank Bullock interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (28)
2009 August 21
John Cashen interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (35)
2010 December 15
John Cashen interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (36)
2014 April 25
Francis Clauser interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (5)
2011 April 13
Curtis Cleven interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (23)
2010 April 6
Clarence B. Cohen interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (20)
2010 October 12
Malcolm R. Currie interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (14)
2013 May 9
Allen Van Cleve Davis interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (24)
2012 February 23
John (Jack) C. Duffendack interviewed by William Deverell, Sherman Mullin, and
Peter Westwick
HM 80611 (8)
2008 June 12
Ken Dyson and Robert Loschke interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (27)
2012 January 9
Louis Friedman interviewed by Amir Alexander and Peter Westwick HM 80611 (42)
2015 January 28
Welko Gasich interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (11)
2010 October 28
Ron Gibb interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (47)
2019 April 1
Dale Gordon interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (56)
2010 April 13
Lloyd Graham interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (16)
2010 January 14
Vernon Harris interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (59)
2019 June 26
Vernon Harris interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (60)
2020 June 29
Donald "Don" A. Hicks interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (48)
2019 February 27
2019 April 3
Michael Gerald (Jerry) Huben interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (21)
2009 September 3
Richard Husmann interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (13)
2010 June 30
Betty Johnson interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (2)
2010 August 19
Thomas V. Jones interviewed by William Deverell and Daniel Lewis HM 80611 (29)
2005 October 10
Thomas V. Jones interviewed by William Deverell HM 80611 (30)
2006 March 3
Thomas V. Jones interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (31)
2010 February 16
Les Jonkey interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (58)
2009 March 5
Elliott Katz interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (4)
2010 June 14
Jesse Keville interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (18)
2010 April 29
Larry Kibble interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (22)
2014 May 15
James Kinnu interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (37)
2010 December 8
James Kinnu interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (38)
2011 February 22
Kent Kresa interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (40)
2018 December 7
Les Lackman interviewed by Peter Westwick, William Deverell, and Kerri
Bennett
HM 80611 (41)
2017 September 7
Forrest MacDonald interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (19)
2012 February 2
Kenneth Mitzner interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (39)
2016 January 25
Thomas Morgenfeld interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (51)
2011-07-26
Sherman Mullin interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (43)
2018 December 12
Sherman Mullin interviewed by Peter Westwick and William Deverell HM 80611 (44)
2019 January 24
Robert Murphy interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (9)
2009 August 25
Wataru Namba interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (61)
2020 February 1
Donn Nelson interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (57)
2010 April 16
Donald "Don" Nichols interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (50)
2019 April 8-9
Eugene Noller interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (55)
2010 October 27
George Paulikas interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (6)
2009 September 4
Denny Pidhayny interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (12)
2010 April 30
James Ragsdale interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (52)
2010 October 25
Simon Ramo interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (10)
2010 December 4
Harold Rosen interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (53)
2009 November 2
Steven R. Smith interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (54)
2011 February 21
Alvin Stacey interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (17)
2012 June 4
Joseph Szep interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (15)
2010 November 23
Irving Waaland interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (33)
2010 November 10
Irving Waaland interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (34)
2010 November 15
E. Milton Wilson interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (26)
2010 April 14
Edward "Ed Z" Zadorozny interviewed by Layne Karafantis HM 80611 (49)
2019 July 7
Harriet Zimney interviewed by Peter Westwick HM 80611 (7)
2010 May 5
Curt Zoller interviewed by Volker Janssen HM 80611 (25)
2010 October 25
