Descriptive Summary
Administration Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Daniel Egger papers
Inclusive Dates: 1927-2019
Collection Number: mssEgger
Collector:
Egger, Daniel Frederic
Extent:
3 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 flash drive, and 1 tube (1.04 linear feet)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The Daniel Egger papers include correspondence, printed matter, and photographs related to Daniel Egger’s career in the aerospace
industry.
Language of Material: The records are in English and Spanish.
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 .
NOT AVAILABLE: The collection contains one flash drive, which is unavailable until reformatted. Please contact Reader Services
for more information.
RESTRICTED: Tube 1 (previously housed in Box 1, folder 1). Due to size of original, original will be available only with curatorial
permission.
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
Daniel Egger papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Deborah Egger Giese and Douglas Giese, September 2017 and May 2019.
Processing Information
Collection was processed by Gina C Giang in October 2017. In June 2019, Box 3 and a flash drive was added to the collection
and the finding aid updated by Giang.
Biography
Daniel Egger was a Swiss-born engineer who worked for John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop at Lockheed on the Vega, at Avion and,
when Avion was bought by United Aircraft & Transport Corporation (UATC), at Northrop Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California.
Due to circumstances beyond his control and not of his fault, he and his family were deported back to Switzerland in 1930.
He maintained a correspondence with Jack Northrop throughout and, with Northrop's help, came back to the United States in
1938/39, eventually working for the Vega Airplane Company, Garret AiResearch and Northrop Aircraft Inc.
Scope and Content
The Daniel Egger papers include correspondence, printed matter, and photographs related to Daniel Egger’s career in the aerospace
industry. The letters that may prove to be the most interesting in this collection are between John Knudsen Northrop and Egger
regarding his immigration status. In a letter dated January 4, 1934, Northrop makes an effort to find Egger a position in
Germany. He writes, “It occurs to me that with the tremendous outpouring of Jews from Germany there should be good positions
for men with aeronautical experience in that country considering the large number of Jews with technical experience who were
deported.” Other correspondence includes letters from Northrop's wife, Inez Northrop, and her helper, Emma Nuila, to Alexander
Egger. There is also some material in Spanish where Egger spent some time in El Salvador in 1922 and 1926. The early photographs
in this collection include Lockheed Aircraft Company during the Vega, Air Express, and Alpha period. Other photographs include
Egger’s involvement in the Snark missile program and images of other pilots. There are also some personal photographs related
to Northrop’s home, children, and Big Bear cabin. There is one large blueprint of either the Northrop Aircraft Corporation
Alpha or Beta wing. Other material found scattered throughout the collection consists of newspaper clippings, greeting cards,
invitations, negatives, and postcards.
The oversize folder includes ten images and photographs removed from glass frames.
Box 3 includes one address book, certificates, correspondence, ephemera, negatives, and photographs. Included is Albert Einsten's
signature on a piece of paper from a conference in France, dated March 20, 1922. The flash drive contains approximately 85
GB of data and includes a detailed Excel guide, high resolution .tiff and .jpg scans of each item in the collection; including
fronts and backs where necessary. The scans and information were provided by Tony Chong, Historian Emeritus, Northrop Grumman
Aerospace Sector in 2019.
Cataloger's note: The EC-# was an original numbering system that was retained when the collection arrived. The EC-#s mirror the EC-#s found
on the flash drive.
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Egger, Daniel Frederic
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955 -- Signer
Heinemann, Edward H., 1908-1991
Humberstone, Harry
Northrop, John Knudsen, 1895-1981
Vultee, Jerry, 1900-1938
Corporate Names
Douglas Aircraft Corporation
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Northrop Aircraft Corporation
Vega Aircraft Corporation
Subjects
Aerospace engineering -- California, Southern -- History
Aerospace engineers -- California, Southern -- History
Aerospace industries -- California, Southern -- History
Airplanes -- Design and construction
Engineers
Geographic Areas
Burbank (Los Angeles County, Calif.)
Genre
Clippings (information artifacts)
Letters (correspondence)
Personnel records
Photographs