Convair/General Dynamics Atlas Image Collection, 1945-2015

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Summary

Title:
Convair/General Dynamic Atlas Image Collection
Dates:
1945-2015
Abstract:
This collection documents the history of the Atlas Missile program at Convair/General Dynamics.
Extent:
5.0 Cubic feet Several boxes of negatives and transparencies
Language:
Preferred citation:

[SDASM Number], [Title], [Convair/General Dynamics Atlas Image Collection], [Repository “San Diego Air & Space Museum Library & Archives”]

Background

Scope and content:

Approx. 400,000 images documenting the history of the Atlas. The majority of the collection consists of negatives and transparencies, but photos are also included. The images range in size from 2" x 2" to 8" x 10". There are several catalogs which describe the images, but these are incomplete. In addition, many of the images are stored in envelopes which include information about them written on the outside. However, this information can be inaccurate.

The collection is currently being processed as part of a NHPRC grant. 165,000 of the images are being catalogued and 50,000 of those are being digitized and placed on the Museum's Flickr site.

Biographical / historical:

The Atlas was first designed to be an Intercontinental ballistic missile, but as ICBM technology advanced and the Atlas was no longer considered cutting-edge, it found a new life, a life perhaps even more important to history: It was modified and used as a space launch vehicle for the last four manned missions of Project Mercury, the first U.S. manned space program, which included the first American, John Glenn, to orbit the earth.

When Lockheed-Martin purchased the Convair/General Dynamics Space Systems Division in 1993, they acquired the nation’s most reliable space launch vehicle, the Atlas, but did not have much use for the records of its earlier heritage. Lockheed-Martin eventually donated the records documenting the Atlas heritage to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The records gained by SDASM constitute a potential historic national treasure.

In March of 2015 the San Diego Air and Space Museum received a two-year Federal grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to process and catalog 165,000 of the collection's images, and digitize and place online 50,000 of them.

Acquisition information:
The materials in this Collection were donated to the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Alan Renga
Date Prepared:
10/01/2015
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2015-11-12T12:11-0500

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open to researchers by appointment.

Terms of access:

Some copyright may be reserved. Consult with the library director for more information.

Preferred citation:

[SDASM Number], [Title], [Convair/General Dynamics Atlas Image Collection], [Repository “San Diego Air & Space Museum Library & Archives”]

Location of this collection:
2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 234-8291
archives@sdasm.org
Website