Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Forman, Edward S.
- Abstract:
- The collection is 2.5 linear feet in size and contains correspondence, publications, news clippings, black and white photographs, 16mm film, a scrapbook, and artifacts relating to the professional career of engineer Edward S. Forman. Divided into six series, the collection is organized chronologically within subject file folders. Forman worked at Cal Tech, Hughes Aircraft, and Lockheed. He was one of the founders of Aerojet Engineering Corporation.
- Extent:
- 2.5 linear feet (3 boxes + 5 films + 1 oversized drawer)
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Edward S. Forman papers, MS0042, Center for Sacramento History.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is 2.5 linear feet in size and contains correspondence, publications, news clippings, black and white photographs, 16mm film, a scrapbook, and artifacts relating to the professional career of engineer Edward S. Forman. Divided into six series, the collection is organized chronologically within subject file folders.
Series 1 include biographical information about Forman’s early rocket experiments from newspaper and magazine articles, many found in a scrapbook. Of note are the photographs of early launch attempts with John Parsons, and their original rocket test stand motor.
Series 2 contains documents and publications during Forman’s time with Cal Tech, the GLACIT Program, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory building JATOs. This series contains several films which show the test firing of various rockets and the take-offs of planes aided by JATOs (see Appendix A).
Series 3 has numerous photographs and reports produced by Aerojet Engineering Corporation during their research and development of various rockets for the U.S. military. Of note is a piece of an airplane wing from a fatal JATO experiment. The wing is annotated by Forman, describing the incident (see Appendix B).
Series 4 deals with an explosives company Forman helped found, Vulcan Powder Company.
Series 5 and 6 include employee newsletters and photographs from Hughes Aircraft and Lockheed.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Edward Seymour Forman was born in Gillespie, Illinois on December 3, 1912. His father was an electrical engineer and moved the family west during Forman’s adolescence. An avid science fiction reader, Forman dreamed of flying and space travel. At age 15, Forman began with a friend, John W. Parsons, to research rocketry and conduct experiments. In 1928 they began testing in an area behind Devils Gate Dam in Arroyo Seco, near Pasadena, California.
After graduating from the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), Forman continued his rocket experiments with Parsons. Working on both solid and liquid rocket systems proved costly, prompting them to approach Cal Tech in 1934 for technical and financial support. Originally turned down, later they established a relationship with Frank J. Malina who assisted with the design and machining of parts at Cal Tech. They developed and fired their first liquid rocket in October 1936. Hoping to attract additional financial support, Forman and Parsons published newspaper and magazine accounts of their work. Eventually Forman was hired by Cal Tech to design and manage the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a 3 ½ acre off-campus testing facility. JPL received federal funds to test both liquid and solid rockets. Instrumental in the design and development of JATO (jet assisted take-off) rocket boosters for military planes, Forman and five others at JPL founded Aerojet Engineering Corporation in 1942. After three years as a vice president and production manager at Aerojet, Forman left the company and over the next few years worked various engineering positions. In 1949 he began at Hughes Aircraft, which eventually took him to Tucson, Arizona. Forman then transferred to Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in 1958, working for a time at the Santa Cruz Test Base.
- Acquisition information:
- Collection donated by Lynn Forman Maginnis, daughter of Edward S. Forman, to the Center for Sacramento History in August 2005 (Accession #2005/060).
- Processing information:
-
Processed in September 2005 by Dylan J. McDonald. Finding aid prepared in October 2005 by Dylan J. McDonald.
- Arrangement:
-
Series 1. Personal Series 2. Cal Tech – Jet Propulsion Laboratory Series 3. Aerojet Engineering Incorporated Series 4. Vulcan Powder Company Series 5. Hughes Aircraft Company Series 6. Lockheed Missiles and Space Company Series 7. Films
- Physical location:
- 4G1, 28H11, 35H5, MC 11:13
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Terms of access:
-
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Edward S. Forman papers, MS0042, Center for Sacramento History.
- Location of this collection:
-
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.Sacramento, CA 95811, US
- Contact:
- (916) 808-7072