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About the
Exhibit
Press Release
In 1896 an historic glider flight in
the Indiana Dunes signaled the dawn of aviation. In command was
Octave Chanute, a Paris born civil engineer with a passion for
flight.
An exhibition in The John Crerar
Library of the University of Chicago celebrates Chanute's
accomplishments and presents highlights from the visionary's
career. Many of Chanute's personal books and writings are on
display, as well as a model of the 1896 glider which first took
flight in the Dunes. In addition, the exhibit provides a glimpse
into the future of aviation and space technology with information
provided by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
Chanute left his imprint on his adopted
city of Chicago in many ways. He designed and supervised the
building of the Chicago Union Stock Yards in 1865. Years later, in
1886, he and Joseph Card formed the Chicago Tie Treatment Company.
To verify the life span of the railroad ties treated in his plant,
Chanute brought date nails from Europe and introduced this kind of
record keeping to the United States. Some of these nails are on
display.
The exhibition emphasizes Chanute's and
Chicago's impressive role in the early history of aviation. He not
only experimented with flight, but also extended support to many
early aviation pioneers, including the Wright brothers. He was
responsible for organizing the International Aeronautics Congress
in August 1893 as part of the World's Colombian Exposition in
Chicago. This was the first aviation conference in the United
States.
Octave Chanute was an important
benefactor to The John Crerar Library. He arranged for the Western
Society of Engineers to donate their books to the Crerar Library,
in the 1890s, and much of his own private library was donated to
the Crerar at the beginning of the 20th century. It is available
for today's students and scholars pursuing their passion for the
history of flight.
The exhibit was on display from
November 1, 2001 to June 1, 2002 in the atrium of the John Crerar
Library at the University of Chicago.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the
following people and organizations:
- Kathleen Zar, Director of the Science Libraries Division,
University of Chicago
- Alan Brown, NASA, Dryden Flight Research Center
- Chicago Public Library
- Chicago Historical Society
- Leonard Bruno, Library of Congress, Manuscript
Division
- Tom Crouch, National Air & Space Museum
- Paul W. Dees, Boeing Aircraft Co., Seattle, WA
- John M. Dumoulin, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Alabama
- Edwards Air Force Base
- Marianne Higgins, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Alabama
- Urszula Kerkhoven, University of Chicago Library
- Jim Koepnick, Experimental Aircraft Association
Museum
- The John Crerar Library Staff
- Learning Technology Group, University of Chicago
- Curt Lewis, Chicagoland Glider Council
- Library Development Office, University of Chicago
- Library Society, University of Chicago
- Trisha Lundquist, Experimental Aircraft Association
Museum
- Paul McCutcheon, National Air & Space Museum
- NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
- Jeff Oaks, University of Indianapolis
- Betty Reneker, Crerar Library Associates
- Charles J. Sebesta
- Jim Short, Chicagoland Glider Council
- Simine Short, National Soaring Museum
- Karen Sodomick, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville,
Alabama
- Derek Wang, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville,
Alabama
- Maggie White, Western Society of Engineers
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Acknowledgments: Simine Short wrote the text and complied the
photographs for the exhibit. The exhibit was organized by Barbara
Kern and Urszula Kerkhoven - John Crerar Library, University of
Chicago.
A special thank you to Kathleen Zar, Director of the Science
Libraries, for her contributions including support, guidance and
encouragement.
For more information about exhibits at
the John Crerar Library, please contact Barbara Kern at
773-702-8717 or bkern@.uchicago.edu.
| B.Kern, Crerar, 2002 |
Photographs of the exhibit
courtesy: Anna Hasior,Tore Borsch
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