Wilbur & Orville Wright : A Chronology

Preface

SINCE 1949, when the Wright papers were given to the Library of Congress by the Orville Wright estate, the Library has paid tribute to the Wright brothers on several occasions.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of powered flight, a two - volume edition of The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Including the Chanute - Wright Letters and Other Papers of Octave Chanute ( New York : McGraw - Hill Book Company, 1953 ) was published under the sponsorship of Oberlin College. ( ... ) A subsequent anniversary was observed by the Library with the publication of Wilbur & Orville Wright : A Bibliography Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Wilbur Wright, April 16th, 1867 ( Washington : Library of Congress, 1968 ), listing more than 2,000 printed and audiovisual research materials on the Wright brothers.

Commemorating the 100th anniversary in 1971 of the birth of Orville Wright, the Library here presents a chronology and flight log, through which the fortunes of the Wright brothers and their flying machines may be traced : their early trials, with little of the encouragement of public notice ; the growing interest in their work by the time they exhibited their airplane and technique for the Army in 1908 ; their demonstration flights abroad in 1908 and 1909, which brought them public acclaim and meetings with kings ; their triumphant return to the United States, with the presentation of medals by the President and a memorable two - day homecoming celebration in Dayton ; ( ... ) The nucleus of the present publication was an article entitled " Wright Chronology " contributed by the compiler of this work to the July 1953 issue of the aviation journal Aero Digest, a commemorative issue marking the 50th anniversary of powered flight by the Wright brothers. ( ... )