From the Huntington
Scholars will spend the next two years collecting oral histories and materials related to the history of an endeavor that shaped Southern California's industrial and intellectual might for decades after the Great War but has seen its fortunes decline in recent days. The National Science Foundation has provided a $367,000 grant so researchers can further amass invaluable papers and other crucial items that answer the questions as to why Southern California became such a key aerospace center and what that has meant for the region, nation and science. At one point, aerospace employed more than a half million Southern Californians in skilled, high paying work and 40% of the missile and space business was here, researchers say, adding that the history of this once-dynamic industry has been little explored and recorded. The topic has gained recent new attention and impetus with the announced move to Washington by Northrup Grumman of its corporate headquarters, a visible symbol of the industry's decline locally. The aerospace project will be conducted jointly by the library, the Institute on California and the West and USC's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Photo: Amelia Earhart at Lockheed Aircraft factory in Burbank, circa 1930/ Harvey Christen collection, the Huntington
The official announcement of aerospace history project
A glimpse of some of the kinds of key materials to be collected
End of the aerospace century: a recent LA Observed guest blog post
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