October 22, 2003

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1979)

Lori Rachul
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
(Phone: 216/433-8806)

RELEASE: 03-338

LEADING AIR AND SPACE HISTORIANS TO PRESENT SYMPOSIUM

Daredevil pilots of the barnstorming era, bold entrepreneurs and 
military strategists of the 30s and 40s, and the visionaries and 
down-to-earth managers of the Space Age are a few of the aerospace 
leaders to be profiled at a day-long public symposium, "Realizing the 
Dream of Flight." 

On Nov. 5, 2003, some of the country's most distinguished aerospace 
historians will gather at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland 
to honor the Wright Brothers' invention, along with the advancements 
of other scientists and engineers who made human flight one of the 
most important technical achievements of the twentieth century.

The symposium will be divided into three panel sessions that will 
profile "Dreamers and Doers," Barnstormers and Entrepreneurs," and 
"Aerospace Leaders and Managers." NASA's Glenn Research Center 
Director Dr. Julian M. Earls will welcome participants prior to the 
start of the first panel session. NASA Headquarters historians Steven 
J. Dick and Stephen J. Garber will offer concluding remarks.

Featured speakers and their topics follow.

Tom Crouch, senior curator for aeronautics at the Smithsonian 
Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, will focus 
on Willy Ley, a German rocket enthusiast featured in Crouch's recent 
book, "Aiming for the Stars: Dreamers and Doers of the Space Age." 
Crouch is the author of the prize-winning book "The Bishop's Boys: A 
Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright."

Alan Gropman, professor at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, 
National Defense University, will provide a personal glimpse of the 
accomplishments of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. General Davis led the 
Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and played a major role in the 
integration of the U.S. Armed Forces. 

Susan Ware of Harvard University will speak on Amelia Earhart. Ware is 
the author of "Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for 
Modern Feminism."

Tami Davis Biddle, a professor at the U.S. Army War College, will 
discuss "Curtis E. LeMay and the Ascent of American Strategic 
Airpower."

Roger E. Bilstein, of the University of Houston, Clear Lake, and 
author of many books on aviation, including "Flight in America" and 
"The Enterprise of Flight: The American Aviation and Aerospace 
Industry," will speak on "Donald Douglas: From Aeronautics to 
Aerospace."

Other profiles include:

"The Astronaut's Godfather: Robert Gilruth and the Origins of Human 
Spaceflight," by Roger D. Launius, National Air and Space Museum;

"Bessie Coleman: The Irrepressible Dreams and Harsh Realities of 
Flight," by Amy Sue Bix, Iowa State University;

"The Political and Diplomatic Skills of Juan Trippe, Founder of Pan 
American Airways," by William M. Leary, University of Georgia;

"The Autogiro Files the Mail: Edward V. Rickenbacker, Eastern Air 
Lines, and the Experimental Use of Rotorcraft, 1939-1940," by W. 
David Lewis, Auburn University;

"A Powerful Influence: NASA's Hugh L. Dryden," by Michael Gorn, NASA 
Dryden Flight Research Center;

"Wernher von Braun: A Visionary as Engineer and Manager," by Andrew J. 
Dunar, University of Alabama in Huntsville; and 

"Celebrating the Invention of Flight in a Hands-On Way: Replicating 
the 1902 Experimental Glider Flights of the Wright Brothers," by 
Edward J. Pershey, Western Reserve Historical Society.

The symposium is sponsored by NASA and the U.S. Centennial of Flight 
Commission. Local sponsors include NASA's Glenn Research Center, The 
Great Lakes Science Center, the history departments of Case Western 
Reserve University and Cleveland State University, The Northeast 
Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and the International Women's 
Air and Space Museum.

The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 8:30 a.m. 
in the Reinberger Auditorium at The Great Lakes Science Center. 
Seating is limited, so early registration is encouraged. For a 
complete program and details on how to register, visit: 

http://history.nasa.gov/rdfconf/index.html 

	
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