Biographical Materials
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Herbert, Don (Donald Jeffry), 1917-2007
setName: label: See more items in
content: Mr. Wizard Papers
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1906 - 2007
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1326, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The biographical materials consist of photographs, correspondence, marriage certificates, birth certificates, agreements and contracts for theater work, letters of reference from the State Teachers College (La Crosse, Wisconsin),  report cards, newspaper clippings, poems, yearbook pages, and programs for plays. Much of the biographical information was assembled by Herbert and arranged in chronological order. The Army Air Corps documentation comprises the bulk of the biographical materials. 

The Army Air Corps  materials contain photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, telegrams, money, opera programs, notes, certificates, invitations, physical examination records,  and other ephemera relating to Herbert's service in the United States Army Air Corps, 461 Bomb Group and 767 Bomb Squadron in Europe.  The majority of the materials date from 1940 to 1947, although there are some reminiscences from a 1952 visit to Italy by Don and Maraleita Herbert as well as a 1991 letter from a family member seeking information about a fellow Army Air Corps officer, and a 2011 reminiscence of Barton Dean, a fellow Army Air Corps officer. Herbert enlisted in 1942 and began service in February of 1943.  He rose to a rank of captain and was discharged in 1947. The photographs document crew members and other military personnel Herbert served with both on base and while traveling in Tel Aviv, Cairo, and Rome.  A Naples street artist rendering (1944) of Herbert in colored pencil is included here. 

Also included are materials documenting Maraleita Dutton Herbert, the first wife of Don Herbert.  These include  photographs, commissary passes, and articles about her work as a journalist/reporter in Santa Monica, California. 

The general correspondence, 1951-2007, consists of congratulatory letters about the Watch Mr. Wizard program and speaking invitations.