National Air and Space Museum Oral History Project

This file consists of two parts. The first is a catalog of oral history interviews conducted by the staff of Department of Space History, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution over the period 1981 through 1990. The interviews focus on subjects relating to the history of space, covering developments in science, technology, management, and politics. A fuller description of the Museum's oral history program and the contents of various interview projects may be found in the introduction to the catalog that follows.

The second part of the file is full text copies of selected interview transcripts from the Museum's collection. In using these interviews, please be aware of two caveats. One is that the availability of these materials on the Internet does not constitute a right to copy and publish these oral history materials. Copyright in the interviews belongs to individual interviewees. As such their use is covered by U.S. copyright law. If you wish to publish a quote from an interview you should contact the Archives Division via the Reference Desk.

The second caveat concerns the accuracy of interview transcripts. Each transcript was prepared from an audiotape-recorded interview, and then has proceeded through two stages of editing and correction. First the accuracy of the raw transcript was compared to the original recording and lightly edited to improve syntax, correct spelling, and add explanatory notes where necessary. This version of the transcript was then sent to the interviewee for additions, deletions, or corrections. The goal of this second editing was to ensure that responses to original questions were fully considered. All of these changes were then incorporated into a final transcript.

Citations for each interview should take the following form: [Interviewee Name] Oral History Interview, [Date],[Page], [The Name of the Interview Project], National Air and Space Museum.

Notice: If you have general questions regarding these interviews, or if you wish to request paper copies of interviews not currently available on this website, please send a written request to the Archives' Reference Desk. Replies may require 2 to 3 weeks. Included with the reply will be a page count and the related duplication fees for each interview requested. Please see NASM Archives Reproduction and Shipping Base Rates for current pricing information.