Ames Research Center Archives Reference Collection, 1939-2025

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection of subject reference files provides a general overview of Ames Research Center from its origins in December 1939 as the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory through the present. Also represented are materials about the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Moffett Federal Airfield.
Extent:
Approximately 60 cubic feet The bulk of the collection is in analog form, with portions digitized or born digital.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of reference files provides a general overview of Ames Research Center, from its origins in December 1939 to the present, spanning the center's affiliation with both the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The collection contains information about the center's multidisciplinary research activities and associated facilities, as well as the center's management, programs, projects, culture, activities, achievements, and personnel. Also included is overview information about Moffett Field and its transfer from the US Navy to NASA. The collection does not provide a comprehensive representation of the center's history. The depth of documentation varies across subject areas, with some well represented and others lightly covered. Further, there is little correspondence in this collection. Formats vary across subjects and include textual materials of many types, photographs, moving image footage, audio recordings, ephemera, and memorabilia.

Custodial history:

This collection originated in the Ames Research Center's (ARC) Main Library, which accumulated historical materials from Ames employees and retirees. It was temporarily transferred into the custody of ARC contract historian Glenn Bugos in 1998 who processed it and used it to support his research for the center's third history book "Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years at the NASA Ames Research Center." Circa 2000, after completion of the book, the collection was returned to the Main Library. In 2003, the collection was transferred to the newly-established ARC History Office and Archives. In 2006, the collection was overhauled by the ARC Archives and reformed as the Archives Reference Collection.

Acquisition Information

Transferred by the Ames Research Center Main Library in 2003.

Arrangement:

This is an artificial collection, which is arranged by subject and not provenance. The subject files are organized into four series:

I. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), 1939-1958
II. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
III. Ames Research Center, 1958-2025
IV. Moffett Federal Airfield

Accruals:

Multiple accruals are added to the collection annually.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Access and use

Location of this collection:
NASA Ames Research Center Archives
Mail Stop 207-1 (Bldg. N207, Rm. 112C)
Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001, US
Contact:
(650) 604-1032
ARC-DL-archives@mail.nasa.gov
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