More of the Wright Stuff

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By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 11/01/2003

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Now that the centennial of Wilbur and Orville's historic flight is upon us, students and educators can see important documents about the Wright brothers without having to visit a museum. The Library of Congress has posted its premium collection of Wright brothers' papers online in its American Memory collection (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml), a project of the National Digital Library Program, to celebrate the first powered and sustained flight, on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, NC.

Thousands of items are accessible online, including the brothers' diaries and notebooks, and correspondence with Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. There's also a Wright family tree.

Leona Bruno, a specialist in science and technology in the library's Manuscript Division, says the exhibit puts "flesh on the bones of history." Moreover, says Bruno, it shows youngsters that the Wrights were real people who had successes as well as setbacks, but who just kept plugging away. Site visitors will also discover what the brothers were like as boys and how their fascination with a small toy powered by a rubber band fueled their love of flight.

Among the most interesting online artifacts are images of the brothers' kites, gliders, engines, and even accidents. There's also a famous photograph of Orville lying on the lower wing of their plane at the exact moment of liftoff a hundred years ago. "In terms of classroom use, I do not see it being especially technically instructive, as it is historically instructive," says Bruno.