Digitization of Stine Rocketry Materials

by Charise Michelsen

February 27, 2019

The Museum of Flight Archive is happy to showcase digitized material from the G. Harry Stine Space History and Model Rocketry Collection at the project's Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/people/stine_collection/.

Thanks to the generous support of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) and private donors, the Museum of Flight was able to hire a project archivist to process a collection representing the prolific career of the "Old Rocketeer." G. Harry Stine (1928-1997) established the roots of model rocketry in the United States and founded the NAR in 1957. One of the highlights of the collection is the abundant number of photographs documenting the history of the NAR annual meets.

In 1959, the NAR held its first national competition for those interested in the hobby. This was the beginning of what has become an annual tradition that still takes place today with a large member following. The collection contains images of the early years of the meets and all the individuals who took part in the excitement. Their enthusiasm for model rocketry is evident in the photographs.

With the work of volunteer Kris Ikeda and Stine Project Archivist Charise Michelsen, the Museum has digitized a selection of photos and made the content available to the public. The goal of the Flickr site is not to provide a comprehensive digital library but to identify the individuals in the pictures. There are more photographs documenting the early NARAMs, but the ones showcased on the site reflect photographs where we have not identified the person and/or rockets. The Museum of Flight Archives Team hopes that by opening it up to the NAR community we will be able to acquire their valuable knowledge and bring context to the NAR history.

If you recognize any individuals or rockets in the photographs on the Flickr site, please identify them by leaving a comment below the image. We will collect all the information and add the metadata to our content management system. Eventually, when the project is complete, the photographs will be added to our digital repository, TMOF: Digital Collections.

This is only the beginning of the project! Please check back as we continue to digitize material from the collection and add new content to the site.

Thank you again to the National Association of Rocketry and our other donors for supporting the preservation and access of the G. Harry Stine Collection!