Purdue University, circa 1947 - 1955
Scope and Contents
The Purdue University sub-series contains Neil Armstrong's grade reports for 1948, a spiral bound notebook, various folders and two, three-ring binders which held Armstrong's class notes, assignments, labs, along with some quizzes, tests and finals from Engineering classes taken in pursuit of his undergraduate degree. Included are materials for Aeronautical Engineering, 310; 320 - Aircraft Windtunnel; 320-A - Aircraft Windtunnel Lab; 340; 350-A; Armstrong's experiment for 420 - "Preliminary Design Analysis Execution Transport;" 471 - "Aircraft Powerplants;" 481 and 481-A - "Aircraft Powerplants Laboratory;" an "Aircraft Vibrations" class taught by Dr. Hsu Lo and a "Subsonic Flow" class. The Mechanical Engineering courses include, M.E. 109; 521; 530 A and B - Advanced Heat Transfer. Math 523 is also included. The [G.E. 224] folder contains various handouts for [Aero. ED] courses. Additional material Armstrong placed in the binders are laminar flow calculations, "Canons of Ethics for Engineers," a booklet titled, Ratio of Total and Static Pressures for Mach Numbers and catapult diagrams and guide for carrier suitability testing. The catapult material appears to be from the Naval Air Test Center, United States Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland but was in a binder with Purdue class notes.
Located at the back of the second three-ring binder are Purdue "Varsity Varieties" papers from 1953-1954. The "Varsity Varieties" were an all-student revue, and Armstrong wrote and co-directed the short musicals in 1953 and 1954. Most of the notes are for his 1954 production, which he entitled, "The Land of Egelloc" (college spelled backwards). Lyrics for the short musicals are included.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1947 - 1955
Creator
- From the Collection: Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012 (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection material is primarily in English. Russian and Korean is also present.
Access Information
Collection is open for scholarly research. A 48 hours notice and consultation with the Flight Archivist is required to access the collection. Portions of the collection are restricted per donor restrictions and third party privacy.
Extent
3.256 Cubic Feet (Eight letter-size full-width manuscript boxes and one flat box)
Arrangement
The class material has been removed from the original folders and binders, maintained in original order.
The textbooks have been placed in chronological order.
Physical Access Information
Some of the textbooks have suffered smoke and water damage. The 22" x 17 ½" design sheets in Box 9 are very fragile and should be handled with care and under the supervision of an archivist.
Processing Information
The class material has been removed from the original folders and binders and placed in archival folders for preservation purposes. Photocopies of the material have been made for use by researchers and are located in the archival folders following the original notes for each class. The original binders have been retained, are wrapped in archival tissue and placed at the back of each respective archival manuscript box.
The first box contains a textbook from Wapakoneta City Schools. The additional descriptive notes for each text book indicate which books Armstrong signed his name in, made notations in, originally placed pages of notes in, professor's name for the course or other pertinent information. If pages of notes were found in the textbook, it is noted which pages they were found on. The notes were removed and placed in folders for preservation purposes. Archival copies have been made of the notes and placed in individual folders for ease of use by researchers.
The 22” x 17 ½” design sheets in box 9 are very fragile and have been wrapped in tissue and housed in an archival box.
Repository Details
Part of the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections Repository
504 Mitch Daniels Boulevard
West Lafayette Indiana 47907 United States
765-494-2839
archives@purdue.edu