Richard H. Truly U.S. Space Program Collection

Arrangement and Description

Richard H. Truly U.S. Space Program Collection

Scope and Content 

   The focus of this collection is Admiral Richard H. Truly's career with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1969 to 1983 and from 1986 to 1992. The bulk of the collection consists of papers accumulated by Truly during his Administrative positions at NASA from 1986 to 1992. There are also some papers accumulated while he was an Astronaut (1969 to 1983), while Commander of the Naval Space Command (1983 to 1986), and while Director of Georgia Tech Research Institute (1992 to 1997). These papers include correspondence, speeches, to-do lists, schedules, daily logs, newspaper clippings, photographs, and technical reports and presentations.

   The collection also includes books from Admiral Truly's library. Many have inscriptions and/or signatures. There are also some with letters or notes laid in. The books are mostly Military and Space Program related non-fiction, biography, and fiction.

   There are 27 pieces of art, pertaining to his career, accumulated by Admiral Truly. These include photographs, original paintings, and prints from paintings. All but one are framed, the other is dry mounted.

   Five artifacts are included. There are 3 Space Shuttle models. Two of these were given to Admiral Truly after the Enterprise Approach and landing tests. The other one was a retirement present. The other two artifacts are Naval items which were also retirement presents.

   A large number of digital photo files are included. These files include scans of prints and documents from the Truly papers, from photos of the Art and Artifacts, from digital photo files off the internet, and from scans of slides donated by Truly to the Library media center.


Series Listing and Description

Series 1 - Daily Logs

    These are steno pad notebooks used by Truly for taking notes. They begin 2/21/85 and go to 4/19/97. Also in these cartons are to-do lists, monthly schedule calendars, and expense reports in green file folders organized annually. The last carton in this category contains Cindy Robinson’s(executive assistant NASA) schedule books, 1986 –1992. Each book covers 1 year.

Series 2 - Before Challenger

   This series includes all of the papers before Truly was called back to NASA to manage the Challenger accident investigation.

     - Astronaut

     - Naval Space Command

Series 3 - NASA Administration

   This series includes the materials from February 1986 to April 1992 when Truly was first the Associate Administrator for Space Flight and then the Administrator of NASA. He was sworn in as Administrator of NASA on July1, 1989.

     - Outgoing Correspondence 

     - Special Papers and Correspondence

     - John Young 

     - Congressional documents, statements, memos

     - Travel

     - Organizational Files 

     - Organizational Notebooks

     - Public Affairs Office (PAO)

     - FCCSET (Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology)

     - SES (Senior Executive Service) Management 

     - Astronaut Management 

     - NSC (National Space Council)

     - NASA/Monthly files

     - Administration Subject files

Series 4 - Bound Documents

   This series is bound books and reports published by various government agencies. They are mostly committee reports. They were organized into the following sub-series.

     - Challenger Accident

     - National Research Council Reports (Not concerning Challenger Accident)

     - NASA Reports (Not concerning Challenger Accident) 

     - Safety - Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Annual Report (NASA Publications)

     - White House - Reports from White House Committees

     - GAO (General Accounting Office) Publications

     - Education - Reports on Education 

     - Miscellaneous 

     - Congressional Record

     - Public Papers of the Presidents (Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush)

Series 5 - After NASA

   This series includes materials documenting Truly’s resignation from NASA, and items from his career after that time. It includes papers through his time at Georgia Tech. There are no papers(except for speeches)in the collection from when Truly was the director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

     - Leaving NASA

     - Speeches

     - Miscellaneous After NASA

Series 6 - Memorabilia

    This carton contains paper weights, pins, patches, badges, and other memorabilia.

Series 7 - Photos

   Unframed photos, 1981 –1995.

Series 8 - Oversize Items 

Artifacts

Digitized Photos