The Library of Congress
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Search by Keyword | Browse by
The online presentation of The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers at the
Library of Congress, comprising about 10,121 library items or approximately
49,084 digital images, documents the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright and highlights
their pioneering work which led to the world's first powered, controlled and sustained flight.
Included in the collection are correspondence, diaries and notebooks, scrapbooks, drawings, printed
matter, and other documents, as well as the Wrights' collection of glass-plate photographic negatives.
The Wright brothers' letters to aviation pioneer and mentor Octave Chanute, from the Octave Chanute Papers,
were also selected for this online collection. The Wright Papers span the years 1881 to 1952 but largely cover
1900 to 1940. This online presentation includes the famous glass-plate negative of the "First Flight" at Kitty Hawk
on December 17, 1903, as well as diaries and letters in which Wilbur and Orville Wright recount their work that led to
The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its
resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and
to sustain and
preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future
generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital Library Program
to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural
documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning.
The Library of Congress presents these
documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical
documents reflect the attitudes,
perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress
does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may
contain materials offensive to some readers.
American Memory | Search All Collections | Collection Finder | Teachers