Gustave Whitehead (1874-1927) was an early aviation pioneer who invented gliders, airplanes, and helicopters from 1896-1911. Connecticut General Statute § 10-29a (19) recognizes Whitehead’s contribution to aviation by requiring the Governor to annually proclaim “Powered Flight Day to honor the first powered flight by Gustave Whitehead and to commemorate the Connecticut aviation and aerospace industry.” In 2014, the General Assembly adopted House Resolution No. 87 recognizing Connecticut as “the location of the first manned, controlled flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.” The collection consists of the “Gustave Whitehead First in Powered Flight” Master Witness File, 2014 (in print and electronic copies); newspaper and journal clippings about the flight and subsequent research, 1901-1998; and four books about Whitehead: Lost Flights of Gustave Whitehead (1937) and The Story of Gustave Whitehead Before the Wrights Flew (1966) by Stella Randolph, History By Contract (1978) by Major William J. O’Dwyer, USAF Reserve (Retired) and Stella Randolph, and Gustave Whitehead: “First in flight”: hidden history of Gustave Whitehead & the Wrights (2015) by Susan O’Dwyer Brinchman. Also included is a record of research conducted by Charles A. Lautier.
