Book/Printed Material Subject File: Patents--By Wright Brothers--USA--filed 23 March 1903, patented 22 May 1906

The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers in the Library of Congress's Manuscript Division consist of personal papers and other manuscript materials. The majority of the collection was given to the Library by the executors of Orville Wright's estate in 1949; additional items were acquired through purchase and gift between 1949 and 1999. Rights to Orville and Wilbur Wrights' unpublished writings in this collection have been dedicated to the public. Rights to Octave Chanute's unpublished writings in this collection have also been dedicated to the public, excepting any family correspondence that may allude to matters that are purely personal and are without historical and scientific interest.

Works created by the Wright Brothers, their family, and other individuals may in some cases be subject to copyright. In many of these cases, we were unable to identify a possible rightsholder and have elected to place these items online as an exercise of fair use for strictly non-commercial educational uses.

The Library of Congress provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes and makes no warranty with regard to their use for other purposes. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or holders of other rights is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may be content that is protected as "works for hire" (copyright may be held by the party that commissioned the original work) and/or under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Folder Title, Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Materials Reproduced with Permission:

Permission has been granted to the Library of Congress to reproduce the following items. For further use or reproduction contact the rightsholders listed.

• Correspondence from the Aero Club of America made available here with permission from the National Aeronautic Association, 1815 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, Virginia 22209. naa.aero External.
• Copy of letter from R. G. Stone, American Meteorological Society, to Mr. Strickland, November 19, 1944, made available here with permission from the American Meteorological Society, 45 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108-3693.
• Correspondence from Henry H. Arnold, made available here with permission from Robert Arnold, Chandelle of Sonoma, Inc., P.O. Box 2167, Glen Ellen, California 95442.
• Letter from Iver Igelsrud, Battelle Memorial Institute, to Fred C. Kelly, November 2, 1944 and Iver Igelsrud, Battelle Memorial Institute, to Fred C. Kelly, March 15, 1945, made available here with permission from Battelle Memorial Institute, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43201.
• Letter from William Rose Benet to Fred C. Kelly, November 29, 1945, made available here with permission from James W. Benet.
• Letter, Louis Bleriot to Wilbur Wright, 1 August 1908, made available here with permission from Louis Bleriot. "Tremohar," Berric, 56230 Questembert, France. bleriot.louis@wanadoo.fr
• Letter from Richard E. Byrd to Orville Wright, February 24, 1926, made available here with permission from Mrs. Bolling Byrd Clark, 222 Crosslands Drive, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania 19348.
• Correspondence from Mario Calderara made available here with permission from Lodovico Calderara, Via Cesare Balbo 43, 00184 Roma, Italy. www.calderara.com External.
• Correspondence from Samuel Colt made available here with permission from Samuel G. Colt III.
• Correspondence from W. Redmond Cross made available here with permission from William R. Cross, Jr.
• Correspondence from John T. Daniels made available here with permission from Lois P. Smith, 1913 Hunting Ridge Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27615-5515 and Margaret Brigidini,10820 Stanhope Place, Fairfax, Virginia 22032.
• Letter from Theodore Dreiser to Orville Wright, December 2, 1908, made available here with permission from the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.
• "New York Day By Day" columns, May 21-23, 1945, written by Charles B. Driscoll, made available here with permission from Patricia D. Schadle.
• Correspondence from Amelia Earhart made available here with permission from Amy M. Kleppner.
• Letter, Wyatt B. Brummitt, Advertising Department, Eastman Kodak Company, to Orville Wright, 30 April 1945, made available here with permission from the Eastman Kodak Company.
• Letter from Charles S. Foltz to Orville Wright, February 7, 1927, made available here with permission from Charles S. Foltz, Jr.
• Correspondence from Charles A. Funkhouser made available here with permission from Mrs. Vern Reeder, Oaknoll Retirement Residence, 701 Oaknoll Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52246; Charles A. Moore, 1408 Adirondack Trail, Dayton, Ohio 45409; and Karen Moore Dourdeville.
• Letter, Harry Graham to Orville Wright, September 29, 1912, made available here with permission from Margaret Perry Graham.
• Correspondence from Harcourt, Brace & Company Publishers made available here with permission from Harcourt, Inc.
• Correspondence from Lawrence Hargrave made available here with permission from Dick and Carolyn Hargrave, Victoria, Australia.
• They Wouldn't Believe That the Wrights Had Flown," by Fred C. Kelly. Copyright 1940 by Harper's Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduced from the August 1940 issue by special permission.
• Newspaper clippings from Illustrated London News made available here with permission from Illustrated London News. Picture Library, 20, Upper Ground, London SE1 9PF, United Kingdom
• Correspondence from Fred C. Kelly made available here with permission from Brian B. Kelly and Jeanne A. Kelly. c/o Kathi J. Paton, Literary Agent, 19 W. 55th Street, New York, New York 10019. KJPLitBiz@optonline.net
• Correspondence from Roy Knabenshue made available here with permission from Mark Knabenshue, 5547 Shoup Avenue, Woodland Hills, California 91367-4466.
• Newspaper clippings from Les Sports made available here with permission from La Dernière Heure/Les Sports. Manager du Centre Cortex, IPM - La Libre Belgique - La Dernière Heure/Les Sports - La Tribune de Bruxelles, Boulevard Emile Jacqmain, 127 1000 Brussels, Belgium
• Correspondence from Charles Lindbergh made available here with permission from Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, P.O. Box 208240, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8240.
• Letter from George C. Marshall to Orville Wright, May 12, 1943, made available here with permission from the George C. Marshall Research Library, P.O. Drawer 1600, Lexington, Virginia 24450.
• Letter from Mrs. Depew Head, Executive Director, Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library Association, to Fred C. Kelly, October 8, 1947, made available here with permission from the Ohioana Library Association, 274 E. First Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43201.
• Letter from Samuel McClure to Wilbur Wright, August 12, 1911, made available here with permission from Jane Lyon.
• Correspondence from Logan Grant McPherson made available here with permission from Allan W. Jones, 5 Black Gum Place, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29926-2615.
• Correspondence from Michelin et Compagnie and the U.S. Rubber Company made available here with permission from Michelin North America, Inc., One Parkway South, Greenville, South Carolina 29615.
• Correspondence from Thomas D. Milling made available here with permission from Mrs. Gayly Gardner, 30 Antelope Trail, Kerriville, Texas 78028
• Copy of letter, (Albert) Byron Morgan to Fred C. Kelly, 9 April 1946, and copy of letter, (Albert) Byron Morgan to Fred C. Kelly, 20 April 1946, made available here with permission from Mr. and Mrs. Byron Albert Morgan, Sr., Long Beach, California
• Telegram from Frank Morley to Fred C. Kelly, October 29, 1942, made available here with permission from Christina McL. Morley.
• Letter from O. I. Prince, National Library for the Blind, to Fred C. Kelly, March 6, 1945, made available here with permission from the National Library for the Blind, Far Cromwell Road, Bredbury, Stockport, SK6 2SG England.
• Letter, James A. Beatty, National Advertising Manager, Advertising Department, New York Mirror, to Fred C. Kelly, May 20, 1941, made available here with permission from Hearst Newspapers, 959 8th Avenue, Room 360, New York, New York 10020.
• Copy of letter from Waldemar Kaempffert, Science Editor, New York Times, to Fred C. Kelly, July 13, 1943, made available here with permission from the New York Times, Rights & Permissions, 9th Floor, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036.
• Letter from Robert Mason, The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, to Fred C. Kelly, June 24, 1950, made available here with permission from The Virginian-Pilot, 150 W. Brambleton Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23510. www.hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/ External.
• Correspondence from Lord Alfred C.W.H. Northcliffe made available here with permission from Viscount Rothermere, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, United Kingdom.
• Letter from W. R. Emslie, Palladium Publishing Corporation, to Orville Wright, November 19, 1932, made available here with permission from the Richmond Palladium-Item, 1175 N. A Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374.
• Letter from W. E. Doherty, Pleasant Valley Wine Company, to Fred C. Kelly, September 20, 1940, made available here with permission from Pleasant Valley Wine Company, 8260 Pleasant Valley Road, Hammondsport, New York 14840.
• Letter from DeWitt Wallace, Editor, Reader's Digest, to Fred C. Kelly, January 15, 1941, made available here with permission from The Reader's Digest Association, Inc, Magazine Rights and Permissions, The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Reader's Digest Road, Pleasantville, New York 10570-7000. www.rd.com External.
• Letter from John Raphael Rogers to the Wright Company, undated, made available here with permission from Glenn A. Iben; Jean E. Iben; John B. Iben, Jr., 1434 Kingsgate Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221-1505; Rodger Del Iben, 763 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania 15010; and the McNutt family descendants of Jessie May Rogers, adopted daughter of John Raphael Rogers.
• Correspondence from A. I. Root made available here with permission from John A. Root, P.O. Box 588, Medina, Ohio 44258-0588 and Brad I. Root, P.O. Box 588, Medina, Ohio 44258-0588.
• Correspondence from SAE International (1912) made available here with permission from SAE International.
• Correspondence from The Science Museum made available here with permission from The Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2 DD United Kingdom. www.sciencemuseum.org.uk External.
• Correspondence from the Short Brothers made available here with permission from Bombardier, Inc., 800 Rene-Levesque Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3B 1Y8.
• Copy of letter from Quincy Howe, Simon & Schuster, Inc., to Orville Wright, June 30,1944, made available here with permission from Simon & Schuster, Inc., Permissions Dept., 10th floor, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020.
• Correspondence from the Slater Cotton Company and the Slater Yarn Company made available here with permission from Slater Mill Historic Site, P.O. Box 696, 67 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02862-0696.
• Correspondence from George A. Spratt made available here with permission from Margaret Garrett, 8 Clearview Road, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355.
• Letter from Julius F. Stone to Fred C. Kelly, September 20, 1944, made available here with permission from Jinx Stone, Aspen Digger Inc., 75 Sopris Avenue, Carbondale, Colorado 81623.
• Correspondence from William J. Tate made available here with permission from Janis Raye, 211 North Avenue, Saint Johnsbury, Vermont 05819.
• Correspondence from Charles E. Taylor and Esther Taylor Howe made available here with permission from Reuben W. Taylor, Jr., 699 Revere Road, Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137.
• Letter from William H. Thomas to Orville Wright, February 3, 1934, made available here with permission from Judge and Mrs. Robert Varner.
• Correspondence from Harry Toulmin made available here with permission from Virginia B. Toulmin.
• Correspondence from Robert Troy made available here with permission from Robert E. Troy III. Montgomery, Alabama.
• Correspondence from Clifford J. Turpin made available here with permission from James C. French, Spring Lake Road, Sherman, Connecticut 06784-0000 and Richard B. French, 80 Acre Hill Road, Box 323, Barnstable, Massachusetts 02630-1529.
• Letter from Robert L. Frey, Executive Assistant, United Press Association, to Fred C. Kelly, 22 May 1946, made available here with permission from United Press International.
• Correspondence from the University of the State of New York, State Education Department, Division of Archives and History made available here with permission from the New York State Archives.
• Correspondence from Western Electric made available here with permission from Lucent Technologies Inc.
• Copy of letter from Chester Hinkle, Account Executive, WING, to Harcourt Brace & Company, 22 January 1944, made available here with permission from WING-Dayton.