Introduction to Archives - David Edwards

 


Orville Wright and group around a table, looking at photographs, during a party at 7 Hawthorn Street (Wright & Wright, 1899).

This photograph from the Wright Brothers Negatives collection, is one of 300 glass plate negatives that were part of the Wright Brothers estate now owned by the Library of Congress. The photos were taken by the Wright Brothers themselves and included photos of their friends and families along with notes of when they were taken. Most of the photos were documenting their flying successes and failures, but some like this one shows the personal life of the two famous brothers.

I selected this photo for that very reason. Almost all the photos you see of the Wright Brothers are images of the work they did with early aircraft. To me this photo shows that they were real people with friends and social interactions as well as the fathers of flight. It is interesting to see Orville and Wilbur in a setting that I can relate to probably talking about everyday things with each other.

The Wright Brothers have always been heroes of mine and seeing them in social setting outside of what they are known for makes me want to learn more about their personal life. Like I mentioned before, it really brings out their human side in a way it makes them more relatable. When I first began writing this blog, I wasn’t sure what else I would want to learn about this particular artifact, but after looking at it from a different perspective, I would like to research more artifacts like this. It is a unique look into something that I have always found interesting.    

   

 

Reference

Wright, O., & Wright, W. (1899). Orville Wright and group around a table, looking at photographs, during a party at 7 Hawthorn Street. Ohio Dayton [Photograph]. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppprs.00522

 

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