The San Diego Air & Space Museum has reached a significant milestone with the acquisition of a $150,000 federal grant. This substantial funding is a crucial step towards our goal of cataloging, digitizing, and rehousing 170,000 images from the Rohr/Goodrich Corporation. The two-year federal grant, awarded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission of the National Archives and Records Administration, is a testament to the Museum’s Library & Archives Department’s dedication and will significantly advance the Museum’s digitization project.

The Rohr Corporation’s San Diego roots go back to 1940 and to its namesake, Fred Rohr, who helped build Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. The Rohr/Goodrich Collection is approximately 70 linear feet and consists primarily of historical photographs, negatives, and slides from the early 1940s to the late 1990s, documenting the rich history of the company, with many never-before-seen images showing how vital Fred Rohr and his company were to the growth of the South Bay region. Images show the construction and development of the main and various manufacturing plants, production lines for aircraft engine parts fabrication and assembly, commercial and military aircraft, aerials, special events, and employees.

The Museum is unwavering in its commitment to making the digitized materials from the Rohr/Goodrich Collection easily accessible to a global audience. A detailed finding guide will be created for the large collection of records and images, enhancing their discoverability within the Museum’s Library & Archives. Once the digitization process is complete, the materials will be available for viewing on the Museum’s Flickr site, which receives over 40 million views each year. This commitment not only allows for easy viewing but also provides an opportunity for crowdsourcing information we may not already have, thereby advancing research into the history of America’s national defense, the space program, the development of the aerospace industry, and the Cold War.

The digitization process is a continuation of the Museum’s Library & Archives ongoing Great Explorations: Increasing Access to Our Aerospace Heritage program. By digitizing the records from the Museum’s Rohr/Goodrich Corporation collection, Great Explorations will advance research into the history of America’s national defense, the space program, the development of the aerospace industry, and the Cold War.