The flight that had been postponed 11 times because of foul weather conditions and mechanical failures is celebrating its 40th anniversary today.
The 40th anniversary of John Glenn’s memorable Friendship 7 flight that made him the first American to orbit the earth is being commemorated by University Archives with a special Web site featuring things from the John Glenn Archives as a tribute to him.
The Web site exhibits assorted photos, many of Glenn in his astronaut gear. Also included on the site is a summary of his orbital flight and video and radio transcripts from the flight.
Someone interested in a particular topic concerning Glenn can search the database on the Web site through the current archived collection.
The Glenn archives are under the umbrella of the library special collections housed in the Library Book Depository/University Archives Building, at 2700 Kenny Road.
According to Jeff Thomas, a John Glenn archivist at Ohio State, the story behind the John Glenn artifacts and the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, located in Stillman Hall, began when Glenn retired from the Senate in 1992. He was looking for a place to put his papers from his whole career, and he decided on Ohio State. He wanted OSU to set up an institute for students with value being in public service.
In 1998 OSU received its first shipment of papers; as of January, the university has received more than 1,900 cubic feet of materials documenting Glenn’s career through being a military aviator, a NASA astronaut and a U.S. Senator.
“We are in the midst of processing the collection and getting it into order and into folders and boxes,” Thomas said.
The archive is compiled into four main parts: Glenn’s Senate papers from the 24 years he was in the Senate; the audio-visual collection, including photographs, films and videotapes; his non-Senate papers from his NASA and military career; and artifacts, Thomas said.
There is not a physical exhibit for the John Glenn archives, but according to Thomas, there might be by the end of this year.
“The Senate papers is what we are pushing for. We are hoping to have them finished by the end of this year.” Thomas said.
Daniel Johnson, a senior in biology, visited the Web site and found it informative.
“The video and radio transcripts were very interesting. It is not every day that you get access to something as historical as this. This will be something that I recommend to my friends and family to check out online,” Johnson said.
