TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of the Collection

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Restrictions

Detailed Description of the Collection

Biographical Information and Patents, 1914-1960

Notes and WPI Experiments of Robert H. Goddard,

WPI Experiments, Thesis, Class Song, Articles, Correspondance of and by Robert H. Goddard,

Article about a Goddard Patent, 1976

Correspondence, 1921-1982

Recognition of Robert Goddard - Class of 1908, 1960-1985

Recognition of Robert Goddard, 1948-1982

Recognition of Robert Goddard, 1969-1982

Articles about Robert and Esther Goddard, 1917-1960s

Goddard Burial Plot, 1987

Photographs, 1918

Framed Letter, 1938

Robert H. and Esther Goddard Collection

1904-1998

Biographical Note

Robert Hutchings Goddard was born in Worcester October 5, 1882. Soon after this, the family moved to Roxbury. Robert was often ill as a child, and missed a lot of school. He spent much of his time reading, and doing his own experiments. The family moved back to Worcester when he was sixteen. He often told a story later in his life of a pivotal moment in 1898 when, having climbed a cherry tree to prune it, he stopped and looked out at the field below and the idea came to him of making “some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars…” He said this experience changed his life and gave him a sense of purpose. In 1904, he graduated from Worcester’s South High School and enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As early as 1907, Goddard was working to build a rocket at WPI, although at one point his efforts caused an explosion in the laboratory. After graduation, Goddard continued his studies in physics at Clark University, and received his doctorate degree. He taught at Clark, and continued his experiments. In 1914, he received two patents for rockets. In 1917, he received a $5,000 grant from the Smithsonian Institution for research. During World War I, he developed a bazooka-type rocket, which was not manufactured. In the 1920s, Goddard tested his rockets at his aunt’s farm in Auburn, MA. The last rocket flight there was in 1929, after which the fire marshal prohibited further flights. In 1924, Goddard met and married Esther Kisk. Esther often filmed the rocket flights. Goddard received more financial support from the Smithsonian Institution, and by the 1930s the Guggenheim Foundation was funding his research. He moved his research to the desert of New Mexico, and took a leave of absence from Clark to focus on developing rocket technology. He worked with the military, from 1941 until his death in 1945, on rocket projects at the Naval Experiment Station at Annapolis. He died of cancer August 10, 1945. Esther Kisk was 17 and a secretary at Clark University, saving money for college, when she met Robert Goddard in 1920. She attended Bates College for a time, and they were married in 1924. After Goddard’s death in 1945, Esther Goddard devoted the next twenty years to getting recognition for Goddard’s work. She edited and published his papers (published in 1970), and is widely credited with bringing his name and achievements into the public consciousness. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is but one of the prominent places named for Robert Goddard.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents

About a third of the collection is comprised of Robert Goddard’s papers, from his undergraduate days and later. Most of the rest of the collection is made up of articles about him and recognition of various kinds for his work. There is a considerable amount of WPI material, including correspondence with Mrs. Goddard, tributes to Goddard, information about the building and laboratory named for him, and the scrapbook kept by his classmate, H. Clayton Kendall. There are also many news clippings which the public relations department of WPI kept over the years. These materials range in date from 1950 to 1998, but the majority are from the 1960s. Notes: There are also some materials in Goddard’s alumni file. Robert Goddard’s personal papers were given to Clark University.

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Permission from Archivist required.

Restrictions on Use

may be copied with the consent of the WPI Archivist.

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection