Jerome Lederer Papers

Jerome Fox "Jerry" Lederer is often called the "father of aviation safety." He began his career as an aeronautical engineer for the U.S. Air Mail Service in the 1920s, prior to becoming chief engineer for Aero Insurance Underwriters, one of the world's largest aviation insurance companies at that time. In addition to assessing aviation risks for the company, Lederer carried out safety audits and educational programs, and produced a widely acclaimed safety newsletter. In 1940, Lederer was named director of the newly created Civil Aeronautics Board Safety Bureau, a forerunner to the National Transportation Safety Board. He left the Safety Bureau in 1942 for a position with the Airlines War Training Institute.

In the aftermath of a Lockheed Constellation accident in 1946, Lederer organized a meeting to discuss ways to disseminate safety information. The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) was formed in 1947 as a result of this meeting, and Lederer served as its director until 1967. Lederer also was director of the Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center from 1950 to 1967. Upon his retirement from FSF, Lederer was asked to establish an Office of Manned Space Flight Safety for NASA to address safety issues in the Apollo Program following the January 1967 launch-pad fire that killed three astronauts. Lederer retired from NASA in 1972 but continued to be an advocate for aviation safety until his death in 2004 at age 101.

For additional information about the life and career of Jerry Lederer, see the special issue of "Flight Safety Digest" published by the Flight Safety Foundation in honor of Lederer's 100th birthday in 2002.

The Lederer Papers contain correspondence, speeches, articles, reports, photographs, news clippings, publications, an oral history interview and memorabilia spanning Lederer's entire career.

Included are records relating to a number of aviation insurance companies, including Barber and Baldwin, Aero Insurance Underwriters, Aerotech Insurance Underwriters, Aero Engineering and Advisory Service, and Charles A. Rheinstrom, Inc. The collections also contain documents relating to Lederer's time as director of the Civil Aeronautics Board Safety Bureau (1940-1942), as well as his work for the Airlines War Training Institute (1942-1943).

Lederer's work as technical director of the Flight Safety Foundation (1948-1967) and its predecessor organization Aviation Engineering for Safety (1947-1948), as well as his concurrent position as director of the Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center (1950-1967), is well represented. Records related to Aviation Crash Injury Research/Aviation Safety and Engineering Research (AvCIR/AvSER) are included in the Flight Safety Foundation and Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center records. Lederer's continuing association with Flight Safety Foundation after his 1967 retirement from the Foundation is also documented in the collection.

The Lederer Papers also include documents relating to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the space program, notably Lederer's work as director of the Office of Manned Space Flight Safety for the Apollo program as well as his subsequent position as director of safety for NASA.

In addition, the Lederer Papers contain writings, speeches and other presentations by Lederer spanning his career. Additional writings by Lederer can be found in the publications of Aero Insurance Underwriters and the Flight Safety Foundation. Also documented is Lederer's involvement with the aviation safety work of government agencies, associations and organizations, and various committees. The collection also includes correspondence and biographical materials, as well as documents relating to the numerous awards and honors that he received.

Information on other individuals, writings by these individuals and correspondence between other individuals and Lederer may be found in the "Other Individuals" series. However, the bulk of Lederer's correspondence (including correspondence with individuals listed in the "Other Individuals" series) is filed in the "Correspondence Series." The collection also documents Lederer's involvement in the Air Mail Pioneers and also includes files on other aviation history topics.

The Jerome Lederer Papers are organized into the following 16 series:

• Airlines War Training Institute
• Aviation History
• Aviation Insurance
• Biographical and Personal
• Civil Aeronautics Board Safety Bureau
• College of Aeronautics, LaGuardia Airport
• Conferences, Seminars and Symposia
• Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center
• Correspondence
• Flight Safety Foundation
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Organizations and Committees
• Other Individuals
• Topical Files
• University of Southern California
• Writings, Speeches and Addresses by Lederer
• Unprocessed Material

For additional information, see the series descriptions and preliminary inventories.

The collection was received with little original order. Portions of the collection were organized in original folders. Where possible, what original order did exist has been maintained, however, the overall series arrangement was imposed by the archives during processing.

Processing of the collection is ongoing, and there is significant unprocessed material that is not yet classified within a series.