During
the early twentieth century, a decades long struggle
took place between the Wright brothers and the
Smithsonian Institution over who first invented an
aircraft capable of powered flight. During the
"Smithsonian controversy," the institution embarked on
a long and dangerous path of using its status as the
nation's museum in an attempt to rewrite history. The
resulting battle with the Smithsonian Institution as
well as other first flight claims left the Wright
brothers' legacy in doubt. The Wrights faced a lengthy
struggle over their recognition as the inventors of the
airplane that lingers a century later. Even their
hometown, Dayton, Ohio, where the brothers spent years
engineering and perfecting the airplane, hesitated in
acknowledging their success. The Smithsonian
controversy and other first flight claims drove Wilbur
and Orville to engage in a lifelong fight in protecting
and assuring their place in history. The Wrights' drive
to protect their legacy and Dayton's failure to
recognize its aviation roots came together to leave
aviation's birthplace without a focal point to
commemorate the Wrights. Today, the Wrights' story is
told in Dayton and North Carolina in part by the
National Park Service, and at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D.C. However, it took nearly
a century before Dayton would finally fully recognize
their historic links to the Wright brothers.
To analyze how the Wrights' concern over their legacy
and Dayton's neglect of its heritage are linked, a
chronological survey of the influencing events, trends,
and ramifications is presented. The examined issues are
often defined by political, social, cultural, and
economic factors. How these factors shaped a definable
evolutionary process in the connection between the
Wrights' legacy and Dayton's commemoration of the
Wrights are explored. The findings illustrate that the
Smithsonian set a dangerous precedent by using its
power as the nation's museum to advance its version of
history. Repercussions from the Smithsonian controversy
are seen in Dayton as Orville took the steps he felt
were needed to assure the brothers' legacy in the
United States.
An upcoming publication by Clay Johnson, Ph.D.