• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

370 Beach Road Fairfield, CT 06824
Closed until March 1st

Fairfield History Museum Center Logo

Imagine the Past, Explore the Future

Header Right

  • Donate
  • Visit
  • Rentals
  • Contact
  • Search
  • About
    • Mission and Values
    • Board & Staff
    • Directions & Area Info
    • Museum Commons & Town Green
    • Museum Shop
    • 1750 Ogden House
      • Colonial Garden
      • Honey Bee Project
  • Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • IMAGES 2021
  • Programs & Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Birthday Parties
  • Library & Research
    • Documenting COVID-19 Experience
    • Explore Our Collections
    • Pequot War Battlefield Project
    • Underrepresented Voices
    • Way Back When
    • Learn More
  • Education
    • Education Programs & Tours
      • Before You Visit
    • Fee Waiver Program
    • Professional Development
    • Docents in Museum Education
    • Classroom Kits
  • Support
    • Our Partners
    • Get Involved
      • Internships
      • Employment
    • Membership
    • Planned Giving
    • Annual Fund
  •  

Mobile Menu

  • Donate
  • Visit
  • Rentals
  • Contact
  • Search
  • About
    • Mission and Values
    • Board & Staff
    • Directions & Area Info
    • Museum Commons & Town Green
    • Museum Shop
    • 1750 Ogden House
      • Colonial Garden
      • Honey Bee Project
  • Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • IMAGES 2021
  • Programs & Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Birthday Parties
  • Library & Research
    • Documenting COVID-19 Experience
    • Explore Our Collections
    • Pequot War Battlefield Project
    • Underrepresented Voices
    • Way Back When
    • Learn More
  • Education
    • Education Programs & Tours
      • Before You Visit
    • Fee Waiver Program
    • Professional Development
    • Docents in Museum Education
    • Classroom Kits
  • Support
    • Our Partners
    • Get Involved
      • Internships
      • Employment
    • Membership
    • Planned Giving
    • Annual Fund
  •  

Gustave Whitehead

Gustave Whitehead.

 

 

Jane’s All About Airplanes’ 2013 announcement that Gustave Whitehead should be credited with having flown in Fairfield and Stratford in 1901 puts an authoritative stamp on an achievement that had previously lacked recognition by most aviation historians. Advocates of Whitehead’s role in history, especially Stella Randolph, William O’Dwyer, and Andy Kosch, have pursued the story over the years in order to win this kind of recognition. For more information, see coverage by NPR, CBS This Morning, the Connecticut Post and the in-depth website of researcher John Brown, including his explanation about the “missing photograph” from the 1901 flight.  The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s spring 2013 article explains why it does not accept Whitehead’s claim. Brown’s in-depth article summarizing his research, with citations, is available here.

Susan Brinchman’s  book, Gustave Whitehead : “First in flight”: hidden history of Gustave Whitehead & the Wrights (2015) is the most complete compilation to date of primary sources and contextual information about Whitehead.  The book is available in our library and also in the Museum’s gift shop. Brinchman’s list of witnesses to Gustave Whitehead’s flights is also available alphabetically or by date of flight, and more information is available on her website.

Following Jane’s recognition, Governor Malloy of Connecticut signed into law on June 25th House Bill 6671, which includes among its provisions recognition of Gustave Whitehead as the first man to achieve successful powered flight. Per the text of the bill, in Connecticut “Powered Flight Day” will now be celebrated to honor Gustave Whitehead rather than the Wright Brothers. For more information, see coverage by The Economist.

Want to learn more? The Fairfield Museum’s library contains copies of the books by O’Dwyer and Randolph that present their research , which are now out of print, as well as the William O’Dwyer Gustave Whitehead Research Collection, which contains photographs, newspaper articles, and correspondence about Whitehead’s flights; the library also has witness accounts and news articles compiled by Susan Brinchman. A mini-exhibition in the library’s foyer displays items from the collection and tells Whitehead’s story.

Watch a video of  a local television show including interviews with aviation historian John Brown and Paul Jackson of Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, about Jane’s recognition of Whitehead:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Museum Hours: Open Daily: 10am - 4pm
Library Hours: Wed-Sat: 10am - 4pm, Appointment Required
Schedule Library Appointment

370 Beach Road Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 259-1598

Footer

Admission:
Members: FREE
Adults: $5 | Seniors: $3
Children age 5 and younger: FREE

Charity Navigator

Leadership Support Provided By

Fairfield County Community Foundation

CT Humanities

Learn More

 
 
 

Copyright © 2021 Fairfield Museum and History Center · All Rights Reserved.