uarc00475 Jean Felix Piccard Papers, 1932-1952 University Archives staff; revised by Ann Mulfort University of Minnesota Libraries April 2004
University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455
EAD encoding by Ann Mulfort April 2004 Finding aid written in English University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc] Piccard, Jean Felix, 1884-1963. Jean Felix Piccard papers 1932-1952 (bulk 1935-1942) 5 boxes (1.66 cubic feet) The collection contains the personal papers of Dr. Jean Felix Piccard, professor emeritus of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. uarc 475 Collection materials in English Administrative Information Use of Materials

Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

 Copyright

Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Requests to publish should be arranged with the University of Minnesota Archives.

Preferred Citation

Jean Felix Piccard papers, University Archives, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Acquisition Information

Donated to the University of Minnesota Archives on September 10, 1975 by the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

 Arrangement

To maintain Piccard's original folder headings, the collection is arranged alphabetically, then chronologically within the folders. All headings represent one folder unless otherwise noted.

 Scope and Content

The bulk of the collection dates from the late 1930s to the 1940s. It consists mostly of correspondence, but includes nearly 2 boxes of student papers taken from the 1940s. Every third paper was retained to provide a sample of the entire contents. The collection also includes a dissertation of Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, as well as photographs and artifacts presumably used in flights. The "Pleiades" flight is well documented in the collection.

Historical Sketch of Jean Felix Piccard (1884-1963)

Jean Felix Piccard, Dipl. Ing. Chem. (1907), Dr. Sc. (1909), Swiss Institute of Technology (Zurich). Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Minnesota (1936-1952). Pioneer in the field of stratospheric flight and cosmic ray research.

Jean Felix Piccard was born on January 28, 1884 in Basle, Switzerland. He was educated in Basle and at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich where he received the degree of Dr. Sc. in 1909. He moved to the United States in 1916 where he taught at the University of Chicago. In 1919, he married Jeannette Ridlon, who worked with her husband in many of his studies and experiments. She would, in 1935, receive her Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota. Together, they had three sons; John, Paul, and Donald. Jean Felix Piccard joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 1936 as a lecturer in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering where he remained until his retirement in 1952. He was considered a pioneering stratosphere balloonist and cosmic ray research scientist.

The Piccard family was internationally known for scientific achievement. His father, Jules Piccard, was Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basle. His twin brother, Auguste Piccard, later became the inventor of the stratosphere balloon, and made the first stratosphere flight in Europe in 1931. He is equally noted for his development of equipment for undersea exploration.

Jean Felix and Jeannette Piccard's famous stratosphere flight in 1934 was made in a balloon that left the Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan. It was the first flight made in the United States to study cosmic rays. In 1937, they boarded the "Pleiades" at Soldiers Field in Rochester, Minnesota to make another successful flight.

Piccard retired from the University of Minnesota in 1952 as professor emeritus, and died eleven years later on his birthday in 1963.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons: Hill, Edward J. Masson, Louis Talwin (1897 - ) Piccard, Auguste (1884 - 1962) Piccard, Jeannette Ridlon (1895 - 1981) Organizations: Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences University of Minnesota High School University of Minnesota. Department of Aeronautical Engineering Document Types: Artifacts Contracts Correspondence Dissertations, Academic Drawing Federal regulations Manuscripts Mobile radio stations, Law and legislation - United States Photographs Schedules, Schools Teaching Aids and devices Places: Dearborn, Michigan Rochester, Minnesota Switzerland Subjects: Aeronautics Ballooning Education Pleiades Stratosphere Related Materials

DeGrummond, Lena Young. (1968). Jean Felix Piccard, boy balloonist. NY: Bobbs-Merrill.

Honour, Alan. (1957). Ten miles high, two miles deep; the adventures of the Piccards. NY: Whitlesey House.

Piccard Family Papers. Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress. Washington, DC.

Piccard Balloon Collection. University of Minnesota Libraries, Special Collections and Rare Books

 Detailed Description of the Collection 1 1 Balloon construction, correspondence, 1935-1940. 1 2 Balloon outfitting, correspondence, 1933-1937. 1 3 Class syllabus and various handouts, 1940s. 1 4 Class tests and quizzes, 1937-1944. 1 5 Classes, Aero. 160, notes, lecture schedules, undated. 1 6 Consulting, correspondence, 1937-1942. 1 73 "Foreign matter," 1933-1945.

Piccard's title for strange letters.

1 8-9 General Correspondence, 1932-1952. 2 1 Hill, Edward J, correspondence, 1933-1937. 2 2 Hydrogen, correspondence, 1933-1935. 2 3 Institute of the Aeronautical Science, correspondence and paper, 1938. 2 4 Inventions, correspondence, drawings, notes, figures, and contracts, 1939-1940s. 2 5 Masson, Louis Talwin, General Science Made Easy, correspondence, 1940-1941. 2 6 Piccard, Auguste (1884-1962), lecture trip 1933, correspondence, paper, contracts, and schedules, undated. 2 7 Piccard, Jean, papers by, 1930s-1940s. 2 8-9 Piccard, Jean, "Physics of the Atmosphere" notes, 1940s. 3 1-2 Piccard, Jean, Problems of the Stratosphere, manuscript, 1940s. 3 3 Piccard, Jeannette Ridlon (1895-1981), The Constitution of the meri-Quinoid Salts, dissertation, 1919. 3 4-6 "Pleiades," correspondence, 1937-1938. 3 7 "Pleiades," Burgess Battery Co., correspondence, 1937-1938. 3 8 "Pleiades," orders and bills, 1937. 3 9 Sponsorship (sounding balloons), correspondence, 1934, 1937. 4 1 Sounding balloons, correspondence, 1939-1940. 4 2 Sounding balloons, Burgess Battery Co., correspondence, 1939-1941. 4 3 Sounding balloons, correspondence, regarding publishing, 1939-1940. 4 4 Sounding balloons, information notes, 1939-1940. 4 5 Sounding balloons, federal regulations for radio transmitter, 1930s. 4 6-7 Student Papers, 1940s.

Arnquist, John L.

Bidne, Charles V.

Butcher, James A.

Cororan, Paul J.

Gudahl, Roger J.

Hutchinson, Charles Hurlebert

Jennings, Hugh

Jordan, Ross W.

Laier, Arlin F.

Larson, Leonard P.

Merrick, George

Nickles, George M.

 5 1 Student Papers continued, 1940s.

Okano, Frederick K.

Olson, Allen K.

Pracht, John H.

Sedlund, Floyd Roland

Thorson, Keith R.

Wehrend, William R.

 5 2 Switzerland and relatives, correspondence, 1932-1938. 5 3 Thank you card from University High students, 1936. 5 4 University of Minnesota, correspondence, 1935-1942. 5 5 Photographs, undated. 5 6 Artifacts: American flag and unidentified object, undated.

Possibly used in flights.