![]() and of their closest surviving relatives. Nowhere was our search more productive than in Dayton, Ohio, the home of the Wright brothers. ![]() ![]() Her precise replies to our many letters clarified that relationship and yielded valuable references to the Wright & Wright printing as well. Mason, Archivist of the United Brethren Archives at Huntington College in Huntington, Indiana proved to be a willing and knowledgeable source of information. We found published confusion about the relationship of the brothers' father, Bishop Milton Wright, to the "schism" in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. They worked together in printing from 1888 until 1899. It is satisfying that the plaque identifying that structure has been rewritten to describe it as a replica of the place where the Wrights practiced, simultaneously from 1897 until 1899, all three of their careers: printing, bicycles, and aircraft. Thanks to Mary Mathews, it occupies one of the first floor rooms in Carillon Historical Park's replica Wright Cycle Co. In addition to publication, in 1987 we were privileged to research, plan, and assist in mounting the only comprehensive permanent display which details the work of WRIGHT & WRIGHT, Printers. Patricia Campbell, Graphic Arts Coordinator, and the Meriden-Stinehour Press were both a great help as was our long-time friend and mentor, Gerald W. We are grateful, too, to Cross Pointe Paper Corporation and Matthews Advertising & Marketing for their generous cooperation in making this edition possible. A digest of a few of them is included in the footnotes in this printing. The publication of the complete manuscript, including its 113 notes, in the respected Printing History triggered an avalanche of notes and letters. Getting to visit with Ivonette, Harold, Sue and Horace, who died April 13,1988, made it all worthwhile. Resource people were generous with their time and enthusiastic in their suggestions. The rewards, mostly intangible, of our research are priceless. Bright jewels of that collection are the diaries kept by Bishop Milton Wright, the boys' father, nearly without interruption from 1857 until his death in 1917. Pat Nolan, Head of Archives and Associate Professor, and his associate, Dorothy Smith. The efficiently indexed and maintained collection of Wright photographs, books, drawings and documents in the Wright State Archives were made available by Dr. Good friend, Robert Oldham, pored over the type and proofs and, by studying the founder's "nicks" and "pin marks" was able to identify most of it as being appropriate to the time of the Wrights's printing business. With Bill's gracious consent, we carried a few pieces of the type to our private print shop where we made "proofs" of it. Bill let us spend time in an upper room of the Wright Cycle Shop in the Village where we handled printers type and related equipment which is thought to have been used by the Wrights in their shop. Tom encouraged our effort and directed us to the Manuscript files of the Library of Congress.a rich source of Wright material.Ī visit with William Pretzer, Curator of Communications at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village literally opened a door for us. We journeyed to Washington, D.C., for an interview with Wright Brothers expert and author, Tom Crouch, Chairman, Department of Social and Cultural History, National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution. Our resulting research into the Wright's printing and publishing careers had an auspicious beginning. Since historians have labeled the Wrights as bicycle merchants and makers (only a few have noted their work as printers), the size and professionalism of these newspapers was a revelation! It was especially exciting to August whose life-long association with journalism and the graphic arts sparked an appreciation of them. That group's work resulted in the dedication of a "1930's era print shop" on July 11, 1988.Īt the second meeting of the committee, held in the office of Mary Mathews, Executive Director of the Park, Mary displayed copies of two newspapers that were written, edited, printed and published by Wilbur and Orville Wright. It all began in 1985 when August was asked to serve on a committee to develop a Print Shop in Dayton's Carillon Historical Park.
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