Guide to John L. Jordan Papers
Collection Summary
Title: John L. Jordan Papers Call Number: MS 2002-6 Size: 2.0 linear feet Acquisition: Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino. Processed by: VN: 12-18-2001
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This collection contains business and personal correspondences dating from 1938 to 1955, addressed to John L. Jordan, President of the American Dirigible Company of New York City. The correspondences relate to Jordan's relentless efforts to obtain funding for his dirigible projects and were written by him and potential investors, lawyers, engineers, politicians, and the United States Army and Navy officials. The correspondences are well in excess of 200 letters with a large group of related documents, blueprints, descriptive reports from Jordan's crew of airship engineers and experts, test results, flight predictions, and cost studies. Other correspondences document his early career with McKim, Mead & White, an architectural firm in New York.
John L. Jordan was born May 17, 1874, to John and Rose Jordan in New York City, New York. He received his education from the public school of New York City, Columbia Institute, The Trade School of Mechanics, and The Traders Institute. On November 29, 1899 Jordan married Isabelle M. Murray. John L. Jordan worked for 15 years in the general contracting business with his father. Upon his father's retirement in August 1905, Jordan succeeded to the entire business.
From 1936 to 1938 Jordan worked for the renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead and Kim in New York City. In 1938 he resigned from the firm due to his wife's illness. From 1938 to his death in 1955, Jordan was President of the American Dirigible Company of New York. Jordan claimed that dirigibles could out perform previous Zeppelin-type airships and compete with airplanes and naval vessels. He attempted to attract the attention of the Army and Navy but was never successful.
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Box 1 |
Papers Related to the American Dirigible Company. These files contain correspondence, reports, blueprints, and clippings regarding the American Dirigible Company while Jordan was President. Materials date between 1938 and 1955. |
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Box 2 |
Miscellaneous John L. Jordan Documents. The files in this series contain materials related to Jordan's earlier career and include correspondence, blueprints, and reports. The materials in this series are from the 1930s. |