The David L. Davidson Jr. Collection documents the personal life, military service, and Boeing career of David L. Davidson. This collection, which dates from 1941 to his retirement from Boeing in 1988, consists of textual materials, photographs, technical drawings, and one digital audio recording. The collection is arranged in three series: Series I, Personal Records, 1941-1950; Series II, Military Records, 1946-1962; and Series III, Professional Records, 1954-1988.
Series I, Personal Records, contains a small amount of visual and textual materials. Included are four photographs of him in his youth and during college; technical drawings he made while studying electrical engineering at college; his diploma from Central Colored High School; an address book; and professional membership cards. Of particular note is a 46-page handwritten autobiogrpahy in which he describes his family background, work experience and labor issues at Alcorn State University, his recruitment to Boeing's work on the space program, and his move to Washington. Davidson recorded himself reading this autobiography at some point and his family later digitized the recording; the resulting digital audio file is also present in the collection.
Series II, Military Records, is also a small series which contains documents and records relating to his military appointments and discharge, as well as a commemorative statement from Harry S. Truman. It includes assorted records relating to his service in the Marines during World War II, but his later work with the Army Reserves is represented only by two certificates.
Series III, Professional records, contains the most materials which document his career at the Boeing Company and as a professor at Alcorn State University. These include photographs, administrative records, Boeing management training materials, handwritten notes on labor issues, photos of Davidson, and documentation from his retirement. The photos in this series include 53 black-and-white, 4x5-inch official Boeing photos, and they depict workspaces, equipment, computer systems, and unidentified staff, as well as rockets and launches. Three additional photos depict Davidson. First, an 8x10-inch official Boeing photograph shows Davidson in front of a large computer at the data tape facility in the Kent Boeing Space Center's 18-24 building, and two color snapshot Polaroids depict Davidson at his retirement.
Series I, Personal Records, contains a small amount of visual and textual materials. Included are four photographs of him in his youth and during college; technical drawings he made while studying electrical engineering at college; his diploma from Central Colored High School; an address book; and professional membership cards. Of particular note is a 46-page handwritten autobiogrpahy in which he describes his family background, work experience and labor issues at Alcorn State University, his recruitment to Boeing's work on the space program, and his move to Washington. Davidson recorded himself reading this autobiography at some point and his family later digitized the recording; the resulting digital audio file is also present in the collection.
Series II, Military Records, is also a small series which contains documents and records relating to his military appointments and discharge, as well as a commemorative statement from Harry S. Truman. It includes assorted records relating to his service in the Marines during World War II, but his later work with the Army Reserves is represented only by two certificates.
Series III, Professional records, contains the most materials which document his career at the Boeing Company and as a professor at Alcorn State University. These include photographs, administrative records, Boeing management training materials, handwritten notes on labor issues, photos of Davidson, and documentation from his retirement. The photos in this series include 53 black-and-white, 4x5-inch official Boeing photos, and they depict workspaces, equipment, computer systems, and unidentified staff, as well as rockets and launches. Three additional photos depict Davidson. First, an 8x10-inch official Boeing photograph shows Davidson in front of a large computer at the data tape facility in the Kent Boeing Space Center's 18-24 building, and two color snapshot Polaroids depict Davidson at his retirement.
Dates
- circa 1937-1988
Creator
- Davidson, David L., Jr., 1922-2008 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.
Conditions Governing Use
The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.
Extent
.55 Cubic Feet (1 full-width legal size document box, 1 oversize folder (30x40 in.))
.20746 Gigabytes (4 MP3 files)
Abstract
David L. Davidson was an electrical engineer at The Boeing Company and worked on the Saturn V Rocket and the Lunar Rover projects. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1942-1946 and in the U.S. Army Reserves Engineer Corps from 1957-1962. This collection, which dates from 1941 to his retirement from Boeing in 1988, consists of textual materials, photographs, and one digital audio recording. It includes administrative records, notes, Boeing managerial training materials, photographs that depict the Saturn V rocket program, an autobiographical narrative, and personal photographs.
Biographical Note: David L. Davidson, Jr.
David ("Dave") Louis Davidson, Jr. was an electrical engineer at The Boeing Company and worked on the Saturn V Rocket and Lunar Rover projects. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1942-1946 during World War II and in the U.S. Army Reserves Engineer Corps from 1957-1962.
Born in Bayou Goula, Louisiana on May 9, 1922 to Mary Beatrice Davidson and Rev. David Louis Davidson, Davidson graduated from the Central Colored High School in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1941. He then entered the U.S. Marine Corps on October 13, 1942, training at Camp Montford Point near Jacksonville, North Carolina and serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After his honorable discharge from the Marines on March 8, 1946, Davidson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1950.
Davidson also taught physics, math, and electrical engineering at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi for ten years, circa 1952-1963.
Davidson then worked at The Boeing Company as an electrical engineer, where he contributed to the Saturn V Rocket and the Lunar Rover projects. He served as the first Black lead engineer at the Boeing Michoud Plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. To qualify for this position, Davidson had to complete a qualification examination, and he was one of only a few or possibbly the only Black person in his testing group. Davidson earned a perfect score, but the examiner believed Davidson cheated and had him immediately retake the test under close monitoring. Davidson repeated his perfect score.
In the early 1960s and at the request of Boeing senior management, Davidson conducted a secret investigation that revealed discriminatory hiring and promotion practices at the Michaud Plant. He identified qualified Black employees that the Michaud Plant's management had overlooked for promotions and assigned to low level organization positions.
In 1969, he relocated to the Seattle, Washington area, where he worked at Boeing's Space Center in Kent, Washington. He retired in 1988.
Davidson and Eva Ruth Dugue married in August 1949, and the couple had three children and nine grandchildren. He died on September 17, 2008 at age 86 in Seattle, Washington. On June 27, 2012, Davidson posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal. President Barack Obama awarded the medal to the Black Marines who trained at Camp Montford Point from 1942-1949.
Biographical sketch derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com.
Born in Bayou Goula, Louisiana on May 9, 1922 to Mary Beatrice Davidson and Rev. David Louis Davidson, Davidson graduated from the Central Colored High School in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1941. He then entered the U.S. Marine Corps on October 13, 1942, training at Camp Montford Point near Jacksonville, North Carolina and serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After his honorable discharge from the Marines on March 8, 1946, Davidson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1950.
Davidson also taught physics, math, and electrical engineering at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi for ten years, circa 1952-1963.
Davidson then worked at The Boeing Company as an electrical engineer, where he contributed to the Saturn V Rocket and the Lunar Rover projects. He served as the first Black lead engineer at the Boeing Michoud Plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. To qualify for this position, Davidson had to complete a qualification examination, and he was one of only a few or possibbly the only Black person in his testing group. Davidson earned a perfect score, but the examiner believed Davidson cheated and had him immediately retake the test under close monitoring. Davidson repeated his perfect score.
In the early 1960s and at the request of Boeing senior management, Davidson conducted a secret investigation that revealed discriminatory hiring and promotion practices at the Michaud Plant. He identified qualified Black employees that the Michaud Plant's management had overlooked for promotions and assigned to low level organization positions.
In 1969, he relocated to the Seattle, Washington area, where he worked at Boeing's Space Center in Kent, Washington. He retired in 1988.
Davidson and Eva Ruth Dugue married in August 1949, and the couple had three children and nine grandchildren. He died on September 17, 2008 at age 86 in Seattle, Washington. On June 27, 2012, Davidson posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal. President Barack Obama awarded the medal to the Black Marines who trained at Camp Montford Point from 1942-1949.
Biographical sketch derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series, grouped by areas of Davidson's life:
Personal Records
Military Records
Professional Records
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by the David L. Davidson, Jr. Family.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Separated Materials
The following books have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in the Library:
The following items have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in Objects storage:
- Tuskeana 1950, Tuskegee Institute yearbook
- Boeing Magazine 50th Anniversary Issue, July 1966
- Boeing Management Album, October 1965
The following items have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in Objects storage:
- SPEEA Pocket Protector/Pen holder with 9 pens/pencils
- (2) Officers Patches – Technical Sergeant
- (2) “A” patches – Army Central Third Class
- Blue and white quadrant patch – US Army 4th Corps
- (2) Boot Braids (set)
- (3) Engineer Corps Epaulet pins
- (2) USMC Globe insignia pins
- Red and white ribbon bar pin – metal – US Army Good Conduct
- (4) fabric ribbon bars
- Marines Pin
- Boeing 20 Years’ Service pin
- 20 Years’ service pin – hand holding torch - generic
- “U.S.” Insignia pin
- US insignia pin
- US insignia pin
- “K” infantry pin, US Army Company K
- Pin - triangle
- Engineer Corps pin
- Chemical Officer Insignia pins
- Gray Garrison Cap
- (2) Khaki garrison caps
- Olive green garrison cap, WWI
- Garrison cap
- Green army uniform shirt, with officer patches
- Green officer’s jacket
- Ring, High school graduation
- Boeing Company
- Davidson, David L., Jr., 1922-2008
- Project Apollo (U.S.)
- Saturn launch vehicles
- autobiographies (documents)
- certificates
- clippings (information artifacts)
- correspondence
- diplomas
- employees' manuals
- military records
- notebooks
- notes (documents)
- payroll records
- photographic prints
- portraits
- sound recordings
- student projects
- technical drawings
Creator
- Davidson, David L., Jr., 1922-2008 (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Davidson (David L. Jr.) Collection
- Status
- Completed - Level 3
- Author
- Shannon McGilly
- Date
- 2023 March
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Edition statement
- 1st edition
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
Contact:
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org