"The Birth of NASA-The Diary of T. Keith Glennan" tells the story
of the critical formative months of the new agency. The
Introduction describes the background of T. Keith Glennan, the
first NASA Administrator. After the Introduction, the book
continues with Glennan's recollections of NASA from his appointment
until the end of 1959. The 13 chapters are written in a diary
format covering month-by-months his activities until he left the
position in 1961. A Postscript, written in 1963, gives his views on
the space program after he left office. A Biographical Appendix
gives short sketches of about 400 individuals active in the space
program during this period. Throughout the diary numerous
explanatory footnotes by the editor clarify events an provide
references for further details. Although Glennan's stay at NASA was
short, his contributions are most significant, as he built the
organization that would men to the moon and serve the nation to the
present time. By T. Keith Glennan: "When I first began keeping this
journal or diary, I never thought that it might, one day, be
published. When I was appointed as the first Administrator of the
newly authorized National Aeronautics and Space Administration on
19 August 1958, I started to keep a hand-written diary of sorts but
soon found that my time was all too limited for that task. When I
went back to Cleveland for the year-end holidays in 1959, I found
that my four children had become much interested in knowing more
about my job. They were also developing an interest in national and
international affairs that intrigued me. I resolved to record my
activities using my daily appointment cards to remind me of the
important meetings that had become a daily way of life. I had a
small, battery-operated recording machine called a dictette, and I
usually dictated a summary of the day's happenings before I turned
off the light each night. I sent the tapes back to my office at
Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland where my secretary,
Barbara Helberg, transcribed and stored them. I never saw them
until I returned to Case in early 1961. Nor did I or anyone else
edit them until NASA's chief historian, Dr. Roger D. Launius, and
Dr. J. D. Hunley of the NASA History Office undertook the task. I
did retain all of the daily appointment record cards, however. In
1963 my wife and I decided to take a long holiday in Europe, and I
took the dictette and appointment cards with me, intending to
record the events of the days between 19 August 1958 and 1 January
1960. I soon found that my memory was a bit hazy; I therefore chose
to provide the kids with synopses of relationships with individuals
or groups rather than the hour-by-hour recitation mode I had used
to record the events after 1 January 1960. Throughout, I had
embellished the unfolding story with bits of personal feelings or
philosophy when stimulated by significant meetings or events. I do
regret that I did not record the full diary when I started in the
new post. When I completed the diary proper in 1963, I decided to
voice my concern over the "crash" nature of the Apollo program,
although I recognize that my conservative nature certainly clouded
my vision at the time. When the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the
moon on 20 July 1969, I was glued to a television screen at the
Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco and was as thrilled and
emotionally moved as anyone could be. The management of that
program by Jim Webb, Hugh Dryden, Tom Paine, Bob Seamans and Bob
Gilruth was in the best tradition of the great undertakings that
have periodically marked our nation's history."
General
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