DS, signed “Charles A. Lindbergh” and “Orville Wright,” three pages, 8.5 x 11, January 1930. A certificate of dissolution of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, Inc. The text reads, in part: “The undersigned, being every member of Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, Inc. entitled to vote, do hereby certify.... The Certificate of Incorporation of the Corporation was filed in the office of the Secretary of State on January 18, 1926…. The Corporation elects to dissolve.” The document lists the directors and their addresses, as well as the four corporate officers. All twelve directors have signed on the final page: Lindbergh, Wright, Robert A. Millikan (Nobel Prize–winning physicist who was the first to isolate the electron and measure its charge), Hutchinson I. Cone, F. Trubee Davison, William F. Durand, Emory S. Land, Elihu Root Jr, John D. Ryan, A. A. Michelson (Polish-born American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the speed of light and especially for the Michelson-Morley experiment; in 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics), Dwight W. Morrow (businessman, politician, diplomat, and the father of Lindbergh’s wife, Anne), and Harry F. Guggenheim. An additional ten pages comprise notarized affidavits attesting to the directors’ signatures. In fine condition, with some light wrinkling and handling wear to legal cover, and paperclip impressions to top edge of first page. Daniel Guggenheim and his son, Harry, established the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics on June 16, 1926. By the time it was dissolved in 1930, it had disbursed $3 million in grants to establish schools or research centers at MIT, New York University, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and others. It was this very fund that sponsored Lindbergh on his three-month nationwide tour following his triumphant transatlantic flight. During the tour Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis across America and touched down in 49 states, visited 92 cities, gave 147 speeches, and rode 1,290 miles in parades. In 1928 the fund established the Daniel Guggenheim Medal, awarded for “great achievements in aeronautics,” and Orville Wright received the first of these medals the following year; this medal continues to be one of aviation’s highest awards. A remarkable association between two of the greatest names in aviation history and an aviation fund whose legacy continues to this day! Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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