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| Photo from Long Island Technology Hall of Fame |
It isn't any wonder.
Probably no aviation pioneer was more vilified than Glenn Curtiss during his lifetime, and the smears
continued for the eighty four years after his death. They continue
today. The
accusations are understandable when you consider their origins.They
can be traced to the obsessive hatred by his two rivals, who claimed he
had stolen from them their inventions, their due honor, their wealth,
and in the case of Wilbur, his life. They launched an intensive campaign against his character. If they couldn't assassinate him in fact, they could do so verbally. Indeed, I consider very few a match for the Wright's genius in the verbal category. It's what they did best. Like great lawyers, they could take the facts and twist them to serve their purposes, and they were very convincing.
Considering the source, none of the accusations against Curtiss hold much validity when viewed in the light of reason. Glenn Curtiss was not secretive. There is no doubt what he did. His accomplishments were right out in the open with credible and verifiable witnesses. The only occasions we see him accused of being a liar are when the Wright brothers needed to prove, for instance, that he stole his expertise from them, as in a meeting in 1906. What they shared was their word against his. However, the Wrights were secretive, and we have clear examples of their playing with the truth to their advantage. See truthinaviationhistory.blogspot.com.
From the time he was a child, Curtiss had a seemingly easy, natural genius for inventing. See "The Boy Who Fixed Things" in Boys' Life. Inventors ran in the family. Both of Curtiss's gggrandparents Esther and Jabez Bradley were cousins of Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber. (Esther's mother was born a Goodyear.) His mother's first cousin, Charles Hazor Smith, an inventor his whole life, is credited with important innovations on the "Aladdin lamp." There were other inventors, as well, such as Charles' son, Hazor Judson Smith, who is credited with inventing the first ice-less refrigerator.
When Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell's group, nicknamed "Bell's Boys," developed a practical airplane in a matter of months in 1907 and 1908, Curtiss became the object of jealousy, accusations, and insinuations by the Wrights. They said that he had to have stolen their secrets, because his "June Bug" flew July 4, 1908, in the glaring light of official witnesses and publicity--before the Wrights could even debut with their flyer in August and September. He stole their thunder.
In a sense, Curtiss became
the Wrights' nemesis, but only because of their inability to break loose from
their apparent desire to destroy him. It is said that hatred is destructive of the one who does the hating. In the final analysis, they couldn't
compete with Curtiss during his lifetime. His planes continued to improve, theirs became failures.The Wrights won against him in the
courts, but the reasons they won are a story in itself and might not be considered legitimate today.
After January, 1914, when Curtiss lost his final appeal against the Wright-biased courts, Orville didn't stop; he intensified his seemingly "monomaniacal" campaign of propaganda. Curtiss's reconstruction of Professor Langley's 1903 aerodrome provided even more fuel in the spring of 1914.The attacks against Curtiss continued following his death in 1930, age 52, after which aviation progressed mightily, and people began to forget his earlier contributions. Orville, as designated "first to fly," took advantage of the additional decades he lived to try Curtiss in the court of public opinion, calling him a "liar" and a "thief." America's own Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, staffed by true Wright "believers," has joined the Wrights in their campaigns. A key to their attacks is the implication that the Langley aerodrome couldn't have flown without the modifications that Curtiss made to it when he reconstructed it. Another key is when they simply state it was "heavily modified," implying the same thing.The truth of this story is much more complex--as such stories usually are..
The American people deserve better, especially from their premier scientific institutions. I believe there are still people who are willing to entertain the truth of the manipulated stories--our educated aviators, unbiased historians, American citizens, and the people of the world.
(Below) Glenn Curtiss, left, and Henry Ford with one of Curtiss's beautifully crafted flying boats. Curtiss is credited with its invention. Ford offered Curtiss the services of his attorney against the Wright lawsuits.
From the time he was a child, Curtiss had a seemingly easy, natural genius for inventing. See "The Boy Who Fixed Things" in Boys' Life. Inventors ran in the family. Both of Curtiss's gggrandparents Esther and Jabez Bradley were cousins of Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber. (Esther's mother was born a Goodyear.) His mother's first cousin, Charles Hazor Smith, an inventor his whole life, is credited with important innovations on the "Aladdin lamp." There were other inventors, as well, such as Charles' son, Hazor Judson Smith, who is credited with inventing the first ice-less refrigerator.
When Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell's group, nicknamed "Bell's Boys," developed a practical airplane in a matter of months in 1907 and 1908, Curtiss became the object of jealousy, accusations, and insinuations by the Wrights. They said that he had to have stolen their secrets, because his "June Bug" flew July 4, 1908, in the glaring light of official witnesses and publicity--before the Wrights could even debut with their flyer in August and September. He stole their thunder.
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| Photo from the GlennhCurtissmuseum.org website. |
After January, 1914, when Curtiss lost his final appeal against the Wright-biased courts, Orville didn't stop; he intensified his seemingly "monomaniacal" campaign of propaganda. Curtiss's reconstruction of Professor Langley's 1903 aerodrome provided even more fuel in the spring of 1914.The attacks against Curtiss continued following his death in 1930, age 52, after which aviation progressed mightily, and people began to forget his earlier contributions. Orville, as designated "first to fly," took advantage of the additional decades he lived to try Curtiss in the court of public opinion, calling him a "liar" and a "thief." America's own Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, staffed by true Wright "believers," has joined the Wrights in their campaigns. A key to their attacks is the implication that the Langley aerodrome couldn't have flown without the modifications that Curtiss made to it when he reconstructed it. Another key is when they simply state it was "heavily modified," implying the same thing.The truth of this story is much more complex--as such stories usually are..
The American people deserve better, especially from their premier scientific institutions. I believe there are still people who are willing to entertain the truth of the manipulated stories--our educated aviators, unbiased historians, American citizens, and the people of the world.
(Below) Glenn Curtiss, left, and Henry Ford with one of Curtiss's beautifully crafted flying boats. Curtiss is credited with its invention. Ford offered Curtiss the services of his attorney against the Wright lawsuits.
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