Growing Up Wright
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Milton and Susan Wright raised their children to value learning, embrace hard work and trust family above everyone else. These traits served their youngest sons, Wilbur and Orville, well in their methodical work to invent, refine and patent the first airplane. The brothers’ bicycle shop provided income and insight for their research. Katharine, their younger sister, offered unfailing support and encouragement at every step.
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Book Used by Wilbur Wright, "McGuffey's New Second Eclectic Reader," 1857
Milton and Susan Wright encouraged an interest in learning in their children Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine -- though not necessarily in formal education. Katharine was the only Wright child to finish college, graduating from Oberlin in 1898. Neither Wilbur nor Orville finished high school, but they learned much from their father's extensive home library.
View ArtifactWright Home--Original Site--Interior--Item1
Before moving the Wright Home from Dayton, Ohio, to Greenfield Village in November 1936, Henry Ford's agents found and took detailed photographs of the building's interior. These photos helped the team reassemble the structure in Dearborn, Michigan. Orville Wright also assisted to ensure the reconstruction's accuracy.
View ArtifactOrville Wright, Katharine Wright and Wilbur Wright in France, 1909
Orville Wright and Katharine Wright joined their brother, Wilbur, in France in early 1909. Wilbur had completed a series of impressive demonstration flights the previous fall, and the three siblings were celebrated throughout the country as heroes. Despite all the attention from monarchs, politicians, and business titans, the Wrights remained unaffectedly true to their Midwestern modesty.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects," 1873
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
View ArtifactChristmas Card from Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine Wright, 1911
With their list of personal and professional contacts growing ever longer, the Wright siblings sent printed Christmas cards during the 1911 holiday season. Unfortunately, the new year would not be a happy one for the Wrights. Exhausted by ongoing legal fights over their aviation patents, Wilbur Wright died from typhoid fever on May 30, 1912.
View ArtifactGuitar, Used by the Wright Family, 1860-1890
Music was an important part of the Wright family home. Orville enjoyed playing the mandolin and even took the instrument with him to Kitty Hawk. Katharine wasn't as fond of her brother's mandolin, once writing that Orville "picks that thing until I can hardly stay in the house." This parlor guitar is believed to have belonged to the Wright family.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "The Works of Charles Dickens: Dombey and Son," 1871
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
View ArtifactWright Home Parlor Decorated for Christmas, Original Site, Dayton, Ohio, circa 1900
Christmas was a special time in the Wright home. Neither Wilbur, Orville, nor Katharine had children, but older brother Lorin lived nearby with his youngsters. The Wright family's tree overflowed with presents for nieces and nephews. Certainly, no Christmas was as exciting as that of 1903, which came just eight days after the Wrights' first airplane flights in North Carolina.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "Science Primers: Physics," 1872
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
View ArtifactWright Home--Original Site--Exterior--Item2
Before moving the Wright Home from Dayton, Ohio, to Greenfield Village in November 1936, Henry Ford's agents found and took detailed photographs of the building's exterior. These photos helped the team reassemble the structure in Dearborn, Michigan. Orville Wright also assisted to ensure the reconstruction's accuracy.
View ArtifactFront Room in Wright Home at Its Original Site, Dayton, Ohio, about 1897-1898
Before moving the Wright Home from Dayton, Ohio, to Greenfield Village in November 1936, Henry Ford's agents found and took detailed photographs of the building's interior. These photos helped the team reassemble the structure in Dearborn, Michigan. Orville Wright also assisted to ensure the reconstruction's accuracy.
View ArtifactPortrait of Katharine Wright as a Young Girl, circa 1881
Katharine Wright was born on August 19, 1874, in her family's house in Dayton, Ohio. She was the only one of the five Wright children to finish college, graduating from Oberlin in 1898. Katharine returned to Dayton to teach high school. She provided invaluable support to her brothers, Wilbur and Orville, in their efforts to build a successful airplane.
View ArtifactPortrait of Milton Wright, 1878-1881
Milton Wright inspired his sons, Wilbur and Orville, with his strong sense of morality and his belief in family as a haven from the outside world. Wright, a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, traveled frequently on church business. But the time away from home did not lessen his devotion to his children.
View ArtifactPortrait of Wilbur Wright as a Boy, 1878
Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana. He was a strong student until an ice hockey accident as a teenager sunk him into a depression. Ironically, his mother's failing health brought Wilbur out of his melancholy as he cared for her in her final years. Instead of college, Wilbur educated himself through his father's extensive library.
View ArtifactPortrait of Orville Wright as a Boy, 1878
Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871, in the family house in Dayton, Ohio. In 1878 his father, a bishop who traveled frequently on church business, brought home a toy helicopter for Orville and his brother Wilbur. The Wright brothers later credited the toy with sparking their earliest interest in aviation.
View ArtifactWright Cycle Shop
Wilbur and Orville Wright operated their bicycle business in this building from 1897 to 1908 in Dayton, Ohio. The brothers sold and repaired bikes, and they even produced models under their own brands. It was also in this shop that the Wright brothers built their earliest flying machines, including the 1903 Flyer that became the first successful heavier-than-air, powered, controlled aircraft.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "The Poetical Works of John Milton," 1888
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
View ArtifactWright Home
Though the Wright family moved around, brothers Wilbur and Orville always thought of this house, originally located at 7 Hawthorn Street in Dayton, Ohio, as home. Orville was born here in 1871, and Wilbur died here in 1912. It was also here that the brothers began their serious studies in aviation -- work that led to their successful 1903 Wright Flyer.
View ArtifactSt. Clair Bicycle Made by the Wright Brothers, 1897-1901
After their 1901 glider didn't perform as expected, Wilbur and Orville Wright modified a bicycle to test the data used to shape their wings. Riding the bike generated a breeze that simulated the air pressure against a wing in flight. Although this St. Clair bicycle was built by the Wrights, it is not the actual bike used in their experiments.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "Grimm's Fairy Tales," 1880-1889
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
View ArtifactReplica of the Wright Brothers 1901 Wind Tunnel, Constructed in 1938
When their glider did not perform as expected in 1901, Wilbur and Orville Wright determined that the standard lift tables -- used to predict the lift generated by aircraft wings -- were incorrect. The Wrights built a wind tunnel in their Dayton bicycle shop and calculated their own tables. This new data led directly to their success with the 1903 Wright Flyer.
View ArtifactWright Brothers Garden Shed
Orville and Wilbur Wright were enthusiastic photographers who took many shots of their family and friends. They also took numerous photos of their gliders and airplanes, and those images remain vital records of the airplane's invention. The brothers developed their glass plate negatives in a darkroom they built in the shed behind the family home.
View ArtifactBook Used by Orville Wright, "Stoddard's American Intellectual Arithmetic," 1866
Milton and Susan Wright encouraged an interest in learning in their children Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine -- though not necessarily in formal education. Katharine was the only Wright child to finish college, graduating from Oberlin in 1898. Neither Wilbur nor Orville finished high school, but they learned much from their father's extensive home library.
View ArtifactElectric Shock Box, Used by Milton Wright, 1897-1917
Milton Wright owned this electric shock machine. One person turned the small hand-cranked electric generator, while another person -- perhaps unsuspectingly -- took hold of the metal handles. The current passed through the second person's body and caused a mild, though definitely noticeable, electric shock. Some people thought these machines offered health benefits. Others simply enjoyed their novelty.
View ArtifactBook Used by the Wright Family, "The Principal Works of Charles Darwin," 1886
Bishop Milton Wright maintained an extensive library in his Dayton, Ohio, home. His books ranged from scientific works like Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, to poems by Virgil, to novels by Mark Twain. Wright's sons, Wilbur and Orville, used the bishop's books on physics and ornithology to start their research on the problem of human flight.
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