The Harry A. Cronk collection, 1957-1990 primarily documents Cronk's career with Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am, and NASA, supporting national defense and manned spaceflight during the height of the space race between 1950 and 1970. Materials consist of certificates, ephemera, photographs, publications, reports, and a hard hat. This collection is useful to historical research into Harry Cronk, Pan Am, and NASA projects. Harry Alden Cronk was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922 and died in Merritt Island, Florida in 2004. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, earned a mechanical engineering degree from Georgia Tech, and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1950, Cronk married Mary Jane Brewer and worked for Bendix in a defense contractor position. In 1957, he began to work for Armco steel before moving to Merritt Island, Florida, accepting a job with Pan American World Airways in 1960. Cronk became Chief Staff Engineer in 1962. Pan Am, and Cronk, directly supported the Apollo 11 mission that achieved the moon landing on July 20th, 1969. He also contributed to the Skylab missions and the first international manned space mission in 1975. He retired from Johnson Controls in 1990. He later passed away in 2004.
The Wagar Space collection, 1944-1986 represents the interests of Commander Howard Wagar, from the 1940s to the 1980s. His main collecting interest was the space program, for which he collected periodicals, newspaper clippings, public relations materials, photographs, and prints. Subjects include the Apollo missions, the lunar module landing, the Skylab and Viking projects, Mars, the Russian Space Program, and astronauts. The collection also includes information about events such as the post World War II atomic bomb tests, the rise of Fidel Castro to power in Cuba, and the assassination of U.S President John F. Kennedy. This collection provides insight into International space program activities. Commander Howard Wagar was born in Fairmont, Minnesota in 1906. He moved to New Jersey in the 1920s, where he worked for WAAM radio station in Newark. He received his radio operators liscense in 1928 and worked as an operator for the merchant marines in various radio stations. Wagar joined the Navy in 1943, where he served until 1966, advancing to the rank of Commander. In the Navy, Wagar participated in sensitive Navy missions, including the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests, the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Project, and the Apollo Space Project.
