The Robert Hutchings Goddard Exhibition
Please note: As of April 18, 2008 the Goddard Exhibition will be closed due to the Goddard Library renovation. Anticipated reopening
is later in 2009. Check back for details.
The Goddard Exhibition will be located on the 2nd Floor of the Robert H. Goddard Library at Clark University. The Goddard Library is located at the
intersection of Downing and Woodland Streets, which is one block west of Main Street and two blocks
east of Park Avenue (Routes 9 and 12) in Worcester, MA. The University and the Goddard Library can
be easily located on the Clark University campus map.
The exhibition, which will be open free of charge to the public, is designed
to be self-guiding. The exhibition will be open to the public whenever the library is.
Except on holidays, the library is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00
p.m., but when classes are in session the hours are extended and includes time
on the weekends. If you wish to call ahead to make sure the exhibition will be
open, the phone number is 508-793-7206.
This exhibition honors the memory of a great man, scientist, and engineer, whose work was years
ahead of its time and whose genius initiated the Space Age. The displays include excerpts from
Dr. Goddard's diaries and test reports, many photographs, selected pieces of rocket, and related
hardware.
Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 - August 10, 1945) was at Clark University as a
graduate student from 1908 through 1912 and as Professor of Physics from 1914 until shortly before
his death. He is known as the "Father of Modern Rocketry" because of his pioneering theoretical and
experimental research about rockets and space flight. Dr. Goddard is credited as the first American
to publish the theory underlying rocket propulsion and space flight. He did this in his classic work
"A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," which the Smithsonian Institution published in 1919 and which
laid the foundation for the present-day development of jet propulsion and rockets. This work contains
the complete mathematical formulation of rocket design and space flight. He was also the first to
develop and successfully launch a liquid-propellant rocket, which he did at his aunt's farm on Pakachoag
Hill in Auburn, Massachusetts on March 16, 1926, and the first to patent and develop a multi-stage or
step rocket, which was patented on July 7, 1914 with U.S. Letters Patent #1,102,653. Having proved the
practicability of the liquid-fueled rocket, Dr. Goddard perfected storage pumps for liquid oxygen and
developed efficient combustion chambers. He later developed such advanced rocket techniques as gyroscopic
flight stabilization, power-driven liquid oxygen pumps, and steering by vanes placed in the rocket blast.
In addition, his research efforts included work on solar energy, vacuum tubes, railroad transportation,
radio tube oscillators, and the prototype of the bazooka.
It is unfortunate that it was only after Dr. Goddard's death that his importance has been recognized.
Examples of the awards presented posthumously are presently on display in the exhibition area. The
highlights of these awards include: The Congressional Medal, 1959; the Langley Medal, 1960; the Daniel
Guggenheim Medal, 1964; National Space Hall of Fame award, 1966; the Aviation Hall of Fame. 1966; the
Autobiography of Robert H. Goddard and U.S. flag which were flown to the moon on board Apollo 11,
America's first lunar landing, July 20, 1969; and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Award, 1979.
Clark University is proud that Mrs. Robert Goddard selected our institution
to be the custodian of the Goddard Collection and the Goddard Exhibition.
This irreplaceable collection chronicles the life work of a man who, in spite of ridicule and
opposition, was not afraid to think far beyond what anybody else had thought of.
The exhibition was designed in cooperation with display experts, Design III, at the Smithsonian
Institution, and with the financial support of the Worcester Federal Savings and Loan Association.
One the ground floor of the Goddard Library in front of the entrance to the
Archives and Special Collections Department is a time
capsule that was inserted into the concrete floor. The materials
within it are related to Dr. Goddard, rocketry, and Clark University.
|
 |
|
Additional Resources
|
|
|
|
Office Hours
|
|
Monday,Wednesday, and Thursday
9:30am - 4:00pm
and by appointment
Closed Holidays and Weekends
It is recommended that you contact our office prior to traveling to the library.
|
|
|
