Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm93080934
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Samuel C. Phillips, U.S. Air Force general, space agency director, intelligence agency director, and defense industry official, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Betty Anne Phillips, in 1991 and 1993.
The papers of Samuel C. Phillips were arranged and described in 1996 by Karen Linn Femia and Bradley E. Gernand with the assistance of Brian McGuire and Andrew Passett. The finding aid was revised in 2004 by Karen Linn Femia with the assistance of Michael W. Giese. Revisions were also made to the collection in 2008. The finding aid was updated in 2024 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Audio and video recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Maps and charts have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Musical scores have been transferred to the Music Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Samuel C. Phillips papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Samuel C. Phillips in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of Samuel C. Phillips are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Government regulations control the use of security classified items in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified material.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Samuel C. Phillips Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Samuel Cochran Phillips (1921-1990) span the years circa 1929-1990, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1958-1989. Phillips witnessed several of the seminal events of the post-World War II Cold War period, including Soviet consolidation in Europe and American atomic weapons testing in Oceania. He assisted in developing guided missile and other armament technologies and directed the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile and manned lunar landing programs. He ended his career as an executive of TRW Inc., a large defense firm. Phillips's papers are organized into the following series: Personal and Family Papers , United States Air Force , National Aeronautics and Space Administration , Subject File , Classified , and Oversize .
Phillips's papers include correspondence and memoranda, reports, and diaries documenting the competition which characterized relations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. They are more complete for the latter portion of his career, offering significant detail concerning the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile system, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) manned lunar landing program, and Phillips's work at TRW Inc., a prominent defense contractor. The papers are less substantial regarding his association with atomic weapons tests at Eniwetok atoll in 1951 and his work establishing the B-52 long-range bomber as a viable armament. They contain almost no information regarding his brief stint as National Security Agency chief. Phillips's “systems management” technique, an administrative hallmark for which he and the programs he administered became well known, figures prominently in the Minuteman and NASA materials.
The papers are chiefly professional in nature, but a Personal and Family Papers series includes material related to general family matters such as finances, homes, hobbies, automobiles, friends, and the marriages of Phillips's daughters. Photographs record the infancies and youths of the daughters as well as other family members and special events. Of particular interest are several oversize electrical and schematic diagrams by Phillips of the family's home in Washington, D. C., illustrating his attention to detail and holistic view of systems and organizations.
Phillips served in the United States Air Force (USAF) until he became a private sector defense official. All papers related to the USAF except those regarding his assignment to NASA appear in the USAF File . Documentation regarding Phillips's role developing early guided missile technology, drone aircraft, F-111 and A-10 combat aircraft, and B-52 long-range bomber aircraft is sparse. Documentation regarding the development and implementation of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile is substantial, however, and that regarding the Titan III launch system is only slightly less so. Phillips's post-NASA assignments made use of his management and administrative abilities as he became commander first of the Space and Missile Systems Organization and then of the Air Force Systems Command. The files from these latter assignments are administrative in content, reflecting the nature of his postings. Phillips made extensive use of chronological files consisting of correspondence and memoranda regarding many subjects. Additionally, he kept detailed notes regarding most subjects and often interfiled correspondence or memoranda with these notes.
The NASA File constitutes the bulk of the papers. Phillips directed the Project Apollo (U.S.) component of the manned lunar landing program which was charged with developing the spacecraft to transport astronauts from earth's orbit to the moon. In the early years of the lunar landing endeavor, however, much of the emphasis was on a related component, Saturn Project (U.S.), which involved developing the massive rockets necessary to boost astronauts and their spacecraft into orbit. The NASA File traces the developmental focus as it shifted from Saturn to Apollo. Saturn files detail rocket and launch system components, systems, tests, and flights. Apollo files detail spacecraft components, systems, tests, flights, lunar exploration and operations, and personnel and administrative issues. The files include correspondence with corporate contractors who designed, built, or operated program and hardware components, such as North American Aviation (now Rockwell International) and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. (now Northrop Grumman). An Apollo spacecraft test which killed three astronauts in 1967 is extensively documented. Later files from Phillips's role as consultant and advisor to the space agency include a report he authored regarding the efficiency of agency management.
Papers regarding Phillips's association with institutional and nongovernmental organizations make up the Subject File . A major part of this file relates to the administration and activities of TRW Inc., the defense firm which Phillips joined after his retirement from the air force. Two of TRW Inc.'s most lucrative government contracts during the 1980s concerned the United States Dept. of Energy's superconducting super collider project and the United States Dept. of Defense's Strategic Defense Initiative. Many of these files address the administration and conduct of both contracts.
The collection is arranged in six series:
Correspondence, photographs, and printed matter regarding Phillips, his wife, their respective families, and their children.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and thereunder chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, and related material regarding the development and implementation of air-based defensive and offensive weapons systems.
Arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, minutes of meetings, maps, charts, clippings, and other printed matter.
Arranged chronologically by year and thereunder alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, photographs, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Classified material consisting mostly of correspondence, memoranda, reports, and printed matter.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and boxes from which the items were removed.
Oversize material consisting mostly of architectural drawings, artwork, certificates, photographs, and printed matter.
Organized and described according to the series, folders, and boxes from which the items were removed.