Florida and the Apollo Program

Bibliography and Additional Resources

Books and Articles

• The following resources were instrumental in assembling this exhibit. You may also want to consult the State Library’s bibliography on Florida’s Air and Space History.
• Bailey, Thomas D. Trails in Florida Education: Selected Addresses Compiled From Those Delivered by Superintendent Thomas D. Bailey During the Period January 1950 Through March 1963. Tallahassee: Florida Department of Public Instruction, 1963.
• Benson, Charles D. and William Barnaby Faherty. Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations. Washington: NASA, 1978.
• Duggins, Pat. “NASA in Florida: A Journalist’s View.” Florida Historical Quarterly 87, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 143-149.
• Faherty, William Barnaby. Florida’s Space Coast: The Impact of NASA on the Sunshine State. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002.
• Florida Nuclear Development Commission. A Report of the Committee on Science and Mathematics. Tallahassee: Florida Nuclear Development Commission, 1959.
• Henderson, Edward. “Let’s Not Be Part-Smart.” Journal of the Florida Education Association 35, no. 5 (January 1958): 4.
• Launius, Roger D. NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. Malabar, FL: Kreiger Publishing Company, 1994.
• Middleton, Sallie. “Space Rush: Local Impact of Federal Aerospace Programs on Brevard and Surrounding Counties.” Florida Historical Quarterly 87, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 258-289.
• Thielen, Benedict. “Florida Rides a Space-Age Boom.” National Geographic (December 1963): 858-903
• Weber, Charles H. “Cape Canaveral: Past, Present, and Wild Blue Future.” Florida Realtor (November 1963): 6-7, 18.

At the State Archives:

• The State Archives holds a variety of collections containing records relating to the history of the space program in Florida. The following are selected examples of collections with material particularly useful for studying the Apollo program and its legacy.
• Farris Bryant Correspondence, 1961-1965 (Series S756) – Governor Bryant was Florida’s chief executive during the busy period when Apollo first arrived on the scene and provoked a major expansion of highways, education and other infrastructure in East Central Florida. The records also extensively document the studies conducted to determine how Florida’s system of higher education needed to change to accommodate Space Age needs.
• LeRoy Collins Correspondence, 1955-1961 (Series S776) – Governor Collins was in office during the early stages of Cape Canaveral’s development as a major site for missile and spacecraft testing. He also confronted the initial hysteria over Sputnik, and helped channel the resulting critiques of Florida’s education system into useful outcomes. His correspondence documents these early years of the Space Race that made Apollo possible.
• Commission on the Future of Space and Aeronautics in Florida Records, 2005-2006 (Series S2404) – Governor Jeb Bush established this commission in 2005 to assess Florida’s role in space-related industries and make recommendations for strengthening that relationship. The commission’s final report recommended the consolidation of several state agencies relating to space into one entity, which became Space Florida in 2006. These records document the establishment of the commission and its study of Florida’s existing space-related agencies.
• Don Fuqua Congressional Papers, 1962-1987 (Collection M86-42) – Congressman Fuqua represented Florida’s second Congressional district from 1963 to 1987, and during that time was especially interested in policy relating to space and aerospace industries. He was a member of the House Science and Technology Committee and became its chairman in 1979. This extensive collection includes a number of records relating to both the public and private sides of the space program—correspondence with NASA as well as the private companies that worked with it.
• Claude Kirk Correspondence, 1967-1971 (Series S923) – Kirk was Florida’s governor at the height of the Apollo program when several lunar landings were successfully achieved. His correspondence includes documentation of his office’s response to the milestone Apollo 11 launch, as well as correspondence with NASA on various matters.
• Spaceport Florida Authority (Record Group 795) – Governor Bob Graham established the Spaceport Florida Authority in 1989 to help attract and retain space-related industries in the state. Private companies were at that time becoming rapidly more involved in developing and launching communications satellites and other space-related products. This record group contains five separate series of records documenting everything from the Authority’s conceptual framework to its oversight and educational programs.