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Frank Borman papers

 Collection
Identifier: L2005-16

Scope and Content of the Papers

The Frank Borman papers, 1961-1989, contain material that Borman accumulated while serving as an executive of Eastern Airlines. Materials include office files, correspondence, company reports, clippings, speech transcripts, audio recordings and a few artifacts. Correspondence addressing Eastern's financial crisis, labor relations, and support for Borman constitutes the bulk of the collection. Transcripts of speeches Borman delivered as a Special Representative for President Nixon, as an US astronaut for NASA, and as CEO of Eastern Airlines are also included in the collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1961-1989
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1980 - 1986

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research use. Access to artifacts is restricted.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.

Historical Background

Frank Borman, U.S. Astronaut who led the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Airlines from 1975-1986, was born in Gary, Indiana, March 14, 1928. Raised in Tucson, Arizona, where he learned to fly at age 15, Borman attended U.S. Military Academy, West Point and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1950, thus beginning a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He received a Masters of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recruited Borman into its astronaut program, for which Borman led the Gemini 7 (1965) and the Apollo 8 (1968) missions. In 1970, Borman retired from NASA with over 6,000 hours of in-space flight time, and the US Air Force at the rank of Colonel. As the Special Representative of President Richard Nixon, Borman visited twelve countries in Europe and the Far East in 1970 to search out information concerning missing American prisoners of war in Vietnam.

Borman began serving as a special advisor to Eastern Airlines in 1969. In 1970, he was named Senior Vice President of Operational Affairs, eventually earning the title of Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and Chairman of the Board by 1976. Borman used Eastern's assets to invest heavily in modern jetliners. Increased debt, and the Deregulation Act of 1978, which opened the Airline Industry to pure competition, brought many challenges to the development and financial stability of Eastern Airlines. Borman instituted innovative and risky financial tactics to ease the effects of the deregulation policies, including profit-sharing and labor wages that were dependent upon the company's success. Borman's tactics produced the company’s four most profitable years, but they also resulted in dissent among Eastern's labor unions. By 1983, as a proposed solution to Eastern's debt burden, Borman asked employees to accept pay cuts in order to keep the company running. Eastern’s mechanics, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), threatened to strike if Eastern's management followed through with this planned pay cut. Borman failed to reach an agreement with the labor unions and retired from Eastern Airlines in 1986, selling the company, 3.5 billion dollars in debt, to Texas Air executive and "corporate raider" Frank Lorenzo. Lorenzo's confrontational and controversial tactics eventually pushed Eastern into bankruptcy, following a 1989 strike by the Machinists, pilots, and flight attendants. Lorenzo was ultimately declared "unfit to rule" in the bankruptcy case overseen by Judge Burton Lifland, and after he sold off all routes, gates and aircraft, Eastern was liquidated in 1991.

Extent

21.6 Linear Feet (in 18 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract:

Frank Borman is well known as the commander of the first lunar orbit mission, Apollo 8, and as the Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Airlines from 1975-1986. The Frank Borman Papers, circa 1968-1989, contain office files and correspondence once held in the Office of the President at Eastern Airline's headquarters in Miami, Florida.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged into three series:

  1. Series I: Correspondence, 1969-1986
  2. Series II: Subject files, 1961-1989
  3. Series III: Audiovisual Materials and Artifacts, 1977-1983

Acquisition Information

Donated by Colonel Frank Borman via W. J. Usery, Jr., September 2005.

Processing Information

Processed by Amanda Brown at the file level, November 2005.

Title
Frank Borman:
Subtitle
A Guide to His Papers at Georgia State University Library
Status
Completed
Author
Georgia State University Library
Date
December 5, 2005
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-413-2880
404-413-2881 (Fax)