Peter L. Jakab, Ph.D.

Chief Curator

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

            Dr. Peter L. Jakab is Chief Curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  Formerly he served as the museum’s Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs.  He has been with NASM since 1983.  He holds a BA, MA, and Ph.D. in American history from RutgersUniversity.  Areas of specialization include the history of technology, aerospace history, and American social and cultural history.  Prior museum work includes stays at the Edison National Historic Site, West Orange, N.J., and the New Jersey Historical Commission.  He also spent a year with the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project and two years teaching American history at RutgersUniversity during his graduate study.  During his stay at the NASM, he has curated numerous exhibitions and frequently lectured on the history of technology, the history of invention, the Wright brothers and pioneer aviation, and First World War aviation.  His most recent exhibition is Artist Soldiers: Artistic Expression in the First World War, at the National Air and Space Museum.  Major exhibitions also at the National Air and Space Museum include Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds, featuring the original da Vinci Codex, and The Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age.  His publications include the books Visions of a Flying Machine: The Wright Brothers and the Process of Invention (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990); Icare: revue de l'aviation française, #147, Les Frères Wright, 1994; The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000), and The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age (National Geographic Society, 2003), the companion book to the exhibition.

Blog Posting

• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "A FIlm About Bravado, Cowardice, and Redemption During WWI." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/film-about-bravado-cowardice-and-redemption-during-wwi. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Artist Soldiers: Artistic Expression in the First World War." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/artist-soldiers-artistic-expression-first-world-war. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Brining WWI Air Battles to the Big Screen." Air and Space Stories https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/hollywood-wwi-air-battles. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Exploring Duty and Social Class in World War I." Air and Space Stories https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/exploring-duty-and-social-class-world-war-i. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Hell's Angels: Hughes' Big Crash & Harlow's Big Break." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/hells-angels. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Hollywood Goes to War: World War I on the Big Screen." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/hollywood-goes-war-world-war-i-big-screen. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Paths of Glory: An Early Kubrick Film." Air and Space Stories Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Jul 12, 2017. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/paths-glory-early-kubrick-film. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Sharing the Story of the World War I Gallipoli Campaign." Air and Space Stories Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Sep 11, 2017. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/beyond-western-front-wwi. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "The Dawn Patrol: 1930 WWI Film Features Museum Aircraft." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/dawn-patrol. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "The Eagle and the Hawk." Air and Space Stories Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/eagle-and-hawk. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "The First Significant Anti-war Movie." Air and Space Stories Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/first-significant-anti-war-movie. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. "Wings." Air Space Blog: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/hollywood-goes-war-world-war-i-big-screen. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2015. "Bringing History to Life: Honoring Our World War II Veterans." Air and Space Stories Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/bringing-history-life-honoring-our-world-war-ii-veterans. 2015
• Jakab, Peter L. 2015. "Bringing History to Life: Honoring Our World War II Veterans." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National air and Space Museum. 2015
• Jakab, Peter L. 2014. "The New Milestones." http://blog.nasm.si.edu/ http://blog.nasm.si.edu/behind-the-scenes/the-new-milestones/. 2014
• Jakab, Peter L. 2013. "An Extraordinary Journey: The History of Leonardo da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Sep 13, 2013. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/an-extraordinary-journey-the-history-of-leonardo-da-vincis-codex-on-the-flight-of-birds/. 2013
• Jakab, Peter L. 2013. "Leonardo da Vinci and Flight." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Aug 22, 2013. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-and-flight/. 2013
• Jakab, Peter L. 2013. "Solar Impulse: Rhyming with the past, Looking to the Future." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Jul 6, 2013. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/solar-impulse-rhyming-with-the-past-looking-to-the-future/. 2013
• Jakab, Peter L. 2012. "Sweet Moments in a Sopwith." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Jan 13, 2012. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/sweet-moments-in-a-sopwith/. 2012
• Jakab, Peter L. 2011. "Eugene Ely and the Birth of Naval Aviation--January 18, 1911." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Jan 18, 2011. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/eugene-ely-and-the-birth-of-naval-aviation%E2%80%94january-18-1911/. 2011
• Jakab, Peter L. 2011. "The Real Wright Flyer." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Apr 19, 2011. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/the-real-wright-flyer/. 2011
• Jakab, Peter L. 2009. "Saving Jenny." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Nov 6, 2009. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/saving-jenny/. 2009
• Jakab, Peter L. 2009. "The World's First Military Airplane." AIRSPACE BLOG: Behind the Scenes at the National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Jul 23, 2009. http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/the-world%E2%80%99s-first-military-airplane/. 2009

Book

• Jakab, Peter L. 2013. Leonardo da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds. Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 2013

Chapter

• Van der Linden, F. Robert, Paone, Thomas J., and Jakab, Peter L. 2016. "1903 Wright FLyer." In Milestones of Flight: The Epic of Aviation with the National Air and Space Museum. Van der Linden, F. Robert, Spencer, Alex M., and Paone, Thomas J., editors. 8–13. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. 2016
• Van der Linden, F. Robert, Paone, Thomas J., and Jakab, Peter L. 2016. "1909 Wright Military Flyer and 1911 Wright EX Vin Fiz." In Milestones of Flight: The Epic of Aviation with the National Air and Space Museum. Van der Linden, F. Robert, Spencer, Alex M., and Paone, Thomas J., editors. 14–21. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. 2016
• Van der Linden, F. Robert, Paone, Thomas J., and Jakab, Peter L. 2016. "Caudron G.4." In Milestones of Flight: The Epic of Aviation with the National Air and Space Museum. Van der Linden, F. Robert, Spencer, Alex M., and Paone, Thomas J., editors. 30–35. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. 2016
• Jakab, Peter L. 2016. "Foreword." In Airlines: Charting Air Transport History with R.E.G. Davies. Sterling, Christopher H., and Scott-Mandeville,Jackie, editor. vii–vii. Strathlachlan, Argyll, Scotland: Paladwr Press. 2016
• Jakab, Peter L. 2016. "Foreword." In Airlines: Charting Air Transport History with R.E.G. Davies. Sterling, Christopher H. and Scott-Mandeville, Jackie, editors. vii. Strathlachlan, Scotland: Paladwr Press. 2016
• Jakab, Peter L. and Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2016. "Huey 65-10126: A Curator's Journey of Discovery." In Engaging Smithsonian Objects through Science, History, and the Arts. 145–155. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 2016

Review

• Jakab, Peter L. 2017. [Book review] "Alan Meyer, Weekend Pilots: Technology, Masculinity, and Private Aviation in Postwar America." ICON, 22, 161–163. 2017
• Jakab, Peter L. 2015. [Book review] "The Wright Company: From Invention to Industry, by Edward J. Roach." Indiana Magazine of History, 111, (2), 200–201. https://doi.org/10.5378/indimagahist.111.2.0200. 2015
• Jakab, Peter L. 2008. [Book review] "War Bird Ace: The Great War Exploits of Capt. Field E. Kindley." Air and Space Smithsonian, 72. 2008