Formed in 1939 to protect the interests of general aviation pilots and private aircraft owners, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) grew to be the world's largest civil aviation organization during the twentieth century. The photograph collection largely comprises images of private planes, helicopters, and parts from various manufacturers who supplied the images for use in AOPA publications. AOPA activities, military aircraft, and experimental aircraft are also represented.

Dorothy J. Sorensen (1923-2006) was an employee of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., a chemical company commonly known as the DuPont Company. She served in the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II as an aircraft instrument technician, instructing others in the repair and maintenance of aircraft tools and instruments. The WASPs contributed to the war effort by helping to train pilots for the first atomic mission as the delivery system for the Manhattan Project; the development of the B-29 Silverplate started as a way of carrying atomic bombs for specialized bombing missions. These two items are a Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. War Department, Manhattan District, and a Manhattan Project Atomic Bomb pin that Sorensen received on August 6, 1945.

The Government projects series consists of images related to electronic equipment produced for government agencies. The series is divided into twenty-two subseries either by military branch or by type of equipment. The subseries are: Air Force, Armament systems: Army, Aviation laser warning receivers, Aviation radio transceiver, Aviation situation displays, Aviation transmitters, Computer systems, Government sound, HF receiver/transceiver, Integrated Radio Room (IR2), Japanese Data Link, Marine Corps, Navy, Radar, Radio sets, Tactical Communications satellite (TACSAT), Telecommunications security (TSEC), and United States Postal Service (USPS). The images date from 1933 to 1977. There are related materials in the Aviation equipment, Computers, and Scientific equipment series. Though NASA is a government agency, NASA and other space related projects are in the series: Space.