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Phil LaBerge Oral History

Phil LaBerge Oral History

Object number2026.001.0037
Date05/26/2026
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Oral history interviewer
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m2ts file)
DimensionsDuration: 73 Minutes
Collections
  • All Online Objects
  • Oral History Collection
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Phil LaBerge. LaBerge’s late father, aerospace engineer Walter LaBerge, co-developed the AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile in the 1950s and led the team that designed the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston in the 1960s. Dr. LaBerge later served as U.S. Under Secretary of the Army (1977-80). As a child, Phil LaBerge met a number of Apollo astronauts and observed President Kennedy’s Houston motorcade on November 21, 1963. Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on May 26, 2026 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and thirteen minutes long.
Curatorial Commentary

This interview is a terrific example of the remarkable, unknown storytellers who so often come to light thanks to oral history community outreach. I met Phil LaBerge when he scheduled me for an outreach visit for the Coppell Historical Society at the Cozby Library in Coppell, Texas, on February 24, 2026. Following my program, I recorded six brief, on-the-spot oral histories, including a very short interview with Mr. LaBerge, which had to abruptly conclude because the library was closing. Recognizing that there was much more to his story, I invited him to visit the Museum and record a longer interview in our small studio space. I am very glad I did. This vastly more detailed session on May 26, 2026, was more than 18 times the length of our brief recording from three months earlier! - Stephen Fagin, Curator 

More information and photographs of the original control center, for which Dr. Walter LaBerge and Philco Corporation were contracted, can be found on the Houston Space Center's website: Historic Mission Control Center - Space Center Houston. In 2019, the control center went through a major restoration project. Photographs of this project, the completed restoration and historic photographs of the center can be found here: Apollo Mission Control Photos - Space Center Houston. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger
As mentioned during this interview, Dr. Walter B. LaBerge's life and career is highlighted in a website created by his son, Phil LaBerge. A biography, articles, speeches, press materials, memoirs and more can be found here: Dr. Walter B. LaBerge - AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile, Mission Control, Under Secretary Of Defense. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger