Biography
Biography · Science & Inventions
Louis Purnell
1920–2001
United States
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Louis Rayfield Purnell Sr. (April 5, 1920 – August 10, 2001) was a noted curator at the United States' National Air and Space Museum and earlier in life, a decorated Tuskegee Airman. At the museum, he became expert in space flight artifacts, particularly spacesuits, and was instrumental in curating artifacts related to space exploration, during the pivotal years of the 1960s and into the 1980s.
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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
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1940–2024
1888–1958
