Series IV: Books and Manuscripts

This collection contains Frank Briggs’ papers about Project Mohole, a cooperative attempt between the U.S. government and the scientific community to drill a hole through the earth’s crust to the Mohorovicic Discontinuity or Moho, the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle. The project was touted as equivalent landing on the moon, and the Houston firm Brown and Root was selected as the contractor. Also included in the collection are magazine articles, correspondence, publicity, budgets, and designs and plans of the project. The manuscript about the endeavor, PROJECT MOHOLE: The History and Technology of a Famous Government Project and Briggs’ published book, Tales and Bare-faced Lies about Tigers in the Oil Patch, are also part of the collection.