This collection consists of material relating to Francis Gary Powers's flying career in the Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency, and later pursuits. The majority of the documents deal with the May 1960 U-2 incident, in which Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union during a reconnaisance mission and imprisoned. Materials include: logbooks; flight records from his military and civilian careers; a pocket diary and journal he kept during his Soviet imprisonment; letters to his parents; materials collected by his parents as his father attempted to visit him including a telegram from Nikita Khrushchev and a New Testament given to Powers by his mother during his Soviet trial; Congressional hearing material; newspaper articles; Life magazine; and several photographs of Powers.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of documents relating to Francis Gary Powers and his aviation career, particularly the 1960 U-2 incident with the Soviet Union. Materials include: logbooks; flight records from his military and civilian careers; a pocket diary and journal he kept during his Soviet imprisonment; letters to his parents; materials collected by his parents as his father attempted to visit him including a telegram from Nikita Khrushchev and a New Testament given to Powers by his mother during his Soviet trial; Congressional hearing material; newspaper articles; Life magazine; and several photographs of Powers.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series: Early Career, the U-2 Incident, and Post U-2 Incident Life and Career.
Series 1 contains materials relating to Francis Gary Power's early career with the United States Air Force before resigning to join the CIA, including his birth certificate, military orders and forms, and his individual flight records.
Series 2 contains materials relating to the U-2 incident, in which Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union and imprisoned. The first set of materials relates to Powers' imprisonment, including his prison journal, pocket diary, New Testament, correspondence, and the subsequent congressional hearing. The second set of materials relates to the Powers family during the incident, including correspondence and telegrams with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and the United States government and Oliver Powers' passport. The third set of materials relates to the media reactions to the incident, including complete newspapers, article clippings, a television script, and artwork.
The Soviet Prison Journal and Soviet Prison Pocket Diary were on display in the Looking at Earth Gallery when the collection was digitized. The photocopies were scanned for digital access.
Series 3 contains materials from Powers' life and career after his return to the United States, including logbooks, public relations documents, flight training and insurance records, an employment application, and memorial items.
Documents with personally identifiable information (PII) have been redacted or not digitized.
Biographical/Historical note:
Francis Gary Powers (1929 -1977) learned to fly during high school. He enlisted in the United States Air Force after graduating from Milligan College in 1950. In 1956, he resigned from the Air Force to become a "civilian employee" of Lockheed on loan to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, authorized to fly Air Force aircraft. In reality, he was a covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), training for Operation Overflight—U-2 reconnaissance missions.
Powers was captured and imprisoned after his U-2 was shot down over the Soviet Union during an aerial reconnaissance mission on May 1, 1960. Powers was placed on trial and exchanged nearly two years later for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet agent. After his return to the United States, Powers continued to work for the CIA, but then left to work at Lockheed. Powers was working for NBC's Los Angeles affiliate KGIL in 1977, when his helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed, causing his death.
Provenance:
Claudia Sue Powers, Gift, 1994, NASM.1994.0010.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Topic:
United States -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union Search this
Basil Lee Rowe (1896-1973) enjoyed a long and successful career in aviation, initially as a military exhibition pilot, barnstormer, air racer, charter operator, flight instructor, aircraft salesman, and rumrunner, before moving to the West Indies to start an airline, the short-lived West Indian Aerial Express, bought out by Pan American Airways in 1928. Rowe became a pioneering senior pilot for Pan Am, flying with them for 28 years before his retirement in 1956. This collection includes scrapbooks, photo albums, memorabilia, and first day covers, in addition to the draft manuscript for Rowe's 1956 autobiography, Under My Wings.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of Rowe's pilot's log books covering his career from 1927 to 1956, assorted periodicals, cartoons featuring Rowe, scrapbooks and photo albums assembled by Rowe (featuring newspaper clippings, photographs, and ephemera), several draft manuscripts of Rowe's 1956 autobiography Under My Wings, and first day air mail postal covers collected by Rowe.
Arrangement:
Materials in this collection are grouped into series by format. See individual series Scope and Content notes for details on arrangement within that series. Note that with the exception of the chronologically arranged flight log books, Rowe did not appear to organize his materials in any particular order.
Biographical / Historical:
Basil Lee Rowe, born February 10, 1896, grew up in the small town of Shandaken, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. He began his flying career in 1914 as an apprentice to aviator Turk Adams after seeing Adams fly at a local county fair. Impatient to become a military pilot, Rowe arranged to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, but was sidelined by a ruptured appendix before he could get to Canada. By the time Rowe had recovered, the United States had entered World War I and Rowe was able to join the Aviation Section of the U. S. Army Signal Corps; he was sent to Texas. During the Third Liberty Loan drive, Rowe was assigned to a group of fliers who were to give exhibition flights; after his discharge, he used his savings to buy a used Avro biplane and barnstormed around the East Central United States, using Hadley Field (New Brunswick, New Jersey) as his home field. Rowe soon bought a second aircraft, hired pilot William S. "Bill" Wade, and moved his base of operations to the Aeromarine Base at Keyport, near Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Rowe prospered through the early 1920s, and his troupe the "Rowe Fliers" (including at various times wingwalkers Bill Stacy and Marguerite L. "Peggy" Roome) toured the eastern US giving exhibition flights and passenger rides. In the winter, Rowe moved his operation to Florida, and, with a rebuilt Curtiss Seagull, ferried passengers eager to escape Prohibition from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas--with a bit of rumrunning on the side. Back in New Jersey, Rowe formed the Chamberlin-Rowe Aircraft Corporation with fellow aviator Clarence Chamberlin to buy and resell Army surplus aircraft; the short-lived business went bust in 1924 when the government finished selling off its aircraft. Rowe, a talented racing pilot, kept busy from 1924 through 1926 on the racing circuit, winning numerous prizes.
By the end of 1926, at the age of thirty, Rowe felt that he had reached a turning point in his life. Dismayed by the increase in US government regulation of aviation, Rowe moved his operations to the West Indies, settling in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. With Bill Wade, Rowe rapidly established a business flying charters around the country, with flights to neighboring Haiti and Puerto Rico. In June 1927, with financial backing provided by sugar industry businessmen and the government of the Dominican Republic, Rowe founded West Indian Aerial Express (abbreviated variously as WIAE or WIAX) to provide airline service between Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, hoping to be well positioned to bid on future US foreign air mail routes. With this in mind, Rowe returned to the Unites States and purchased a Fairchild FC-2W floatplane (christened "La Niña") and a larger Keystone K-47 Pathfinder trimotor (the former "American Legion," r/n NX179, rebuilt by the Keystone factory following a crash in April 1927 and rechristened as "Santa Maria"). To his dismay, Rowe was forced to acquired a US transport pilot license in order to be allowed to fly the "Santa Maria" back to Santo Domingo; he hired Canadian pilot Cy Caldwell to ferry "La Niña." On the way south in mid October 1927, Rowe found himself and his two aircraft in Florida just as Pan American Airways (PAA), which had been successful in obtaining a temporary contract to deliver mail from the US to Cuba, found itself without any aircraft able to fly out of their Key West, Florida, field to fulfill the contract before it expired. PAA struck a deal with Rowe to lease "La Niña" (piloted by Caldwell) to fly the first Pan American Airways flight on October 19, 1927.
With its two new aircraft, West Indian Aerial Express started regularly scheduled twice-weekly flights on December 1, 1927, between Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Puerto Rico, later extending the routes to St. Thomas and St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. On June 30, 1928, WIAX filed a bid with the US government for air mail service on the route from Key West to Puerto Rico, but was outmanuevered by the more politically-savvy Pan American Airways which won the contract. A final crippling blow was dealt to WIAX in September 1928 when a severe hurricane hit their base in San Juan, Puerto Rico, destroying "La Niña" and two older Waco biplanes. Rowe made his last flight in the "Santa Maria" on September 20, 1928, before turning the aircraft over to Pan American. On October 16, 1928, PAA purchased WIAX, with Rowe becoming PAA's senior pilot.
During his first ten years with Pan Am, Rowe flew a record number of hours and surveyed most of the new air routes through the Caribbean to Central and South America, several times flying with Charles Lindbergh. When the US entered World War II, Rowe was assigned to Pan Am's Africa and Orient Division to serve with the US Army Air Forces Air Transport Command on their supply route across the South Atlantic and Africa to India and China (the "Cannonball Run"). His wife, Florence May Sharp, whom Rowe had married in 1930, served as an aircraft spotter during the war. During the Korean Conflict, Rowe was once again pressed into service, and was transferred to Pan Am's Pacific Division to fly transpacific supply routes and medical evacuation flights. May's early death in 1943 left Rowe a widower at his retirement from Pan Am in 1956. At their Coral Gables, Florida, home he wrote his autobiography, Under My Wings (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., New York, 1956) and remained active as a tennis instructor until his death on October 28, 1973.
Related Materials:
See related collection Basil Lee Rowe First Day Air Mail Covers, NASM.XXXX.0487.
Basil Lee Rowe air racing medals in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection:
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, Relay Race], A19690242000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, Relay Race], A19690243000.
Medal, Aviation [Dayton Air Race], A19690244000.
Medal, Third Annual Dayton Air Race Winner, A19690245000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [2nd Place, Free-For-All Race, 510 cu. in. Class], A19690246000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, First Elimination, 500 cu. in. Class], A19690247000.
Basil Lee Rowe air racing trophies in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection:
Trophy, Allen W. Hinkle, Basil L. Rowe, A19690238000 [Allen W. Hinkle Trophy for Two, Three, and Four Place Airplanes, 1924]
Trophy, Glenn H. Curtiss, Basil L. Rowe, A19690239000 [The Glenn H. Curtiss Trophy for Two Seater Low Horsepower Airplane, National Air Races, Mitchel Field L. I., 1925]
Plaque, B.B.T. Corporation, National Air Races 1926, A19690240000 [B.B.T. Corporation of America Relay Race for Commercial Planes won by Basil L. Rowe, Charles S. Jones, A. H. Kreider]
Plaque, 1926 National Air Races, Benjamin Franklin Trophy, A19690241000 [Benjamin Franklin Trophy donated by Joseph A. Steinmetz, Relay Race for Commercial Planes won by Basil L. Rowe, Charles S. Jones, A. H. Kreider]
Provenance:
Basil Lee Rowe, gift, 1969; United States Air Force Museum, transfer, 1973; NASM.XXXX.0019
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of eleven cubic feet of archival material chronicling the aviation career of Richard E. Schreder. Included are the following types of material: 95 drawings of Schreder's kit designs; logbooks; correspondence; photographs; awards; military paperwork; and Schreder interview tapes with CD copies.;
Biographical / Historical:
Richard E. Schreder (1915-2002) was a naval aviator and American sailplane enthusiast who designed and developed kit sailplanes. Schreder built his first powered aircraft, a single seat aircraft with a Henderson motorcycle engine, at age 19. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering form the University of Toledo in 1938 and he then joined the US Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet. Schreder served in the Navy until 1952, rising to the rank of Commander. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross for the sinking of a German U-boat during World War II. After leaving the Navy, Schreder founded a successful drafting supplies business in Toledo Ohio, and continued experimenting with small aircraft. He designed an all-metal low-wing single-seater called the Airmate 5, which won the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) best workmanship award in 1954. Soon after however, Schreder became fascinated with soaring. He bought a Bowlus Baby Albatross and a Schweizer 1-23D before building his own sailplane designs. In 1956 Schreder built the HP-7 which he flew to a four-place finish in that year's US National Championship contest. Schreder's next design, the HP-8 won the 1958 US Nationals and established speed records in the 100, 200, and 300 km courses. Schreder's first attempt at developing a glider specifically for kit manufacture was the HP-10. That design was followed by the HP-11, HP-14, HP-15, HP-16, RS-15, HP-17, HP-18, HP-19, HP-20, HP-21 and HP-22. The aircraft were so successful the Schreder set up a company, Bryan Aircraft Inc., in 1966 to market the plans and kits, eventually selling more than 470 kits. Schreder won three US national sailplane contests (1958, 1960,1966) in sailplanes he designed and represented the United States at four international sailing contests. Due to Schreder's contribution to soaring, both in design and piloting skill, he was elected to the Soaring Society of American Hall of Fame in 1962.
Provenance:
Carol Schreder and Karen Schreder Barbera, Gift, 2008
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of 7.31 cubic feet of material created by Edward Baldwin during his tenure as a engineer for Kelly Johnson at Lockheed Skunk Works, 1944-1982. The collection consists of original pencil on vellum Skunk Works drawings, blueprints, design studies, logs, engineering notebooks, photographs, technical manuals, correspondence, newspaper articles and newsletters relating to his work on Lockheed aircraft, including the development of the P-80, SR-71, F-94, F-104, F-117 and the U-2.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Baldwin received his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1940 from West Virginia University. After graduation he moved to California and began working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was first assigned to the Special Airplane Projects group, where he worked on the Model 10 Electra, Model 12 Electra Jr, Model B-14, Hudson Bomber and the Model 18 Lodestar. Baldwin was then placed on loan to the P-38 and R6-O Constitution projects. In March of 1944, Baldwin was asked by Dick Boehme to join the Fuselage Design Group of the Advanced Development Projects (ADP) "Skunk Works." Baldwin worked on the P-80, before working on the F-94C and the XF-104. In November of 1954, Baldwin was placed on the U-2 project, where he developed the configuration of the aircraft and completed the design. Baldwin also worked on the ADP's Archangel Program to develop a Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft, which became known as the SR-71. Baldwin was then assigned to the "Have Blue" program, which was the Skunk Work's entry into the Stealth Prototype competition. Baldwin was responsible for all structural design of the two test vehicles and when Lockheed won the contract, became the Deputy Program Manager for Structures of the F-117. He retired in September 1982, after the first four production F-117 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force.
Provenance:
Barbara Sulier and Robert Baldwin, Gift, 2016
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
17.25 Cubic feet ((2 legal document boxes) (15 records center boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Financial records
Photographs
Drawings
Logs (records)
Manuscripts
Publications
Reports
Date:
1926-1972
bulk 1938-1943
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains the research material that Neill used in compiling his book. The material consists of correspondence and reports dealing with inspection, specifications, and performance tests of automobile and aircraft engines and fuels from 1926 to 1944. There are also reports, articles, and log books of specific engine types, both aeronautical and automotive, collected from all over the world, as well as a rough manuscript copy of Neill's book.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Taylor Neill (1903-1988) was an aeropropulsion engineer and author. Following the completion of his degrees at Catholic University of America (BS.ME 1925) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS 1926) he went to work in the Aircraft Engine Research lab at the United States National Bureau of Standard (engineer 1926-39). He served as an ignition engineer for the Army Air Corps in Dayton, OH (1939-42). He then spent nearly twenty years in research for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (Assistant to the Director of Research 1942-58) and its successor the National Aeronautics and Administration (NASA; Chief of Research Administration Division, Office of Advanced Research Programs 1958-61; Chief of Research and Technical Reports, Office of Advance Research and Technology, 1961-70). Following his retirement from NASA, Neill worked as a consultant to the National Air and Space Museum (1971- ) where he began compiling a book on aviation engines in the inter-war period.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Thomas Neill, transfer, unknown, XXXX-0181, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
John Matthew Miller III (born June 3, 1896) was active in aviation throughout his life, as a naval aviator, air mail pilot, transport pilot, autogiro pilot, flight instructor, aircraft manufacturer, airport operator, agricultural pilot, and helicopter test pilot, working at different times for the United States Navy, the U.S. Aerial Mail Service, Pitcairn Aeronautical Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; from 1927-1929 Miller operated his own business, the Miller Aviation Corporation of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The collection includes Miller's pilot licenses and log books, scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings and assorted ephemera, predominantly from the 1914 to 1939 period of Miller's life.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains both original materials and photocopies of materials loaned by the donor for copying. Original materials include Miller's United States Navy Naval Aviator Certificate, an aircraft log book for the Curtiss Seagull "Jacques Cartier" (owned by The Chicago Tribune), a photo album entitled "The Miller Corporation, New Brunswick Airport" featuring images of the Miller (Corp) MCA-1 Amphibian Biplane, assorted loose photographs, correspondence from Robert Woods Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson), two panoramic group photographs of the US Navy Flight A Naval Aviation detachment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1917, newspaper clippings (several covering James G. Ray's autogiro flight over Washington, DC in 1934), assorted ephemera relating to Miller's aviation career, and two bound books: Flying Officers of the U.S.N. (US Navy): 1917-1919 and Saga of the US Air Mail Service: 1918-1927, (Air Mail Pioneers, Inc., 1962). Photocopied materials include two of Miller's pilot log books, two of Miller's pilot licenses, a scrapbook, and selected pages from additional scrapbooks from which individual photographs were copied by the National Air and Space Museum in 2001. The collection also includes Smithsonian Institution numbered copy prints of these selected photographs.
Arrangement:
Materials in this collection are grouped into Series by type; materials within a series are generally arranged chronologically, grouped by subject.
Biographical / Historical:
John Matthew Miller III was born June 3, 1896, at Tacoma, Washington. As a teenager, Miller came east to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and found summer employment with the Burgess Company aircraft manufacturers at Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1917, following the entry of the United States into World War I, Miller was accepted into the Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service (Flight A Naval Aviation detachment at MIT), and, after two months, moved on to elementary flying instruction at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and then advanced instruction at Pensacola, Florida. He was commissioned into the United States Naval Air Service as an Ensign on March 16, 1918, and stationed at Naval Air Station Rockaway Beach, New York, where he performed patrol and convoy work off New York harbor, until ordered to inactive duty on December 15, 1918. Miller promptly joined the US Aerial Mail Service; after training in Dayton Wright DH-4 air mailplanes at Belmont Park, Long Island, Miller was posted to Bustleton, Pennsylvania, as station manager. Following his two years of air mail service, Miller worked at a number of aviation jobs, including time with the America Trans Oceanic Company (Miami, Florida, 1920), survey flights in Quebec (Canada, 1922), and managing operations for Pitcairn Aeronautical Corporation at their base adjacent to Hadley Field in South Plainfield, New Jersey (the New York terminal for the New York to Chicago and New York to Atlanta air mail routes). Miller was an active member of the New Brunswick (NJ) Aero Club, owners of a Pitcairn PA-3 Orowing based at Pitcairn's field. On August 1, 1927, Miller organized the Miller Aviation Corporation, operating out of New Brunswick Airport (a.k.a. "Miller Field"), a short-lived airfield located southwest of the city of New Brunswick. Miller Aviation offered flying instruction, local sightseeing flights, and charter passenger flights in the mid-Atlantic seaboard region. In 1928-1929, the Miller Aviation Corporation designed, constructed, and tested the Miller (Corp) MCA-1 Amphibian Biplane; sadly, the aircraft crashed during its first ground landing. After his company failed, Miller returned to Pitcairn Aeronautical as an autogiro pilot, making a number of flights through the 1930s for Pitcairn, the US Department of Agriculture, and others. During World War II, Miller temporarily rejoined the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, serving as a helicopter test pilot at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Miller later worked for the Department of Agriculture until his retirement in 1956.
NOTE: John Matthew Miller III (born 1896, died circa 1980s), the subject of this collection, should not be confused with fellow air mail and autogiro pilot John McDonald "Johnny" Miller (1905-2008), occasionally referenced in this collection. Johnny Miller was more closely associated with the Kellett Autogiro Corp (Philadelphia, PA), and was famous for being the first to land an aircraft on the roof of a building.
Provenance:
Lee M. Gunther-Mohr, Gift, 2001, NASM.2001.0036.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Admiral Albert C. Read, USN (Curtiss NC-4) Collection
Creator:
Read, A. C. (Albert Cushing), 1887-1967 Search this
Names:
Read, A. C. (Albert Cushing), 1887-1967 Search this
Extent:
1.74 Cubic feet (1 legal document box, three oversized boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Biographies
Clippings
Reports
Scrapbooks
Logs (records)
Correspondence
Photographs
Date:
1919-1946
bulk May 1919 to June 1919
Summary:
Rear Admiral Albert C. Read (1887-1967) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1907 and became Naval Aviator #24 in July 1915. In 1919, Read was the commander of the Curtiss NC-4, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic. The NC-4 covered 2150 nautical miles, from Nova Scotia to the Azores. The NC-4 was joined in the flight by the Curtiss NC-1 and Curtiss NC-3, but both the NC-1 and NC-3 were forced to land in the open sea.
This collection consists of the following: black scrapbook containing photographs with US Navy numbers; newspaper front pages; reports; cable grams; signals and dispatches; the NC-4 log; biography of Read; and correspondence.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following: black scrapbook containing photographs with US Navy numbers; newspaper front pages; reports; cable grams; signals and dispatches; the NC-4 log; biography of Read; and correspondence in both Portuguese (with English translations) and English.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Biographical/Historical note:
Rear Admiral Albert C. Read (1887-1967) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1907 and became Naval Aviator #24 in July 1915. In 1919, Read was the commander of the Curtiss NC-4, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic. The NC-4 covered 2150 nautical miles, from Nova Scotia to the Azores. The NC-4 was joined in the flight by the Curtiss NC-1 and Curtiss NC-3, but both the NC-1 and NC-3 were forced to land in the open sea.
Provenance:
Rear Admiral Albert C. Read, gift, 1962, XXXX.0391, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
This collection consists of three boxes of 4' and 3' glass slides, dating from the early 1930s. The slides are probably from 1919-1932 when Copland was an instructor and lecturer for Curtiss Flying Service, Inc. There are also seven log books chronicling both Copland's civilian and military flights (1917-1942) and numerous private and commerical pilots, mechanic, and medical licenses mostly from the 1920s-1940s. Lastly, there is a small black binder full of aerial photographs and notes, relating to a number of fields that were used for World War II training. All of the fields were part of the Southeast Army Air Corps, which included a number of civilian contract schools. Included in this notebook are lists of the officers for each school. The following fields and schools are included: Riddle Aero Inst., Florida; Lodwick School of Aero, Florida; Hawthorne School of Aeronautics, South Carolina; Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; Darr Aero Tech, Georgia; Graham Aviation Company, Georgia; Embry-Riddle Company, Florida; Lodwich Aviation Military Academy, Florida; Southeastern Air Service, South Carolina; Southern Aviation School, South Carolina; Clarksdale School of Aviation, Mississippi; South Aviation Training School, Alabama; Raymond-Richardson Aviation Co, Georgia; Helena Aero Tech, Arkansas; and Greenville Aviation School, Florida.
Biographical / Historical:
Harry Depew Copland (1896-1976) was an Early Bird, soloing in a glider in 1909 and in an airplane in 1911. His many achievements include: exhibition flights, (1911); British Blockade Runners, radio officer (1915-1916); Canadian Royal Flying Corps 203rd Squadron, 1st Lieutenant and Flight Commander (1917-1919); District Manager of the New England Flying Service in charge of Curtiss Primary School Flying Operations (1929-1932). During World War II he served at Maxwell Field, AL, and as commanding officer of the 19th AAF Basic Flying Detachment at Greenville, S.C. Copland was also involved with Altantic Airways, Inc., United Air Lines, and was the Director of Florida Aviation Department.
General:
Other materials: Two pouches which had held licenses and log books were transferred to NASM Aeronautics Division.
NASMrev
Provenance:
Harry Copland?, unknown, unknown, XXXX-0439, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of Helen Richey's pilot log for 1944-1945, newspaper clippings covering the period from 1933 to 1944 and seven photographs of Ms. RIchey.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of Helen Richey's pilot log for 1944-1945, newspaper clippings covering the period from 1933 to 1944 and seven photographs of Ms. Richey.
Arrangement:
This collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Helen Richey (1909 - 1947) was an aviation pioneer who made headlines as a stunt pilot, a racing champion, a holder of speed and altitude records, a flight instructor, an Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and Womens Air Service Pilot (WASP) during WWII, the first women to pilot a commercial airliner on a regular scheduled run, and as the first woman to ever fly the United States mail. In April of 1930, Richey enrolled as a student pilot at Bettis Field's Curtiss-Wright flying school and on June 28, 1930, she earned her pilot's license. In December 1930, Richey was granted a limited commercial pilot's license bythe Department of Commerce. During the 1930s, Richey set a number of records and placed in several races, including as a co-pilot to Amelia Earhart in the 1936 Bendix Race. In 1934 Richey applied for a pilot's job with Central Airlines. She was hired and flew Central's route between Washington and Detroit. However, the Bureau of Air Commerce warned Centeral management to keep her on the ground in bad weather and the pilot's union rejected her application for membership. Due to these restrictions, Richey resigned from Central in October 1935. The Bureau of Air Commerce then offered Helen a new job as an air marking pilot for the government. She stayed with the air marking service until 1937 when the job was completed. In 1940 Richey was the first woman to earn an instructor's license and she was appointed an instructor for air cadets at Pittsburgh - Butler Airport. In 1942, she joined the American wing of the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), where she ferried aicraft and needed materials thoughout the British Isles. Richey headed the ATA's American Group from 1942 until April 1943, when she returned to the States and joined the WASPs. Unable to find aviation employment after the WASPs disbanded in 1944, she committed suicide in 1947.
Provenance:
Gene Suskalo, Gift, 1998, NASM.1999.0006
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consist of Cyrus Bettis' logbook, photographs, correspondence and news clippings that document the Pulitzer Trophy flights as well as Bettis' career as an Army Air Service pilot.
Biographical / Historical:
Cyrus Bettis (1893-1926) was one of the leading Army Air Service pursuit pilots in the early 1920s. Born in Carsonville, Michigan, Bettis entered the Army as a flying cadet in February 1918. He attended the school of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois and was sent to Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas in April of that year. He finished his flight training and was commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Service on September 11, 1918. On July 1, 1920, Bettis was commissioned in the Regular Army and promoted to first lieutenant. During the International Air Races in 1924, Lt. Bettis won the John L. Mitchell Trophy Race. Bettis won the 1925 Pulitzer Trophy competition and established a world record of 249.342 miles per hour, flying the Curtiss R3C-2 Racer in its land plane configuration. Bettis was also the backup pilot for the 1925 Schneider Trophy competition, and flew the R3C extensively in its float plane configuration. Bettis, along with Lt. James Doolittle, was awarded the Mackay Trophy for 1925. Bettis died at the Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington DC on September 1, 1926, as a result of injures he received in an aircraft accident on August 23, 1926, when in heavy fog he crashed into a mountainside near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
Aviationbug.com, purchase, 2009, NASM.2009.0038
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
The Rubye Berau Collection measures 0.18 cubic feet and dates from 1931-1977. The collection materials document Berau's aviation career.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following types of material chronicling the aviation career of Rubye Berau: scrapbook pages; photographs, including shots of Berau, Babe Walker Smith, Admiral T. G. W. Settle, Harry Harter, Major Addison, Ray "Kitch" Kitchingman, Jimmy Doolittle, and groups shots of Squadron of Death (S. O. D.) members; newspaper articles; Berau's logbook (1931-1936); Berau's 1935 noncommercial pilot's license; telegram; S.O.D. Emblem; and autographed National Air Race tickets, 1934-1935.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
Biographical / Historical:
Rubye Berau (1900-1978) was the proprietor of "The Canteen" in Akron, Ohio, when she became interested in aviation. In 1931, she became a member of the Squadron of Death (S.O.D.), an all-woman group of student fliers based at the Akron Airport. The Squadron had thirteen members and met the second Friday of each month and always on a Friday the 13th. Berau completed her training under Ray "Kitch" Kitchingman and received her pilot's license on August 23, 1932. She was part of an act with Babe Smith Walker, where Berau flew the aircraft and Walker was the parachute jumper. Berau also bought an aircraft, flown by Kitchingman, which was used to charter trips. She was a member of the Ninety-Nines.
Provenance:
Robert B. Cooley, Gift, 2004, NASM.2004.0066
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
This collection includes photographs, newspaper clippings, a speech, flight logs, and maps documenting Atherholt's balloon racing career.
Biographical / Historical:
Arthur T. Atherholt (1867-1915) was an aid to Major Hersey in the American Gordon-Bennett Trophy Race and was also one of the contestants during the 1907-1912 races. During his 1912 racing attempt he and copilot John Watts crashed in Russia and were held prisoners for over a week. Atherholt was one of the first members of the Philadelphia Aero Club, and later the president of this organization. He was also instrumental in organizing the Ben Franklin Aeronautical Society in Philadelphia.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Mary Ellen Tully, gift, 1992, 1992-0043, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of the wartime log Sewell kept while a prisoner at Stalag Luft IV. The log includes poems, sketches, photographs, and food labels from the Red Cross Parcels. The collection also contains V-Mail and prisoner mail postcards, copies of newspaper articles about Sewell and Stalag Luft IV; photographs of Sewell; and copies of The Oversea Kid newspaper 1944. There are also newspaper articles on POW Edward Sanders, and cassette narratives of the following three POWs who were imprisoned with Sewell: Casper Vecchione; William Chamberlain; and Frank Ray.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles B. Sewell (1918-1991) enlisted in the Army in 1942. Technical Segeant Sewell was a top turrent gunner in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortess, 350th Bomb Squadron, 100 Bomb Group. He was on his 14th mission when he was shot down over Germany. Sewell was held as a POW from May 1944 until April of 1945, with most of his time spent in Stalag Luft IV. Sewell was discharged from the Army in October 1945.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Mae Y. Sewell, Gift, 1993, 1993-0014, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
The William J. Powell Collection consists of materials concerning the career and personal life of African-American entrepreneur and pilot William J. Powell, including his service in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I, his automobile business in Chicago, and his advocacy for African-American aviation as the founder of Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc., author of Black Wings, and a primary organizer of the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team. Materials include identification and membership cards, flight logs and officer records, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains materials concerning the career and personal life of African-American entrepreneur and pilot William J. Powell, including his service in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I, his automobile business in Chicago, and his advocacy for African-American aviation as the founder of Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc., author of Black Wings, and a primary organizer of the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team.
The following types of materials are included: AEF identification card and records book, advertisements for his automobile business, his 1938-1939 flight logs, legal documents, marriage license, diploma, membership cards, burial and funeral records, and newspaper clippings. The collection also includes photographs from his time with the AEF and Bessie Coleman Aero Club, as well as portraits of Powell and his family. Materials found in the collection seem to indicate that some photographs have come from individuals other than Powell.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three categories: Aviation Career (American Expeditionary Forces and African-Americans in Aviation), Personal Materials (marriage and death records, automobile business, and memberships), and Photographs (AEF, aviation, portraits and family, and albums). Within these categories, materials are arranged chronologically.
Biographical Note:
William J. Powell (1899-1942) was a prominent African-American entrepreneur and pilot who urged African-Americans to become part of the future aviation industry.
Powell was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on July 29, 1899. He moved to Chicago at the age of eight. He entered the University of Illinois in 1916. He went to Officers' Training Camp in Fort Des Moines, Iowa, in June 1917, and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the American Expeditionary Forces at the completion of training camp. He served with the 317th Engineers and 365th Infantry during World War I. After his honorable discharge in 1919, he returned to the University of Illinois, graduating with honors and a degree of Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1922.
He worked as an electrical engineer and electric welding instructor for Rock Island Railroad for two years. In 1924, he opened his first filling station and in two years' time, he had built a successful automobile business in South Chicago before moving to Los Angeles in 1928.
During the late 1920s and 1930s, Powell worked tirelessly to promote airmindedness in the black community. Under his umbrella organization, Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc., Powell wrote a thinly disguised autobiography, Black Wings, in 1934; wrote and directed a 1935 documentary film, Unemployment, the Negro and Aviation; and published a trade journal entitled Craftsmen Aero News (1937-1938). Powell was also instrumental in organizing the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team. William J. Powell died in July 1942.
Provenance:
Donated by William H. Powell, III, gift, in 1999. Materials found in the collection seem to indicate that some photographs have come from individuals other than Powell.
This collection consists of the following material documenting Page's aviation career: membership cards and licenses; log books; newspaper and magazine articles; biographical material; and photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
George Augustus Page (1892-1983) was an Early Bird and a pioneer aircraft designer. Page was issued his pilot's license in 1914 and went on to became an aeronautical engineer despite the fact that he had no formal training. Page began his aeronautical design career by working for small aviation companies -- Aeromarine Plane and Motor Co., Heinrich Aeroplane Company, Inc, and Moisant. Besides a brief time in 1919-1921, when Page was a mechanic and pilot for American Trans Oceanic Co. -- an early airline operation between Miami and Cuba, Page worked for Curtiss-Wright Air Plane Division from 1917 to 1951. Curtiss-Wright hired Page as director of engineering and in this position he directed production of 130 types of aircraft. One of Page's most famous designs was the C46 cargo plane use in the India-Burma-ChinaTheater during World War II. Page left Curtiss-Wright in 1951 to work for Aeronca, Inc.
Provenance:
Estate of George Page, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0126
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of materials relating to Vern Dean Shipley's service with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II including photographs, publications, and Shipley's pilot's log book. The log book covers the timeframe from May 1944 through June 1946. There are six photographs, all black and white, that range in size from approximately 4.5 by 6.5 inches up to 10 by 31 inches. The photographs show U.S. Army Air Corps personnel as well as the following aircraft: North American AT-6B Texan; Consolidated B-24 Liberator; and the Grumman F4F Wildcat. Also in the collection are several publications including Alert, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Quarterly of the Basic Training Center No. 4, Army Air Forces Technical Training Command); Wings for Combat: The Story of the Army Air Forces Training Command, 1943; and Marfa Army Air Field. Finally, the collection includes a program from the graduation ceremonies of Class 44-K at Marfa Army Air Field dated February 1, 1945.
Biographical / Historical:
Vern Dean Shipley (1924-2012) served with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Shipley flew from Sequoia Field, California; Gardner Army Air Field, California; Marfa Army Air Field, Texas; and Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska. Shipley flew various aircraft including the Stearman (1927) PT-13D Kaydet (Model E75); Vultee BT-13A Valiant; Cessna UC-78 (C-78, Bobcat, Cessna T-50); Cessna AT-17 (T-17, Bobcat, Cessna T-50); North American AT-6 Texan; and the Beech AT-11 Kansan. After retiring from the military, Shipley worked as an Engineer for Ford Motor Company.
Provenance:
David Shipley, Gift, 2013
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of three scrapbooks and five logbooks belonging to Denis H. Carey. The scrapbooks contain photographs of Royal Navy Air Stations, ships, flying boats, floatplanes and land planes used by the British around 1918. They include approximately 28 different airplanes, 9 different ships and aerial views of various air stations. The five logbooks document Carey's flying career in the Royal Air Force (1919-1936) [and perhaps Royal Naval Air Service?]. Two hundred and fifteen of the photographs from his scrapbooks that pertain to seaplanes at the Isle of Grain facility are found on National Air and Space Museum Videodisc 2B. More than three dozen types of aircraft are represented in the collection, including: the De Havilland D.H. 9A and D.H. 10 Amiens, the Fairey Atalanta, the Bristol F.2B, and the Parnall Puffin. Also pictured are several aircraft that have crashed. The seaplanes are shown on the airfield, on the HMS Eagle carrier, at takeoff, landing, and taxiing both on land and water. Only a small number of photographs display aircraft weaponry, with even fewer showing any Naval personnel.
Biographical / Historical:
Denis Carey was a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. According to his logbooks, Carey flew over eighty different types of aircraft. The seaplane test-site on the Isle of Grain was one of the principal sites out of which he flew. This facility was established in 1912 by Winston Churchill for the Royal Naval Air Service (which merged with the Royal Air Force in 1918). Following World War I, test-flying of seaplanes continued to be carried out at the Isle of Grain.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
D. H. Carey?, gift, XXXX-0289, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection contains Pilot Log Books, photographs, newspaper clippings, California Civil Air Patrol documents, financial and personal records, an autobiographical manuscript and negatives, all pertaining to William Aiken, his family and friends.
Biographical / Historical:
William Aiken, Sr. was a pioneer in African-American aviation in California from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was born in Plainsdealing, Louisiana in 1907, left home at the age of 13 and worked his way to California performing odd jobs. In the mid-1920s he started his own car washing business and began taking flying lessons. In 1928 he soloed for the first time and in 1936, Aiken earned his private pilot's license. He joined the California Civil Air Patrol, and was appointed a Second Lieutenant and Commanding Officer of the Los Angeles Squadron #7, California Wing in 1948. Aiken became a flight instructor, instructing not only his own children, but any African-American youth with the desire to learn to fly. He continued to fly until he suffered a stroke in 1969.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Kim Hamilton, gift, 1997, 1997-0024, Unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection includes his pilot's log book, old passports, newspaper articles, Early Bird decals, correspondence, and original photographs and postcards. The photographs/postcards include shots of the following aircraft: Stearman (1927) C-3MB mailplane; de Havilland DHC-4 Caribou; Curtiss JN-4Can; Curtiss Condor; Sikorsky S-38BH Amphibian; Deperdussin (UK) 1913 Racer; Republic F-84F Thunderstreak; Alexander Eaglerock A-4, A-12, A-15; Ford Tri-Motor; Bristol Scout; Blériot XI. There are also photos of Ely's flight from the USS Pennsylvania; Katherine and Marjorie Stinson; the graduating class at Berkley, CA; an Eastern Air Transport Building; a Mexican Pan American Airlines hangar; the tombstone of Lt. Reginald E. P. Pryce-Jones; 50 HP Kirkham engine; 3" Koellein-Mieding gun; and "Eaglerock" radiator.
Biographical / Historical:
George Martin Keightley (1889-1967) was a member of the Early Birds of Aviation, Inc. He helped develop the Royal Canadian Air Service in World War I, and when the United States entered the war he returned to the US become an instructor for the Army Signal Corps. In World War II he served on the Civil Aeronautics Board as an air safety investigator.
Provenance:
Hetty Keightley, Gift
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
