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 oversized certificates presented to William Thaw, 1918 – 1919.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following three oversized certificates: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, presented to Lieutenant Colonel William Thaw on April 9, 1919; Distinguished Service Cross, presented to Colonel William Thaw on October 16, 1918; and United States Citation to Colonel William Thaw, on April 19, 1919.
Arrangement:
No order, only three certificates.
Biographical / Historical:
William Thaw II (1893 – 1934) was a World War I ace and is believed to be the first American to engage in aerial combat in the war as one of the original nine members of the Lafayette Escadrille. Born into a prominent Pittsburgh family, Thaw attended Yale University but left to learn to fly at the Curtiss School of Aviation at Hammondsport, New York, in 1913. Soon after he was the first to pilot an aircraft up New York City's East River and fly underneath all four bridges. By the summer of 1914, Thaw was in Paris, along with his personal Curtiss Motel E Hydro, and had received the Aero Club of France F.A.I. Hydro License 2. When war started, Thaw joined the French Foreign Legion and by December he was transferred to the French aviation unit, first as an observer, then as an active pilot. In May of 1916 Thaw was commissioned as first lieutenant and shortly after he was shot in the arm during combat. After his recovery, he resumed active duty and in November he was transferred to the American Air Service and commissioned a major. In January 1918 Thaw was given command of the American Lafayette Escadrille, 103rd Pursuit Squadron and in August he was given command of the 3rd Pursuit Group and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. After the war, he returned stateside and from January to June 1919 he was the commanding officer at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California. He was honorably discharged in July of 1919. During his service he received many honors and decorations.
Provenance:
Found in Collecton, Transferred from the NASM Aeronautics Department, 2022, NASM.2023.0009
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.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) [Photos]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
1934 Deauville, France to Cannes, France to Deauville, France, Grand Prix of the Aero Club of France (Armand Esders Trophy)
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
1934 Deauville, France to Cannes, France to Deauville, France, Grand Prix of the Aero Club of France (Armand Esders Trophy) [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Archives Reading Room at the Museum in Washington, DC. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Reference Desk.
Aero Club of France Prizes and Awards, General [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Archives Reading Room at the Museum in Washington, DC. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Reference Desk.
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
Collection Citation:
Shakir S. Jerwan Scrapbooks Collection, Acc. XXXX.0231, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
0.05 Cubic feet (1 folder, Soft cover handbook, front cover missing, 6.5 x 5 inches)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1909
Summary:
This single-item collection consists of a copy of the Aéro-Club de France Annuaire 1909 (1909 Annual) issued by the Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) while based at 63, Champs-Élysées, Paris, France. This French language publication includes information on ACF rules and regulations, members, and facilities, as well as aeronautical prizes, affiliated French societies, and helpful information for the balloonists who constituted the bulk of the ACF's membership at this point in time.
Scope and Contents:
This extremely fragile Aéro-Club de France (ACF, Aero Club of France) publication is missing its front cover and most of its binding, but internal evidence indicates that it is an Aéro-Club de France Annuaire 1909 (the 1909 annual), issued when the Club was based at 63, Champs-Élysées, Paris, France. The French language publication, which measures 6.5 x 5 inches, includes sections on the ACF's statutes, rules, and regulations (including admission to the club, dues, and the issuance of pilot's licenses); images of the ACF medal and insignia; colors used to identify club members and individual balloonists; details of specific aeronautical prizes and competitions (including the Gordon Bennett and Deutch de la Meurthe aeronautical cups); affiliated French aeronautical societies; and lists of the ACF officers, commission members, and pilots. Also included is information on the ACF's facilities in Paris at the Parc d'Aérostation at Saint-Cloud (gas prices for balloon inflation, precision instrument rental, orientation table) and rules for use of the military parade ground at Issy-les-Moulineux (Parc d'Aviation). The annual also features helpful information for balloonists such as advice on customs regulations and landings in foreign countries, how to obtain an ACF certificate for a balloon ascension, and a table of suggested fees to be paid to the owners of farmland whose crops have been destroyed by a balloon landing. Also included are lists of balloons operated by French and foreign ACF members, by name, with details on the size and composition of each balloon. The publication concludes with six pages of advertisements for various related businesses (rubberized fabrics, patent services, inflation pumps, magnetos, stereoscopic and panoramic cameras, and Dutheil & Chalmers engines).
Arrangement:
The annual is in original order. The front cover is missing, as well as any additional pages of advertisements which may have originally preceded page number one.
Biographical / Historical:
The Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) was founded in 1898 "to encourage aerial locomotion." Its founders included Ernest Archdeacon, Jules Verne, André Michelin, Albert de Dion, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe, and Henry de La Vaulx. The club was one of the founding members of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI, International Aeronautical Federation) in 1905. The Aéro-Club established many of the regulations for French aviation and adjudged record flights. The club's medal has been awarded for aeronautical achievements from 1900 to the present day.
Provenance:
Unknown, found in collection, 2011, NASM.XXXX.1099
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 one scrapbook which includes photographs and a news clipping pertaining to various aviation organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Also in the collection are a number of loose documents relating to the Guggenheim estate, Hempstead House, in Long Island, New York that was donated to the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences in 1917.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains one scrapbook, measuring approximately 11 by 12.5 inches, which includes photographs and a news clipping pertaining to various aviation organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Organizations included in the scrapbook are the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences; Aero Club of America; Royal Aeronautical Society (UK); Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom of Great Britain; Aero-Club Von Deutschland (Germany); Rangsdorf Aviation Club (Germany); Lilienthal-Gesellschaft für Luftfahrtforschung (Germany); and the Aero Club of France. The photographs show exterior and detailed interior views of the facilities of these organizations. The scrapbook also contains a news clipping regarding the move into new headquarters for the Aero Club of America in 1911, and several photographs that appear to show an aviation-related exhibit in an unknown location that includes images of several trophies. Also in the collection are a number of loose documents relating to the Guggenheim estate, Hempstead House, in Long Island, New York that was donated to the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences in 1917. These documents include floor plans of the first and second floors of the house; a topographical map of the estate grounds; and a map of Long Island with the estate marked on it. Finally, the collection includes a chart relating to various topics in the area of aviation medicine and what entities are doing research about them.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
During the early flight period, World War I, and on into the 1920s and 1930s, numerous famous flights by pioneering pilots represented the cultural acceptance of the airplane from an entertaining novelty into an instrument of commerce, a weapon of war, and a vehicle for spectacle. In response, there emerged a new form of technological enthusiasm called "air-mindedness." To be airminded meant the zealous support of aviation to bring about the next great era in human civilization, which many people called the "Air Age." During this time period, numerous aviation-related societies and clubs were formed.
Provenance:
Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, Gift, NASM.XXXX.0269.
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.
Correspondence, Foreign Service Committee Aero Club of America
Collection Creator:
Read, A. C. (Albert Cushing), 1887-1967 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
May 31, 1919 - June 2, 1919
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Admiral Albert C. Read, USN (Curtiss NC-4) Collection, Acc. XXXX.0391, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of 2 cubic feet of material relating to Aline Rhonie's aviation and art exploits, including her famous aviation mural, "The Pre-Lindbergh Era of Flying on Long Island", which was located in Hangar F at Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York. There is also much material relating to Rhonie's war efforts, including material relating to her flight tour as the Aero Club of France's American representative to raise money for Allied aviators in France. The types of material included are photographs, correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, certificates, and telegrams.
Biographical / Historical:
Aline Rhonie Hofheimer Brooks (1909 -1963) was a pioneer aviator and artist. Born in 1909 in York, Pennsylvania, to Arthur and Helen Milius Hofheimer, she grew up in the family's luxurious country estate in Washington Valley, New Jersey. She was an accomplished horsewoman and attended the Dalton School in New York City. After her divorce from first husband L. Richard Bamberger, Aline changed her name to Aline Rhonie, taking her middle name as her surname. She earned her pilot's license in 1930 after flight training with Frank Cochran in Reno, Nevada and James H. Collins at Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, and obtained her transport license in late 1931. Rhonie helped found the Luscombe Airplane Co. in Kansas City, Missouri in 1933. Also in 1933, Rhonie married Reginald Langhorne "Peter" Brooks (they later divorced) and they took off on an aerial honeymoon, each piloting their own plane. As part of this trip, Rhonie flew solo from New York to Mexico City and back, the first woman to do so. As a pilot she flew over 4,000 solo hours. Rhonie earned her English pilot's license in 1936 and became the first American to obtain an Irish commercial pilot's license in 1938. Rhonie was active in the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) before going to Europe from November 1938 to April 1940, where she flew for the British War Relief Society, drove an ambulance for the French Section Sanitaire Automobile behind the Maginot Line, and was also active in the Women's Voluntary Service in England. Upon her return to the United States, Rhonie flew her own plane on a tour as the American representative of the Aero Club of France to raise money to build canteens for Allied aviators in France as well as lecturing extensively on aviation-related issues, drawing from her experiences in Europe. Rhonie was also an accomplished artist who studied with John Sloan and Diego Rivera, from whom she learned mural painting. From 1934 to 1938, Rhonie created a very large fresco mural on a wall in Hangar F at Roosevelt Field. All the research and painting for the mural, entitled "The Pre-Lindbergh Era of Flying on Long Island," was done by Rhonie herself and the mural includes depictions of the many famous flyers including the Wright Brothers; Glenn Hammond Curtiss; Earle L. "Ovie" Ovington; Edward Anderson "Eddie" Stinson; Oakley G. Kelly; John A. MacReady; and Charles Augustus Lindbergh; as well as scenes relating to many aspects of aviation including aircraft production, World War I, barnstorming, and airmail. Aline Rhonie died in 1963.
Provenance:
Carol Roberts, Gift, 2014
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
