This donation consists of 156 separate interviews or sound sources collected by Elgen Long while he was researching and writing his book, Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved which promotes the theory that Amelia Earhart's aircraft came to rest at the bottom of the ocean near Howland Island.
This collection is in English.
Scope and Contents:
The donation consists of 156 separate interviews or sound sources, some comprising two or more tape sides. Most of them are interviews conducted by Long, including interviews with: crew members of the Coast Guard Cutter Itasca; Naval and Coast Guard officials; mechanics and engineers involved in the maintenance of Earhart's aircraft; New Guinea and Australia residents and radio operators; friends, family and associates of Earhart and Noonan; and advocates of alternative disappearance theories. There are also radio interviews and a few movie soundtracks and miscellaneous items. The total running time of the collection is 13,209 minutes (220sca hours). This donation also includes a hard drive which holds 387 audio files in .mp3 or .mp4 format (each file is an interview with the possibility of multiple interviews per tape).
Arrangement:
Arrangement by donor.
Biographical / Historical:
Elgen Long collected oral recordings, both interviews and sound sources, while he was researching and writing his book, Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved which promotes the theory that Amelia Earhart's aircraft came to rest at the bottom of the ocean near Howland Island. These tapes were also used throughout Long's partnership with David W. Jourdan, founder of the deep-sea exploration company Nauticos, during their three attempts to locate Earhart's aircraft on the ocean floor (2002, 2006, and 2017).
Provenance:
David Jourdan, Gift, 2020, NASM.2020.0025
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 approximately 100 historic letters. Correspondents include: Neil Armstrong, Alexander Graham Bell, Richard Byrd, George Clemenceau, Jacqueline Cochran, Glenn H. Curtiss, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, Jimmy Doolittle, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Augustus Herring, Harry Houdini, Otto Lilienthal, Henry Cabot Lodge, Grover Loening, Charles Manley, Hiram Maxim, James Means, William Mitchell, Eddie Rickenbacker, Alex P. de Seversky, I. Sikorsky, and Ferdinard von Zeppelin.
Provenance:
Gift, Various donors, Various
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
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974 Search this
Extent:
0.35 Cubic feet (7 folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ephemera
Date:
1907-1977
Summary:
This collection consists of approximately 0.35 cubic feet of banquet programs, menus, and similar items from aviation-themed events.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 0.35 cubic feet of banquet programs, menus, and similar items from aviation-themed events. Some are from events honoring individual pilots such as Charles Lindbergh, Richard Byrd, the Wright Brothers, and Amelia Earhart, and some are from events held by organizations including the Aero Club of America, the Early Birds of Aviation, the Manufacturers Aircraft Association, and the 31st Division Air Corps of the Alabama National Guard. Additional programs relate to specific events including the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, various air racing events and record setting flights, memorial dedications, and air route inaugurations.
Arrangement:
Items in this collection have been organized by topic with a miscellaneous folder at the end. Folders are arranged alphabetically by organization name or by last name when the topic is a particular person. Within each folder, items are arranged chronologically.
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." With such a great interest in aviation, many of the pilots during this era were treated as celebrities whose activities were followed with interest by the press as well as the public. Pilots making trailblazing flights were often fêted with parades, banquets,and other events in order to celebrate their achievements, and many aviation events were similarly celebrated. Also during this time period, numerous aviation-related societies and clubs were formed and their members would meet for dinners and other social occasions.
General:
In cases where identical duplicate items exist in the collection, only one representative version was scanned to appear in the slideshow. In cases where duplicate items had differences (such as signatures on the cover or an enclosure not present in the other versions), only the parts that differ were scanned.
Provenance:
Unknown, Material found in collection is likely from various donors, NASM.XXXX.0116.
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.
Kinner, Winfield B. "Bert,", 1882-1957 Search this
Extent:
1.31 Cubic feet (3 boxes, 1 folder, 1 map folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Photographs
Publications
Date:
1919-1993
Summary:
This collection consists of approximately 1.31 cubic feet of material relating to Winfield B. "Bert" Kinner, a pilot and businessman active in the aviation industry.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following: copy negatives, newspaper and magazine clippings, brochures, correspondence, invitations, photographs, Kinner corporation documents; and letters to the Kinners from Amelia Earhart.
In the fall of 2013, the South County Historical Society transferred two binders containing mostly copy photography that had been given to them by the same donor.
Arrangement:
The collection is currently arranged by type of material and by size.
Biographical / Historical:
Winfield B. "Bert" Kinner (1882--1957) enlisted in the Air Corps during World War I, but the war ended before he was trained to fly. So in 1919, Kinner moved to Los Angeles, CA, where he rented a barn, built his first airplane and taught himself to fly. Until his retirement in 1941, Kinner remained active in the aviation business. Kinner organized the following aircraft and engine companies: Kinner Airplane & Motor Corp; Security Aircraft Corp; American Aircraft Corp; and Security National Aircraft Corp. Aircraft produced by these corporations included: Kinner K-1 Airster -- which was the first aircraft Amelia Earhart purchased; Kinner B-2 Sportwing; and the Kinner B-1 and Kinner K Sportsters. Kinner is perhaps most famous for producing the popular Kinner K5 engine and for designing the first folding wing aircraft -- the Security Airster S1-A and S1-B.
Provenance:
Donna Hunter Kinner, Gift, 1994, NASM.1995.0004. Additional material received via the South County Historical Society in 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
Collection includes over 200 replies (160 of which comprise the book) to Mrs. Moore's letter requesting a quotation or a bit of poetry important to the recipient; a copy of her book, "Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies," and materials relating to the speeches both Mrs. Moore and her daughter gave about this collection of letters, such as notes, clippings, etc.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents a book written by Mildred Moore entitled Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies, published in 1940 by the Bookwalter Ball Greathouse Printing Co., Indianapolis. The collection encompasses over 200 replies (160 of which are included in the book) to Mrs. Moore's letter requesting a quotation or a bit of poetry important to them. Also included are a copy of her book, Famous personalities and Their Philosophies, and materials relating to the speeches both Mrs. Moore and her daughter gave about this collection of letters.
2
Series 1 of the collection, the letters received in response to Mrs. Moore's inquiry, has been classified by occupation of the respondent and then arranged alphabetically by name within that classification. Apparently selected at random, the people she contacted were drawn from a wide variety of occupations and interests and include actors, athletes, community leaders, physicians, politicians, royalty, and many others. They are as diverse in background as Babe Ruth and the Prince of Wales, Huey Long and Winston Churchill. Most of the responses are signed by the individuals to whom Mrs. Moore's letter was addressed. Some of these have value as autographs, for example, Helen Keller, Marie of Roumania, and Adolph Hitler.
Series 2 is the book itself, arranged alphabetically with a page devoted to each personality. On each page are brief comments by Mrs. Moore about the person, and his or her favorite quotation and its source. When a second page has been devoted to an individual it is a reproduction of the handwritten response to Mrs. Moore's request (16 out of 160 entries). Sources of the quotations range through the centuries from Confucius to several people alive at the time of the book's publication (1940), but most frequently quoted are the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.
The material in series 3 is devoted largely to notes of Mary Lou White (Mrs. Moore's daughter) relating to the many speeches she made to women's clubs, fraternal organizations, and similar groups concerning her mother's collection, her publicity and that of her mother. There are also a few references to Elizabeth Wenger, who, according to Mary Lou White's notes, was repeating Mildred Moore's endeavor with respect to a later generation.
Series 4 contains replies to a letter requesting a favorite quotation sent to residents of Fort Wayne by Mrs. Moore. Most of these are dated 1932 1933. They have been arranged alphabetically by respondent.
The correspondents include Babe Ruth, the Prince of Wales, Winston Churchill, Huey Long, Helen Keller, Marie of Romania, and Adolf Hitler, and others, such as those listed below.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Responses to Mildred Moore's letter to famous personalities
Series 2: Publication developed from responses to letter to famous people (book)
Series 3: Development of speeches by Mary Lou White (notes)
Series 4: Responses to letters to prominent Fort Wayne area residents
Biographical / Historical:
Mildred Moore, the pen name for Mildred Galloway, later Mrs. Forest L. Moore, was born on a farm outside Cromwell, Indiana. She read constantly as a child and often wrote verse to express her feelings. Prior to November 13, 1930, when she began writing a column called "This, That And The Other" for the Cromwell Advance, a Fort Wayne newspaper, and one in Waterloo, Indiana, she had worked for several years as a secretary and bookkeeper for the Fort Wayne YMCA.
In 1931, having become interested in what motivated people and in their philosophies, Mildred Moore began to write to famous people seemingly selected at random requesting a quotation or a bit of verse that had been important to them and the development of their philosophy. The resultant book, Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies, includes 160 responses to over 200 letters to people with some claim to fame during the 1930s. Interestingly, the rate of response and acquiescence was very high with few refusals. A few indicated no favorite verse or quotation.
Mildred Moore made speeches about her collection of letters to several hundred groups in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois. Her daughter, Mary Lou White (Mrs. Charles F. White), also spoke to numerous groups about the letters after her mother's death.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Charles F. White, 1991, April 26.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Probable copyright restrictions on some material in this collection.
