George Byron "Slim" Purington was chief mechanic for Curtiss at the North Island Aviation Camp in San Diego, California. This collection consists of a photograph album created by Purington in the early 1900s. The photographs in the album depict a number of early aviators and a variety of early aircraft.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a photograph album created by George Byron "Slim" Purington in the early 1900s. The photographs in the album depict a number of early aviators and a variety of early aircraft. Photographs were taken in and around North Island, as well as at various airshows and exhibitions in the midwestern and western United States. In addition, there are photographs in the album depicting various crash sites and recovery of damaged aircraft from land and water, as well as several pages of photographs pertaining to the crash that killed Cromwell Dixon, Jr. at the Spokane Interstate Fair in 1911. There are also photographs in the album of ships, sailboats, and trains. Aircraft shown in the album include the Curtiss Model D; Curtiss Beachey Tractor; Curtiss Hydro, Original; Curtiss Model E Hydro Headless; Curtiss Flying-Boat No.1; Curtiss Flying Boat No.2 "The Flying Fish"; Curtiss Model M (Morris) Boat; Curtiss F Boat; Curtiss Tractor Hydro; Curtiss Hydro Triplane; Curtiss A-1 (AH-1); Aerial Experiment Association Aerodrome No 4 Silver Dart; and the Curtiss G (Army 1913 Tractor). Besides Purington himself, notable figures in aviation shown in the album include Castle W. Shaffer ("Lucky Bob St. Henry"); John D. Cooper; Frank J. Bell; Hugh Armstrong Robinson; James J. "Jimmie" Ward; Julia E. Clark; Frank J. Terrill; Holden Chester "Dick" Richardson; Theodore Gordon "Spuds" Ellyson; Terah T. Maroney; John W. McClaskey; John Lansing Callan; Man Mohan Singh; Glenn Hammond Curtiss; Charles Francis Walsh; Beckwith Havens; Carl T. Sjolander; Lincoln Beachey; John A. D. McCurdy; Floyd E. Barlow; and Arthur F. Lym (Arthur Fook Yuen Lyn, Lin Fuyuan, Art Lin, Lim Fook Yin).
Arrangement:
Collection is a single item.
Biographical / Historical:
George Byron "Slim" Purington was chief mechanic for Curtiss at the North Island Aviation Camp in San Diego, California. Prior to working for Curtiss, Purington had been an engineer for the Tecopa Railroad Company which ran between mines in Nevada and California. In addition to his work at North Island, Purington was sent by Curtiss as part of a delegation to Russia relating to the sale of Curtiss K flying boats and was there from 1916 to 1917. The contents of the scrapbook in this collection suggest that Purington also traveled to some extent in the midwestern and western United States with the Curtiss Exhibition Company.
Provenance:
Mrs. T. C. [Margaret S.] MacAulay, Gift, 1964, NASM.XXXX.0248.
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 202 black and white snapshots of aircraft at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, during the 1930s.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 202 black and white snapshots of aircraft at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, during the 1930s. These images were taken by John Czajkowski and include aircraft from the following manufacturers: Abrams; Aeronca, Alco, American Eagle, Avro, Barkley-Grow, Bellanca, Berliner, Bleriot, Boeing, Bucker, Buhl, Bushey McGrew, Cairns, Chambers, Chester, Continental, Crosby, Curtiss, de Havilland, Delgado, Douglas, Fairchild, Fleet, Fleetwing, Folkerts, Ford, Fox, Franklin, Great Lakes, Grumman, Gee Bee, Hall, Heath, Hawks, Howard, Keith Rider, Kellet, Keystone, Kinner, Laird, Light, Lockheed, Luscombe, Marcoux-Bromberg, Martin, McKeen, Miles, Miller, Northrop, North American, Pearson Williams, Ryan, Seversky, Sikorsky, SPAD, Stinson, Swallow, Taubman, Taylor, Taylorcraft, Thomas-Morse, Travel Air, Turner, Viking, Vought, Waco, and Wedell-Williams. 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.
Arrangement:
The Roosevelt Field Photograph Collection [Czajkowski] is arranged by content type.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Andrew Wrench, Gift, 1999, 1999-0048, 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
Topic:
Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States Search this
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1878-1930) is best known as an aviation pioneer and inventor and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. This collection consists of fifty-four images, predominantly photographs printed as postcards. The postcard images feature subjects relating to Glenn Curtiss and his aviation career.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of fifty-four images, predominantly photographs printed as postcards. The postcard images feature the following subjects relating to Glenn Curtiss and his aviation career: early Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) and Curtiss aircraft predominantly at Hammondsport, New York (H. M. Benner photographs) but also elsewhere (including one image of flight at Atlantic City dated 1920); International Air Meet (Los Angeles, 1910); US Army airship Signal Corps No. 1 (Baldwin); Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy; ice boats on Lake Keuka, Curtiss "wind-wagon;" Curtiss motorcycles (with G. H. C. team); Glenn Curtiss with others (including Mrs. Curtiss, Louis Paulhan); group photographs which probably show Curtiss employees; and informal Curtiss family photographs.
All images have received minimal subject headings, but only some have had additional captions added.
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.
Arrangement:
The fifty-four photographs have been assigned "7A" image numbers. They are arranged in numerical order (some images were assigned multiple numbers). Some photographs are in sleeves that hold two images.
Biographical / Historical:
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1878-1930) is best known as an aviation pioneer and inventor and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. Initially a bicycle repairman and designer, by 1902 Curtiss had begun to manufacture motorcycles using a lightweight internal combustion engine of his own design and founded the Curtiss Manufacturing Co. By 1904, Curtiss' engine had been co-opted by Thomas Baldwin for his airship experiments. This activity led to a connection between Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell and, in 1907, to the foundation of the Aerial Experiment Association. In 1909, Curtiss joined with Augustus M. Herring to form the Herring-Curtiss Co to manufacture powered vehicles, but Herring's unsubstantiated claims to priority over the Wright Brother's aeronautical patents led to the Wright and Curtiss patent suits which continued until the merger of Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor with Wright Aeronautical in 1929. Curtiss and Herring split after the Wright's filed suit and Herring sued Curtiss, claiming that Curtiss had failed to turn his air race winnings over to the company. Despite these, and other, suits, Curtiss continued to advance the cause and technology of aviation, founding the first public flying school (1910) and later a chain of schools across the US, inventing the aileron (1909), the dual-control trainer (1911) and the hydroaeroplane (1911). In 1920, Curtiss retired from active aviation pursuits.
Provenance:
Unknown - found in collection, Unknown, Unknown, NASM.XXXX.0682.
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 five rolls of microfilm (and a Diazo copy of each roll), 93 negatives, three 8.5 by 11 inch drawings of the SPAD XI A2 (S.11 A2), three 8.5 x 11 drawings of the Salmson 2 A2, a memorandum for Lieutenant McDarment, and a copy of Burdette Wright's certificate of appointment to First Lieutenant in the Air Service. The microfilm consists of a complete set (28 volumes) of Burdette Wright's diary from April 6, 1917 to February 15, 1949. The negatives are of select images from Wright's diary.
Biographical / Historical:
Burdette S. Wright was born in New Albany, Indiana, and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1915. He later attended George Washington University and obtained a law degree, and in 1925 received his Master's degree from Purdue. His aviation career began during World War I where he was an observer in France for the Army Air Corps. Following the war, Wright became General William (Billy) Mitchell's aide until 1922. When Mitchell was court-martialed in 1925, Wright testified in his defense. Wright set up the first system of air routes in the United States, and introduced various new features for safety and navigation. In 1928, Wright left the army and after two years of practicing law, he accepted a position with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, of which he became president in 1933. Following the merger of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company with Wright Aircraft Company, Wright became vice president of manufacturing. Wright retired in 1950 and died in 1961 at the age of 67.
Provenance:
Elizabeth Burdette Wright, Gift, 1965
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
A scrapbook and photographs documenting Roland Rohlf's aviaiton career.
Scope and Contents:
A scrapbook records Rohlfs' career and includes correspondence, telegrams, programs, and newspaper articles. Loose photographs were reproduced on NASM Archives Videodisc 2B, and include family photographs as well as subjects relating to Rohlfs' career as described above.
Arrangement:
Photographs located in Videodisc Files; scrapbook is a single item.
Biographical / Historical:
Roland Rohlfs started his career establishing motorcycle records in 1914, before turning to the field of aviation. Rohlfs became an instructor and experimental test pilot with Curtiss Aeroplane Company during World War I, and he established speed and altitude records. Because of his popularity, he endorsed advertisements for such items as watches, spark plugs, parachutes and cars. In 1928, Rohlfs developed and patented an aerial neon sign, and established the Aerial Advertising Company to administer it. Toward the end of his career, he promoted private flying as a "Personal Flying Specialist" for the Civil Aviation Authority and he was an operations manager for Aeromarine Airways. Rohlfs was a member of the Early Birds.
Provenance:
Roland Rohlfs, Gift, Unknown, NASM.XXXX.0278
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