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6 Total pages
16 Contributing members
William J. Powell Collection - Pilot's Flight Log, 1938 - 1939
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. 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 through various projects under his umbrella organization, Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc. Powell was also instrumental in organizing the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team. Note: Please do not describe the images, photographs, or maps that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
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1 Total pages
4 Contributing members
William J. Powell Collection - Service Award, Los Angeles Fellowship League, 1936
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. 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 through various projects under his umbrella organization, Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc. Powell was also instrumental in organizing the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team. Note: Please do not describe the images, photographs, or maps that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
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8 Total pages
9 Contributing members
William J. Powell Collection - University of Illinois yearbook, The Illio, 1923
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. 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 through various projects under his umbrella organization, Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc. Powell was also instrumental in organizing the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and the "Five Blackbirds" demonstration team. Note: Please do not describe the images, photographs, or maps that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
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162 Total pages
38 Contributing members
William John Eck: First Pan American Airlines Transatlantic Flight Scrapbook
William John Eck (1876-1957) graduated from Iowa State University in 1895 with a degree in electrical engineering and went to work in the telephone industry. In 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Eck joined the United States Army and was sent to the Philippines; after a year Eck transferred to the U.S. Quartermaster Department and spent his next three years at sea, eventually making a trip around the world. After leaving the Army, Eck switched to the railroad business, joining the Southern Railway in 1905. Over time, travel—particularly air travel—became a serious hobby for Eck, and by the early 1930s, he had become a pioneer passenger on several early airline routes. In 1931, after chatting to Pan American Airways (PAA) pilots on a flight to Santiago, Chile, Eck contacted PAA to apply for a ticket on PAA's first transatlantic passenger flight, whenever that might occur. Eight years later, Eck was delighted to be contacted by PAA with the news that he had been designated Passenger No. 1 on the historic flight, departing Port Washington, New York, on Wednesday, June 28, 1939, aboard the Boeing Model 314 "Dixie Clipper." The flight, carrying 22 passengers, was made via Horta, Azores, with an overnight stay at Lisbon, Portugal, on June 29, finishing at Marseille, France, on June 30. Eck continued on to Paris via a land-based Air France flight. Eck and many of the outbound passengers were also on the return flight of the "Dixie Clipper," departing Marseilles on Sunday, July 2, and following the same route to return to New York on Tuesday, July 4, 1939. At the time of the flight Eck, a resident of Washington, D. C., was Assistant to the Vice President, Southern Railway Company. The newspapers noted that Eck, a widower who had recently married his second wife, Emily Magdalene Kleb, three months earlier on March 20, 1939, was unable to take her along on the flight as he had only the single ticket bought well before their marriage.
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307 Total pages
67 Contributing members
William Jones World War II Scrapbook
William Jones was an aerial photographer in the Army Air Corps during World War II. During the occupation of Japan, Jones photographed the atomic bomb damage of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki at low altitude. After his discharge he continued in his photography career, owning and operating a studio, Jones Photos, in Columbia City, Indiana, for over 43 years. PLEASE NOTE: for the maps, images, and photographs in this collection, please simply transcribe words, captions and annotations. Descriptions of the images, photographs, and maps are not required. If you choose to add descriptions, please place them in the notes field with brackets [[image description]] man in hat smiling [[/image description]] etc.
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32 Total pages
41 Contributing members
William L. Abbott - Haiti correspondence, circa 1916-1922
How would you spend your time if you came into a large sum of money? As a young man, William Louis Abbott (1860-1936) had already obtained licenses to practice medicine from the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians when he received his inheritance. He was twenty-six. From that point forward, he devoted himself to exploring and collecting on several continents. This set of correspondence covers his work in Haiti during the years leading up to his retirement in 1923. Join up with other transcription volunteers to learn more about Abbott and the collections he donated to the United States National Museum.
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66 Total pages
178 Contributing members
William Louis Abbott - Haiti, journal, circa 1918-1919
When the Spanish Flu pandemic was sweeping through countries around the globe, William Louis Abbott (1860-1936) was far from home doing research and collecting work in Haiti. Only a life-threatening case of dysentery could convince him to return to the States. And upon his recovery, Abbott again took up his explorations, returning to explore the Dominican Republic on the western side of that Caribbean island. Will you help us transcribe this handwritten field book of a lifelong naturalist and generous contributor to the United States National Museum?
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36 Total pages
24 Contributing members
William M. Mann - Field notes, Fiji and British Solomon Islands, 1915-1916
If you received money to travel for a year, where would you go? An exotic location? William M. Mann was awarded a year's funding from Harvard University's Sheldon Traveling Fellowship and set out for the South Pacific. Fiji and the Solomon Islands were part of his travels. But exotic locations can include unknown dangers amidst the discoveries. Join our volunteers in transcribing this set of Mann's field notes.
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59 Total pages
36 Contributing members
William M. Mann - Field Notes, Fiji Islands, 1915-16
If you had just finished your doctorate program, what would you do? Plan a party, take a vacation? For future National Zoological Park director William M. Mann the answer was a research expedition! This set of notes was taken by Mann on his trip to the Fiji Islands in 1915--newly out of school, before taking a job as an entomologist with the US Department of Agriculture. Mann's focus was on studying the distribution of organic species in Fiji's islands and reefs. Join other transcribers in helping make Mann's field work available to current researchers! While the first few pages are tricky, Mann's handwriting improves throughout the remainder of the book!
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124 Total pages
156 Contributing members
William Mitchell Trial Scrapbooks - Trial Scrapbook 1
An active participant in American military aviation since its beginnings, Colonel William L. "Billy" Mitchell (1879-1936) was closely involved in shaping air policy and air defense strategy in the 1920s. Mitchell publically criticized the Navy and War Departments in the wake of the crash of the U.S. Navy rigid airship "Shenandoah" on September 3, 1925. His actions resulted in a court-martial held from October – December 1925 for insubordination and "Conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service." Mitchell was found guilty and was sentenced to "Suspension from rank, command, and duty with forfeiture of all pay and allowances for five years." Mitchell resigned from the Army on February 1, 1926. He remained a public voice for air power until his death on February 19, 1936. In 2003, Congress voted to posthumously commission William L. Mitchell as a major general in the Army. PLEASE NOTE: for the images and photographs in this collection, please simply transcribe words, captions, and annotations. Descriptions of the images and photographs are not required. If you choose to add descriptions, please place them in the notes field with brackets [[image description]] man in hat smiling [[/image description]] etc.
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75 Total pages
89 Contributing members
William Mitchell Trial Scrapbooks - Trial Scrapbook 2
An active participant in American military aviation since its beginnings, Colonel William L. "Billy" Mitchell (1879-1936) was closely involved in shaping air policy and air defense strategy in the 1920s. Mitchell publically criticized the Navy and War Departments in the wake of the crash of the U.S. Navy rigid airship "Shenandoah" on September 3, 1925. His actions resulted in a court-martial held from October – December 1925 for insubordination and "Conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service." Mitchell was found guilty and was sentenced to "Suspension from rank, command, and duty with forfeiture of all pay and allowances for five years." Mitchell resigned from the Army on February 1, 1926. He remained a public voice for air power until his death on February 19, 1936. In 2003, Congress voted to posthumously commission William L. Mitchell as a major general in the Army. PLEASE NOTE: for the images and photographs in this collection, please simply transcribe words, captions, and annotations. Descriptions of the images and photographs are not required. If you choose to add descriptions, please place them in the notes field with brackets [[image description]] man in hat smiling [[/image description]] etc.
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300 Total pages
74 Contributing members
William Ockleford Oldman Archive Research Materials - Collection Ledger, 1902-1916: 1 to 33668 (Part 1)
Help us transcribe "Collection Ledger, 1902-1916: 1 to 33668 (Part 1)" from the William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials! For instructions on how to transcribe this material, please view the project instructions page here . The William Ockleford Oldman Archive research materials are comprised of digital surrogates of the business records of Oldman held by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. These records include detailed information about his purchases and sales of objects including names of original sources for objects he acquired and sold. Since this provenance information is critically important to the documentation of NMAI’s collections, NMAI and Te Papa have begun a collaborative research project to make the Oldman materials available to the public for research and scholarship. William Ockleford Oldman (1879 – 1949) was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was active between the late 1890s and 1913. Oldman purchased items from various sources including from auctions, directly from other collectors and dealers and also from many small British museums and historic houses. He held regular auctions to sell items and also reserved items for possible sale to particular private collectors, scholars, and heritage institutions including the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, NMAI’s predecessor institution. Ethnographic specimens with a provenance to Oldman’s business can now be found in various public institutions around the world including the National Museum of the American Indian.
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