Elton Ross Silliman was an airline executive and manager in Latin America for Aerovias Centrales, S.A., Pan American Airways (PAA), Inc. and PAA subsidiary, Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S.A. (CMA). As an American citizen living and working in this field throughout Central America and Mexico for several decades, he helped develop and expand U.S. commercial air service south of the Rio Grande. During 1931-32, he organized Aerovias Centrales, S.A. in Mexico. He joined PAA in 1933 as the company's special representative in Central America, Panama, Venezuela, and the Dutch West Indies. In 1943, Silliman became general manager for CMA. He retired from this position in the 1960s. Note: Please do not describe the images, photographs, or maps that appear in this project. We are only seeking transcriptions.
This collection consists mainly of Elton Ross�Silliman's business papers. These papers relate to his career with PAA and its subsidiary, CMA. Both companies had�Silliman�operating out of Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean and interacting with many Latin Americans prominent in the fields of aviation, government, and industry. Consequently, much of the correspondence, handbooks, and newspaper clippings are in the Spanish language. No attempt was made during processing to translate these materials. Included in these papers are PAA and CMA expense and financial reports, photographs and miscellaneous materials. This collection also includes a small amount of materials (personal correspondence) pertaining to�Silliman's personal life � in particular, his interest in hunting rifles and the death of his father in 1950.