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[[image: two-tone picture set as background to the text, showing the landscape with buildings, from the air]]
offered by Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of The New York World.

The flights which followed, by those listed on the Early Bird Monument, served to develop and publicize aviation in its infancy.

In addition to serving as either a starting or a terminus point for cross country flights, the Island also served as an aviation training center from May, 1916, to March, 1917.

Realizing the important part aviation might play in future military operations, a group of civilians planned the organization of a flying school. Under the direction of Philip A. Carrol and with the approval of Major General Leonard Wood, the Commanding General of Governors Island, training commenced in May, 1916, and continued until March, 1917, when the school moved to Mineola, New York, to consolidate with the activities there.

The parade grounds are still used for small aircraft and for helicopters. And so, as Governors Island remains an important part of our defense, so does it continue to know the throb of aircraft engines and the beat of their propellers. Whether more of the thread of aviation will be woven into the fabric of the Island's history will only be revealed by the passing of time.
[[image: line drawn map of NE United States, the Great Lakes and the Atlantic shaded in.
Numbered dotted lines link Governors Island with (8) St Louis,  (15) and (16) Chicago, (4) (5) (6) and (7) Philadelphia, (9) Rathbone, N. Y., (3) Albany, and (10) Boston. A boxed inset of the map shows a more detailed map of the New York area, showing flight routes in dotted lines, 1, 2, 11, 12, 13 and 14 as well as the following area labels:]]
MANHATTAN
NEW JERSEY
BRONX
QUEENS
BROOKLYN
STATEN IS.[[Under the entire map is the insignia of the Early Birds, followed by the map title and legend as follows]] FLIGHTS TO AND FROM GOVERNORS ISLAND 1909-1916
--LEGEND--

1. WILBUR WRIGHT-SEPT.29,1909
STATUE OF LIBERTY AND RETURN
2.WILBUR WRIGHT-OCT.4,1909
GRANT'S TOMB AND RETURN
3.GLENN L.CURTISS-MAY 29,1910
4. CHARLES K. HAMILTON-AUGUST 5,1911 TO PHILADELPHIA
5.HUGH A. ROBINSON-AUGUST 5,1911 TO PHILADELPHIA
6. LINCOLN BEACHY -AUGUST 5,1911 TO PHILADELPHIA
7.EUGENE ELY -AUGUST 5,1911 TO PHILADELPHIA
8. HARRY N. ATWOOD-AUGUST 14-25,1911 ST.LOUIS TO GOVERNORS ISLAND
9. JAMES J. WARD - SEPT. 13-22, 1911 TO RATHBONE, N.Y. (UNSUCCESSFUL TRIP TO WEST COAST)
10. HARRY M. JONES-JAN.13 TO MAR.29,1913 BOSTON TO GOVERNORS ISLAND
11. HAROLD KANTNER - JULY 5,1914 GOVERNORS ISLAND TO SPUYTEN DUYVIL TO SEA GATE AND RETURN
12. ALBERT HEINRICH - JULY 5, 1914 GOVERNORS ISLAND TO SPUYTEN DUYVIL TO SEA GATE AND RETURN
13. RAYNAL C. BOLLING-MAY 1916 LOCAL FLIGHTS AROUND GOVERNORS ISLAND
14. STEVE MAC GORDON - MAY 1916 LOCAL FLIGHTS AROUND GOVERNORS ISLAND
15. VICTOR CARLSTROM - NOV. 2 TO 3, 1916 CHICAGO TO GOVERNORS ISLAND
16. RUTH LAW - NOV. 19 TO 20, 1916 CHICAGO TO GOVERNORS ISLAND