Posts Tagged ohio
“The glory of soaring above God’s Earth and the satisfaction of taking the machine up and bringing it back to the ground safely, through my own skill and judgment, has melted away the boundaries of my life. Racing opens my door to the world. Don’t cut me off from the adventure men have been hoarding for themselves in the guise of protecting me from danger.” – unnamed female aviator, 1929
Several of the women aviators competing in the 1929 Air Derby gathered for this photograph at Parks Airport in Illinois. Included, from left-to-right, are Mary Von Mach, Jessie Miller, Gladys O’Donnell, Thea Rasche, Phoebe Omlie, Louise Thaden, Amelia Earhart, Blanche Noyes, Ruth Elder, and Vera Walker. THF256262
The 1929 Women’s “Powder Puff” Air Derby was the first air race in which women aviators were allowed to participate, despite air races occurring internationally and nationally since 1909. By 1929, 117 women held pilot’s licenses in the United States and were breaking records, including some set by men, left and right. Twenty of these aviators arrived at Clover Field in Santa Monica ready to compete, but perhaps the greater motivation was to show the world how truly capable women aviators were.
The derby, from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio, was to be completed over nine days with the total time in flight recorded each day. The aviator with the shortest flight time overall, for both the DW (heavy aircraft) and CW (light aircraft) classes, would win the top prize. In order to qualify to compete, the aviators, like their male counterparts in the National Air Races, were required to have completed over 100 logged hours in flight. Several of the twenty aviators did not actually meet this qualification but flew anyway. Unlike their male counterparts, however, there were restrictions placed on the women’s aircraft engine strength. One of the aviators, Opal Kunz, had her newly-purchased 300 horsepower Travel Air airplane deemed “too fast for a woman” and was forced to rent a 200 horsepower plane for use in the derby.
The nine-day derby saw multiple mishaps. Both Florence “Pancho” Barnes and Ruth Nichols crashed their planes but managed to escape unscathed. Phoebe Omlie accidentally landed in a field where the local Sheriff nearly arrested her for alleged drug smuggling, while numerous other aviators discovered suspected sabotage efforts to their aircraft. Ruth Elder, lost on the leg to Phoenix and needing directions, accidentally landed in a field of grazing bulls, causing her to panic that the red color of her airplane would incite anger. The farmer’s wife relayed her location and Elder quickly resumed flight without damages. Tragically, on the second day of the race, Marvel Crosson perished when she crashed in the Arizona desert. Despite calls to suspend the race after Crosson’s death, the remaining women decided that finishing the race would best honor their fallen friend.
On the final day, August 26, 1929, fifteen of the original twenty women crossed the finish line in Cleveland, Ohio. Louise Thaden won the DW class and Phoebe Omlie won the CW class. As Thaden was lauded for her first-place finish, she addressed the crowd, “The sunburn derby is over, and I happened to come in first place. I’m sorry we all couldn’t come in first, because they all deserve it as much as I.”
The Henry Ford recently added over 200 artifacts related to women aviators to the Digital Collections. Of the women aviators who competed in the 1929 Air Derby, the collection includes archival materials for five of them; Louise Thaden, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Elder, Mary Von Mach, and Ruth Nichols. Numerous other significant early female aviators that did not participate in the 1929 Air Derby are also represented in the collection.
Katherine White is Associate Curator, Digital Content, at The Henry Ford.Additional Readings:
- Modernizing the Mail
- 1939 Douglas DC-3 Airplane
- Just Added to Our Digital Collections: Wright Brothers Images
- Morgan Gies: Driver to the Presidents
Ohio, 1920s, 20th century, California, women's history, racing, by Katherine White, aviators, airplanes
If you visit the Wright Home in Greenfield Village, the presenter in the house will probably draw your attention to the bookcase in the living room. Many of these books, along with more housed in the Benson Ford Research Center, did indeed belong to the Wrights, and were used by Orville and Wilbur Wright, their sister Katharine, or their father Milton. We’ve just digitized over 50 Wright family books, including this 1892 copy of Medea used by Katharine Wright. Other examples include The Principal Works of Charles Darwin, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and A Manual of Instruction in Latin. Browse the list of titles to see what other bookish ideas may have influenced the young Wright Brothers by visiting our Digital Collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
Ohio, home life, Wright Brothers, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, digital collections, childhood, by Ellice Engdahl, books, 19th century
It was time once again for four days of education and fellowship as the National Association of Automobile Museums (NAAM) convened for its annual conference from March 17-20. Our host this year was the wonderful National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio, some 50 miles southeast of Cleveland. Approximately 65 volunteers, administrators, curators and board members, representing institutions from Maine to California, gathered to discuss the state of the automobile museum world.
Session topics covered most aspects of museum management. There were presentations on grant research and writing, exhibit planning, marketing and merchandising, and non-profit tax codes. Few talks could match the session on disaster planning for pure drama, though. Wendell Strode, Executive Director of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, updated us on his institution's infamous sinkhole disaster of February 2014. Though five vintage Corvettes were damaged beyond repair, the museum was featured in more than 2,000 media outlets around the world, and visitation jumped astronomically due to the coverage. I continue to be impressed by the speed and style with which Wendell and his staff responded to the crisis. Continue Reading
This week on “The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation” you’ll learn about the Wright Brothers. Want to learn more? Take a look below.
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Lish Dorset is Social Media Manager at The Henry Ford.
Additional Readings:
- Just Added to Our Digital Collections: Wright Brothers Images
- Morgan Gies: Driver to the Presidents
- 1931 Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro
- Reliability Tours Land Public Trust
North Carolina, Ohio, 20th century, 19th century, Wright Brothers, The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, inventors, flying, by Lish Dorset, aviators, airplanes
By the end of the 19th century technological miracles were commonplace. Railroad trains routinely traveled a-mile-a-minute. Electric lights could turn night into day. Voices traveled over wires. Pictures could be set into motion. Lighter-than-air balloons and dirigibles even offered access to the sky. But the age-old dream of flying with wings like birds still seemed like a fantasy. In a simple bicycle shop now located in Greenfield Village, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, turned the fantasy of heavier-than-air flight into reality. Continue Reading
Ohio, 20th century, Wright Brothers, inventors, Greenfield Village buildings, Greenfield Village, flying, by Bob Casey, bicycles, aviators, airplanes
The Brill streetcar, located near the model railroad layout on the far side of the Allegheny, received received a little TLC from our Conservation Department this spring. The car has a varied history, which explains its current yellow paint scheme. Continue Reading
research, Ohio, 21st century, 2010s, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford, 20th century, 1910s, 19th century, 1890s, Henry Ford Museum, conservation, collections care, by Clara Deck
To put it simply – The Henry Ford is the reason I became a history teacher! As an 8-year old boy, I visited Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village with my family in the 1970s. I was immediately hooked by the awesome power of the historical artifacts, buildings and stories. Suddenly, history came alive. I saw the past not just as dates and events in a stuffy textbook, but as a link to where we are right now, and where we are going in the future.
When I learned about The Henry Ford’s Teacher Fellow Program, it was a no-brainer for me to apply. I hoped that my years of experience as a public high school history teacher would be enough to convince The Henry Ford to accept me into the program. Fortunately, it was.
Living almost two hours away from Dearborn, Mich., I wound up making close to 10 round-trips during a six-month time period. The funny thing was, I hardly noticed the drive! Often times I spent the drive brainstorming ideas and different plans to help The Henry Ford really connect with teachers in the classroom.
The Henry Ford is a treasure chest full of so many awesome ideas, programs, primary sources, artifacts, and stories that teachers can use each and every day in their classrooms to make history come alive. History is just that – a STORY! The story is ongoing and never ends. When teachers can make real, concrete links to the past that are hands-on, suddenly students begin to grasp the emotions behind the events – people, who are just like them, experienced history with emotions that are real and identical to those we have right now. The materials at The Henry Ford are just that powerful!
One of our projects was raising awareness to teachers on the “outside” who cannot make it to Dearborn with their classes. So, why not bring The Henry Ford to them? We created a series of videos (I have never shied away from an audience!) to help teachers realize all that The Henry Ford has to offer for in-class use. Teachers can now access so many materials and programs online to use in their own classrooms. It truly is awesome.
Another project was the Digital Curator Kit. We wanted to have something hands-on for students of all ages to utilize while both in their classrooms and during a field trip. It places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the students and allows them to find artifacts that relate to an area of their choosing. In a way, the students are now making their own personal museum!
The Henry Ford’s Teacher Fellow Program allows a group of teachers, who would not otherwise work together, to collaborate in a way that benefits not only themselves, but other teachers as well. It empowers them to have a lasting effect, together, on the future students and teachers coming to, and using, the resources of The Henry Ford.
The Teacher Fellow Program was an opportunity for professional development unlike any other. Teachers collaborate on-site at America’s Greatest History Destination. We are given the unique ability to be hands-on, behind the scenes, at The Henry Ford. We are given access to every possible resource we could imagine. While that can seem overwhelming at first, once the purpose and direction of the Fellows becomes clear, there is no limit to the impact the group can have on the hundreds of thousands of students and teachers who use The Henry Ford each year.
I have made contacts with teachers from both Ohio and Michigan that I wouldn’t have met. We can now collaborate, as Fellows, on future projects in our classrooms and continue the work we have done as 2013 Teacher Fellows at The Henry Ford.
I am truly looking forward to Graduation Day on Oct. 26. To see the finished product of our hard work – and to show others for the first time our vision – is very exciting.
Over the past several months I have become a member of a large group of professionals with the dedication to bring history to life for everyone of any age. I am so honored to be a part of The Henry Ford’s family. The little 8-year old boy has now turned a passion for history into a life-time dedication of helping others see that the past is a link to the present and future. You could easily say, I have always been a part of The Henry Ford – or better yet, it is a part of ME!
Todd Edmond is a member of The Henry Ford’s 2013 Teacher Fellow Program. He hails from Tiffin, Ohio, and teaches U .S. History and AP U. S. History at Tiffin Columbian High School.
Ohio, Michigan, Dearborn, 21st century, 2010s, teachers and teaching, education, by Todd Edmond, #Behind The Scenes @ The Henry Ford
