Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Ernest M. Allison papers
Date (inclusive): 1910-2012
Collection Number: 2015C19
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English
Physical Description:
38 manuscript boxes, 4 card file boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 1 cubic foot box, 1 AV tray, 2 oversize folders, digital media
(24.23 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Diaries, flight logs, correspondence, printed matter, photographs, business papers, maps, VHS tapes and memorabilia of the
American aviator relating to commercial aviation in the United States and China before World War II. Includes other family
papers and collected material on aviation history.
Creator:
Allison, Ernest M., 1894-1976
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boxes 9, 47, and OCM2 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research;
materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the
collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2015.
[Identification of item], Ernest M. Allison papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
An American aviator, Ernest M. Allison was active in the early days of American aviation, where he was one of the first to
fly routes with the US Air Mail service from 1918 to 1927. Allison moved to China in 1929 to serve the China National Aviation
Corporation (CNAC), where he flew mail routes, helped establish and expand the airfield at Shanghai, and oversaw the expansion
of CNAC into a commercial passenger line under Pan-American Airways, eventually serving as a vice president of CNAC. He flew
important missions, including delivering supplies, flying Soong May-Ling (Madame Chiang Kai-Shek) into Shanghai, and flying
Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong May-Ling back to Xi'an after the Xi'an Incident of 1936. Allison was well acquainted with important
figures in aviation such as Charles Lindbergh, Claire Lee Channault, Clement M. Keys, William Langhorne Bond, and Harold M.
Bixby. Allison returned to the United States after the Communist victory in China and worked in aviation in various capacities,
including for Boeing in Seattle.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes diaries, flight logs, correspondence, books, periodicals, bulletins, printed matter, photographs,
business papers, maps, and memorabilia relating to commercial aviation in the United States and China before World War II,
specifically, the development of the Air Mail Service of the United States Postal Service and the development of the China
National Aviation Company (CNAC) and the services that it provided, notably air mail and later passenger transportation. Includes
other family papers and collected material on aviation history, including the autobiography of aviator R. C. "Tex" Marshall,
and interviews with former CNAC employees such as Harold Chin, Frieda Chen, Moon Chin, Wong Tsu, and Fred Y. T. Chin. Contains
research correspondence with Dick Rossi, James McDivitt, and David Feng and personal correspondence with Harold Bixby, William
Langhorne Bond, Claire Lee Chennault, Royal Leonard, K. I. Nieh, and H. S. "Newsreel" Wong. Also includes writings by Ernest
Allison's daughter; a glossary of Chinese-English flight vocabulary, including Chinese script used at the time; VHS tapes
of China, work, Shanghai street and family, war scenes, CNAC planes and hangars, filmed by Allison and others; and CDs of
CNAC history.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aeronautics -- China
Aeronautics -- United States
China National Aviation Corporation