Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Processing Information
Project Information
Historical Note
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Related Materials
Secondary Sources
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Collection
source:
Grenier, Judson
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.1996.001
Physical Description:
10 boxes
Physical Description:
4 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1909-2010; undated
Abstract: This collection includes newsclippings, photos, books, journal articles, ephemera, correspondence, and minutes related to
the aviation meet held on Dominguez Hill in 1910. Subjects include: early aviation history and early aviators; the Aviation
Meet of Los Angeles (1910-1911); anniversaries; a commemorative airshow; and the Aviation Meet Committee. Material from the
collection is available online by visiting the
1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Digital Collection .
Physical Location: oversize material related to this collection is located in map case 2, drawer 11.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The records in this collection were collected over a twenty year period by CSUDH archivists and members of the Dominguez Air
Meet Committee. This committee was formed in 1996 with the purpose of creating the most comprehensive repository of materials
about and relating to the 1910 meet. In 2006, the committee was renamed the 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet at
Dominguez Flying Field Committee and members renewed their work for the upcoming Aviation Meet
centennial.
Processing Information
The collection was processed in the Fall of 1996 and was opened to research without restrictions. In 2006, the collection
was reevaluated, additions were made, and it was reopened. In 2019, the collection was again reevaluated and the finding aid
was updated to reflect the addition of newly aquired material. It is currently a growing collection, with contributions from
members of the community and the Aviation Meet Committee. The collection is considered a growing collection, with
materials from committee members and the community added regularly.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Early Los Angeles/Rancho San Pedro Manuscript Cataloging Project, a CSU Dominguez
Hills Library project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2005.
Project Director was Greg Williams. Project Archivists were Thomas Philo and Jennifer Allan Goldman
Historical Note
Following the Reims International Aviation Meet in 1909, enthusiasm for aviation began to increase in the United States. In
between meets in the South, Charles Willard and Roy Knabenshue discussed holding a meet in the winter, with Los Angeles being
a good choice for weather reasons. After receiving a promise of participation from Glenn Curtiss in New York, Knabenshue contacted
Dick Ferris, a Los Angeles athletic promoter and balloon enthusiast. Ferris gained the support of the local business community,
formed an organizing committee, and Curtiss and Willard out to Los Angeles to find a suitable location for the meet.
The first location considered was a field in Santa Anita, but physical obstructions such as tall trees led the aviators to
search for another site. About a month before the January start date, Dominguez Field was agreed upon. This field was located
on the top of a small hill in land once a part of the Ranch San Pedro, an early Spanish land grant. The dates were set as
January 10 to 20, with eleven full days of events planned. Once the site was settled, promotion of the meet began and grandstands
were erected. Also, an expanded passenger platform was constructed at the Pacific Electric Station located closest to the
Aviation Meet site to accommodate the large number of spectators expected to attend the event. Organizers invited a variety
of participants to pilot airplanes, balloons, and dirigibles, including Louis Paulhan, a French aviator known for his flying
at the Reims Meet. Because the meet was being billed as "international," Paulhan's participation was crucial and he was guaranteed
a small sum of money as encouragement to attend. Cash prizes were allotted for scheduled events, including altitude, speed,
and endurance competitions
Aviation Meet spectators were thrilled by the performances of aviators Louis Paulhan, Glenn Curtiss, Charles Willard, and
others. Paulhan brought to the event two Bleriot Monoplanes, two Farman Biplanes, and an entourage which included his wife,
two student pilots/mechanics, the Baron and Madame de Pennendreff, and his black poodle. At the aviation meet he set a new
altitude record (4164 ft.), endurance record (64 miles in 1 hr. 49 minutes 40 seconds), and won $14,000 in prize money. Glenn
Curtiss won two events-fastest speed with a passenger (55 mph) and quickest start (6 2/5 seconds covering 98 ft.). Curtiss
took home $6500 in prize money. Charles Willard was credited with the most accurate take off and landing skills, for which
he receive a prize totaling $250. Attendance at the meet surpassed all expectations. An estimated 226,000
spectators purchased tickets for the show, with up to 250,000 in attendance overall, and gate receipts for the event equaled
over $137,500. The event was considered a phenomenal success and helped to alleviate a perceived economic drought in the Los
Angeles area. Annual aviation meets were held on Dominguez Field in 1911 and 1912.
Scope and Contents
The 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Collection (1909-2010; undated) includes journal articles, news
clippings, and photographs of and about the 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet. Some of the journal articles were
written at the time of the Aviation Meet while others were authored at a later date and help to shed light upon the importance
of the event both on aeronautical history and for the region. The news clippings cover the period shortly before the event
as well as the ten day period of the event. Many of the photographs are one-of-a-kind and detail many of the well known aviators
of the period as well as heavier-than-air and lighter-than-air ships which took part in the meet. The collection has been
organized into thirteen series.
Arrangement
Arranged in thirteen series:
- Series I. Committee Papers, 1972; 1996-1997
- Series II. Official Programs, 1910-1911
- Series III. Newsclippings, 1909-1996
- Series IV. Books and Journal Articles, 1910-2010
- Series V. Maps, undated
- Series VI. Anniversaries and Marker Dedications, 1941-1996
- Series VII. Commemorative Airshow, 1968-1969
- Series VIII. Aviation Ephemera, 1910-circa 1950
- Series IX. Reference Materials, circa 1910-1999
- Series X. Photographs, 1909-circa 1915; circa 1970s
- Series XI. Slides, 1909-circa 1915
- Series XII. Sheet Music, undated
- Series XIII. Stereographs and Postcards, 1910-1912, 1960, undated
Related Materials
For local history related material please consult the Rancho San Pedro Reference Collection. For material related to aviation
please consult the Northrop Millar Collection, Vernon Johns Family Papers, Aviation Magazine, Giacinta Bradley Koontz Aviation
Sheet Music Collection, and Mary Nolf Diaries and Correspondence for a diary entry regarding the airmeet. Material from the
collection is available online by visiting the
1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Digital Collection .
Secondary Sources
Books found in the CSUDH catalog include call numbers.
Boyne, Walter J. "The Smithsonian Book of Flight". New York: Orion Books, 1987. [TL 515 B665 1987]
Bynum, Lindley and Idwal Jones. "Biscailuz, sheriff of the new West". New York: Morrow, 1950.
Doolittle, James Harold, with Carroll V. Grimes. "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: an Autobiography". New York: Bantam Books,
1991.
Gibbs-Smith, Charles Harvard. "Aviation: An Historical Survey from its Origins to the end of World War II". London,: Her Majesty's
Stationery Office, 1970. [TL 515 G48 1970]
Harris, Sherwood. "The First to Fly: Aviations Pioneer Days". New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970. [TL 515 H36]
Prendergast, Curtis. "The First Aviators". Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1980. [TL 515 P68]
Schoneberger, William A. "California Wings: A History of Aviation in the Golden State". Woodland Hills, CA,: Windsor Publications,
1984. [Spec Coll TL 522 C2 S36]
Villard, Henry Serrano. "Contact! The Story of the Early Birds". New York: Thomas V. Crowell, Co., 1968. [Spec Coll TL 670
V5]
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Navigation (Aeronautics)
Aeronautics
Aeronautics -- Competitions
1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field
Dominguez Hills (Calif.)
Paulhan, Louis
Curtiss, Glenn Hammond, 1878-1930
Knabenshue, Roy, -1960
Beachey, Lincoln
Willard, Charles
Grenier, Judson