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Howard T. Douglas Records
H.Mss.0273
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Title: Howard T. Douglas Records
Dates: 1917-1921
Collection number: H.Mss.0273
Creator:
Douglas, Howard T.
Extent:
2 Linear Feet
(1 slim document box, 1 flat box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: Appointments and
awards, letters of condolence, writings, and published and newspaper accounts from
1917-1921, relating to the life and career of Howard T. Douglas and the Alaska Flying
Expedition of 1920.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Howard T. Douglas Papers (H.Mss.0273). Special Collections and
Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont,
California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Gordon Douglas (sister-in-law), Covina, California, May 9, 1957.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, June 2004; revised by Michael P. Palmer, May
2010 and 18 February 2014.
Biography / Administrative History
Howard Thomas Douglas was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on October 1, 1887, the second
son and youngest of the four children of Summerfield Douglas (1847-1927) and his wife,
Rebecca Clark (1849-1913). The family immigrated to the United States in 1895, and appears
in the 1900 census in Lincoln Township, Pembina County, North Dakota, where Summerfield is
listed as a farmer. By the time of the 1910 census, the family had settled in Covina,
California, where Summerfield worked as a salesman for the Covina Realty Company. Howard
graduated from Covina Union High School and the University of California at Berkeley. He
enlisted as a private in the United States Army in January 1917, joining a coast artillery
unit in Covina. In May 1917, after the United States declaration of war, he was sent to the
first officer's training school at the Presidio in San Francisco, where he received his
commission as a first lieutenant of infantry, U.S.R., at the end of the month. In July 1917,
he was called to active duty, and upon finishing training camp the following month proceeded
via Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he received his
first instruction in aerial observation. In December 1917, he proceeded to France where he
served as an aerial observation officer, where he served with distinction, being twice
recommended for promotion to Major, and receiving the Distinguished Service Medal. Following
the armistice, he was placed in command of an aviation unit in Germany; he returned to the
United States in the summer of 1919. He then entered the Regular Army with the rank of
Captain, and was attached to General Mitchell, Chief of Air Service. He served as Mitchell's
aid and flying companion, directing a cross-country flight and playing a vital role in the
Alaska flying expedition of 1920. He helped write the War Department's first aviation
manual. He was drowned in the Chesapeake Bay, off Tangier Island, on June 22, 1921, during a
practice bombing raid on the hulk of the battleship
San Marcos, after his
plane collided with another flown by Lieutenant Marll J. Plumb. His body was not recovered
until July 1, 1921. He was buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Covina, on July 12, 1921.
Sources:
- Diary of Howard T. Douglas, 1918.
- "Covina Aviator Killed in Chesapeake Bay Fall", Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1921, p. i (1).
- "Covina Airman's Body Recovered from Chesapeake," Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1921, p. ii (8).
- "Last Honor for Hero at Covina," Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1921, p. ii (13).
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection includes appointments and awards, letters of condolence, writings, and
published and newspaper accounts, 1917-1921, relating to the life and career of Howard T.
Douglas and to the Alaska Flying Expedition of 1920. The collection features biographical
materials, writings, printed materials, and newspapers and newspaper clippings. Biographical
materials include a recommendation for promotion (1918), papers appointing Douglas as First
Lieutenant and Captain (1919), and a letter (1920) from the Aero Club of America awarding
Douglas the Aviation Medal of Merit (the medal itself is now in the Arthur L. Neuman '23
Collection of Aeronautical Medals [NC010], Numismatics Division, Department of Rare Books
and Special Collections, Princeton University Library. Other materials include a carbon copy
typescript report on Douglas' body; several letters of condolence, most from Douglas'
military superiors, but including one signed by the explorer Roald Amundsen; and a
photograph (1920) of Douglas in military uniform. Writings include Douglas' travel orders
for, and a 137-page carbon-copy typescript account of, the Alaska Flying Expedition of 1920;
and carbon-copy typescripts of two articles he had prepared for publication at the time of
his death. A published history of the San Gabriel Valley towns of Azusa, Baldwin Park,
Charter Oak, Covina, Glendora, and Puente, during World War I is also featured, which
includes accounts of the war service of both Howard T. Douglas and his brother, Gordon C.
Douglas. The newspapers include clippings and pages from the
Nome Nugget,
New York Times,
New York Tribune,
Covina
Argus
,
Pasadena Evening Post, and other unidentified newspapers,
relating to the Alaska Flying Expedition and death and funeral of Douglas.
- Howard T. Douglas' World War I diary, dated April 15 - June 12, 1918, has been cataloged and stored with Special Collections' manuscript materials. The diary can be found in The Claremont Colleges Library online catalog using the call number D570.9 .D6x.
- The Aero Club of America Aviation Medal of Merit awarded to Douglas in 1920 (see letter of award in Box 1, Folder 1) is now in the Arthur L. Neuman '23 Collection of Aeronautical Medals (NC010) , Numismatics Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Aeronautics
Aeronautics -- 1910-1920
Aeronautics -- History
Air pilots, Military
Alaska -- History -- 1867-1959
Douglas, Howard T.
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Newspapers
Photographs