Finding aid of the Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Papers
Michael P. Palmer
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
Libraries of The Claremont Colleges
800 Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Phone: (909) 607-3977
Fax: (909) 621-8681
Email: spcoll@libraries.claremont.edu
URL: http://voxlibris.claremont.edu/sc/default.html
© 2010
Claremont University Consortium. All rights reserved.
Finding aid of the Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Papers
Collection number: H19xx.0051
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
Libraries of The Claremont
Colleges
Claremont, California
- Processed by:
- Michael P. Palmer
- Date Completed:
- April 20, 2010
- Encoded by:
- Michael P. Palmer
© 2010 Claremont University Consortium. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Collection number: 525
Title: Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen papers
Dates: 1912-1994
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1927-1949).
Creator:
McQueen, Elizabeth Lippincott (Mrs. Ulysses
Grant), 1878-1958
Collection Size:
1 archive box + 1 oversize box
(0.5 linear foot).
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd
Library.
Abstract: Photographs, correspondence, writings, clippings, and other
materials, chiefly 1927-1949, relating to women in aviation, created and collected
by Elizabeth L. (Mrs. Ulysses Grant) McQueen in the course of her activities as
founder and honorary president of the Women's International Association of
Aeronautics (WIAA) and as principal organizer of the 1929 Women's Air
Derby.
Physical location: Please consult repository.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special
Collections.
Preferred Citation
Box #, item #, Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen papers. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd
Library, Claremont University Consortium.
Acquisition Information
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Michael Palmer, April 2010.
Biography
Elizabeth Lippincott was born in Pennington, New Jersey, on September 26, 1878, the
daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Crispin Lippincott, DD, and his second wife, Deborah
Diverty. She graduated from Pennington Seminary in 1898, and in March 1900 married
Ulysses Grant McQueen (1864-1937), a wealthy inventor and manufacturer in New York
City. The couple lived in New York City until 1928, when they moved to Beverly
Hills, California. During World War I, Mrs. McQueen served in war relief work in
Palestine under Field Marshal Allenby. In 1919 she founded the
Jerusalem News, the first English-language newspaper in
Jerusalem.
Mrs. McQueen became interested in aviation when in 1920 she witnessed seven airplanes
"take the place of two British regiments of soldiers" in routing a large number of
rebel Arab cavalry in the desert near Aden. "A vision, mental and spiritual, came to
me of millions of women with the hands upraised acclaiming: 'Save my son from war,
save my son from war, save my son from war!' I mentally saw these women's faces and
hands upraised far into space and heard their voices entreating me. This vision has
never left me. Then and there I dedicated my life to aeronautics as an instrument
for World Peace."
In September 1928, Mrs. McQueen organized the Women's Aeronautic Association of
California, which was soon followed by similar organizations in New York, Arizona,
New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Canada, England, France, Germany,
Australia, and New Zealand. On May 23, 1929, she organized the Women's International
Association of Aeronautics (WIAA), which became the principal focus of her
activities for the rest of her life. Mrs. McQueen served as "founder and honorary
president" of the WIAA; presidents of the association were, in turn, prominent
British aviator Lady Mary Heath (1929-1932), British reporter Lady Grace Hay
Drummond-Hay (1932-1940), educator Dr. Mary Sinclair Crawford (1940-1947), actress
Mary Pickford (1947-1949), airplane manufacturing executive Olive Ann Beech
(1949-1954), and pioneer aviator Matilde Moisant (1954-). A junior division of the
WIAA was organized in 1931; members under 7 years old were called "tailwinds", those
from 7 through 20 years old "zoomers".
In 1929, Mrs. McQueen and Lady Heath appealed to the Federation Aeronautique
Internationale in Paris to have women's air records recognized, an appeal that was
ultimately successful. At the same time, in order to arouse greater interest in
women's flying, Mrs. McQueen conceived the idea and was one of the principal
organizers of the first Women's Air Derby from Santa Monica, California, to the 1929
National Air Races in Cleveland. 20 female aviators took part in this forerunner to
the Powder Puff Derby, the winners being Louise Thaden and, in the lighter aircraft
category, Phoebe Omlie.
In 1932 and 1933, Mrs. McQueen published a column, "Happy Contacts", concerning women
and aviation, in the monthly magazine
Speed; she also
published several articles in t
The Air Pilot in 1933.
In July 1933, Mrs. McQueen, who in 1929 had been deputized as the first aerial
policewoman in the world by Police Chief Charles Blair of Beverly Hills, organized
the Women's Aerial Police Association, whose members were deputized to assist the
civil authorities in times of emergency. From March 1940 to February 1941, she also
undertook a Goodwill Tour to Mexico and Central and South America, on which she
publicly read a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt and met with many pioneer female
flyers.
From approximately 1942 to approximately 1947, Mrs. McQueen resided in the Mission
Inn, in Riverside, California, the location of the International Shrine of Aviators
and the Famous Fliers' Wall. By the late 1940s, she had returned to her house on
Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills.
Ulysses Grant McQueen died in April 1937, and about 1955 Mrs. McQueen married Dr.
Irving Reed Bancroft, a prominent retired physician. She died at her home in Hermosa
Beach, California, on December 24, 1958, aged 80, after a long period of declining
health. Her ashes are interred in the Portal of the Folded Wing in Pierce Brothers
Valhalla Cemetery, in North Hollywood. Although she had devoted her life to
furthering the role of women in aviation, she had never obtained a pilot's
license.
Scope and Content of Collection and Container List
The bulk of the collection consists of photographs, together with considerably
smaller amounts of correspondence, writings, clippings, and other materials relating
to women in aviation, created and collected by Elizabeth L. (Mrs. Ulysses Grant)
McQueen. The materials were at an undetermined time, and for an unknown reason,
separated from the bulk of Mrs. McQueen's papers, which now form the Women's
International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA) Collection, No. 55, Special
Collections Department, Doheny Library, University of Southern California. Many of
the photographs can be identified in a typescript list in the WIAA Collection. The
descriptions in the list often refer to Mrs. McQueen as "the author", which suggests
that it is an inventory of materials intended by Mrs. McQueen to illustrate her
planned but unrealized history of women in aviation.
Because of its small size, the collection is arranged as a single series divided into
four groups, as follows: (1) People, (2) Organizations, (3) Events, and (4) Printed
Matter. The first group (People) constitutes approximately two-thirds of the
collection, and is arranged alphabetically by name. Most folders contain very few
items, usually one or more photographs, correspondence, or a biographical account;
the contents of each folder is indicated in the container list. The biographical
accounts were often written by Mrs. McQueen, and many appeared in her "Happy
Contacts" column in
Speed (1932-1933). Of particular
interest are the materials relating to Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes, Alys McKey
Bryant, and Evelyn "Bobbie" Trout. The photographs of Mrs. McQueen include portraits
of her in flying attire, in fancy dress, and with her parrot, Dick. Mrs. McQueen's
writings include an undated account of aflight from Seattle to Juneau.
The second group (Organizations) contains materials, almost exclusively photographs,
relating to the Women's Aerial Police Association and to the Women's International
Association of Aeronautics (WIAA). The materials relating to the women's aerial
police include a 1994 account written by Gail F. Ryan-Johnson (added by the
Honnold/Mudd Special Collections staff), an autographed photograph of Beverly Hills
Police Chief Charles Blair, who had deputized Mrs. McQueen in 1929, and photographs
of the dedication of a placque honoring the Association at the Mission Inn,
Riverside, in 1938. The records of the WIAA include minutes of the annual Board of
Directors meetings for 1953-1955 (the minutes for 1955 are missing the first page).
The photographs include the Blind Flying Challenge Cup presented by Lady
Drummond-Hay; an undated (but almost certainly 1934) gala luncheon, probably at the
Del Mar Club in Santa Monica, attended by many of the leading pioneer women aviators
of the day; meetings of the WIAA Board and of the general membership at the Mission
Inn, Riverside (1946-1947); and the "Annual Aeronautical Literary Contest in All
Languages", sponsored by the WIAA (1947 and 1949).
The third group (Events) contains photographs of events not necessarily attended by
Mrs. McQueen or associated with the WIAA. The majority date between 1933 and 1936,
and include the visit of the brothers Auguste and Jean Piccard to the University of
Southern California, the 99s visiting the Famous Fliers' Wall at the Mission Inn,
Riverside, and several breakfasts at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, honoring Air
Commodore P.F.M. Fellowes; Col. Roscoe Tanner, Clyde Pangborn, and Thea Rasche; Sir
Charles Kingsford-Smith; and Lady Drummond-Hay. Other events include the victory of
Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes in the Bendix Trophy Race, Mrs. McQueen's Goodwill
Tour of Central and South America (1940), and a luncheon for Mrs. Amy Oris Earhart
(1949).
The fourth group (Printed Matter) consists of a single 1929 magazine clipping, 4
issues of an unidentified Japanese-language publication, and the 15th anniversary
issue (1944) of the WIAA newsletter,
Aero-Gram.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Air pilots
Barnes, Pancho,
1901-1975
Bendix Trophy Race
Bryant, Alys McKey, 1880-1954
Drummond-Hay, Grace M., Lady Hay,
1895-1956
McQueen, Elizabeth Lippincott (Mrs.
Ulysses Grant), 1878-1958
Noyes, Blanche, 1988-1981
Policewomen
Rasche, Thea, 1899-1971
Thaden, Louise, 1906-1979
Trout, Evelyn, 1906-2003
Women air pilots
Women's Aerial Police Association
Women's International Association of
Aeronautics
Related Material
James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical
History, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont.
Separated Material
The bulk of Mrs. McQueen's papers constitute the Women's International Association of
Aeronautics Collection, No. 55, held by the Special Collections Department, Doheny
Memorial Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
1.
People
1912-1953
(bulk 1927-1949)
Physical Description:
43 folders.
Box 1, Folder 1
Arnold, Henry H. "Hap"
n.d.
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 2
Barnes, Florence Lowe "Pancho"
n.d.,
1932
Physical Description:
Correspondence, 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 3
Batten, Jean
1935
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 4
Beech, Olive Ann
1946
Physical Description:
3 photographs.
Box 1, Folder 5
Bernstein, Lena
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 6
Bixby, Diana Cyrus
1953
Physical Description:
Baby's birth announcement.
Box 1, Folder 7
Bond, Carrie Jacobs
1933
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 8
Bonney, Dolores
1934-1935
Physical Description:
Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 9
Bowen, Pansy
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 10
Bruce, Victor, Hon. Mrs.
1931
Physical Description:
3 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Edna Mae Cooper, Bobbie Trout.
Box 2, Folder 1
Bryant, Alys McKey
1931-1932
Physical Description:
Correspondence, 1 photograph, clippings, article,
letterhead.
Box 1, Folder 11
Burnham, Roger Noble, Mrs.
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 12
Cooper, Margaret Perry
n.d.
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 13
Drummond-Hay, Grace, Lady Hay
n.d.,
1936
Physical Description:
2 photographs, palm print.
Box 1, Folder 14
Earhart, Amelia
n.d.,
1929
Physical Description:
1 photograph, 1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 15
Fyle, Gretchen
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 16
Granger, Clema Mildred
1932
Physical Description:
Correspondence, biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 17
Hamilton, Ethel Inez
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 18
Heath, Mary, Lady
circa 1929
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Lady Mary Heath, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen.
Box 1, Folder 19
Jackson, Frances, Mrs.
n.d.
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 20
Lindbergh, Evangeline Lodge Land
n.d.
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 21
Machado, Anesia Pinheiro
n.d.,
1940-1944
Physical Description:
4 photographs, 2 clippings.
Box 1, Folder 22
Mannsbarth, Hedwig
n.d.
Physical Description:
4 photographs.
Box 2, Folder 2
Marvingt, Marie
1953
Physical Description:
1 postcard, 1 clipping.
McQueen, Elizabeth Lippincott
1929-1953
Physical Description:
3 folders.
Box 1, Folder 24
Photographs
1927-1937
Physical Description:
15 photographs.
Box 1, Folder 27
Mollison, Amy Johnson & James Allan
circa 1932
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 28
Noyes, Blanche
1939
Physical Description:
Biographical form.
Box 1, Folder 29
O'Donnell, Gladys
circa 1929
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 30
Owen, Ruth Bryan, Mrs.
circa 1932
Physical Description:
1 photograph, 1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 31
Patterson, Clayton
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 32
Pickford, Mary
1949
Physical Description:
Resignation statement.
Box 1, Folder 33
Pressler, Dorothy K.
n.d.
Physical Description:
Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 34
Quimby, Harriet
1912
Physical Description:
Typescript copy of last article written.
Box 1, Folder 35
Rickenbacker, Eddie
n.d.,
1934
Physical Description:
2 autographed photographs, 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 36
Schubert, Trixie-Ann
1953
Physical Description:
1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 37
Thaden, Louise
1929
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 38
Trout, Evelyn "Bobbie"
n.d.,
1934
Physical Description:
2 photographs, biographical form.
Box 1, Folder 39
Voloszynovich, Jolan Toth, Mrs.
1948
Physical Description:
Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 40
Warrender, Sara Eugena
1928
Physical Description:
Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 41
Unidentified female aviators
n.d.
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
1 photograph labeled "flying instructor and woman pilots of
Turkey".
2.
Organizations
1929-1955,
1994
(bulk 1929-1949)
Physical Description:
6 folders.
Box 1, Folder 42
Aero Police
circa 1929-1939,
1994
Physical Description:
1 clipping, 6 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Charles Blair, Karena Shields, Bobbie Trout, Mrs.
May Charles, Mrs. Maude E. Miller, Mrs. Betty May Furman, Mrs.
Ulysses Grant McQueen, Pretto Bell, Mary Samson.
Women's International Association of Aeronautics
(WIAA)
circa 1934-1955
Physical Description:
5 folders.
Box 1, Folder 44
Flying Trophies
n.d.
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Photograph 1: Blind Flying Challenge Cup, presented by Lady
Drummond-Hay; photograph 2: ? Challenge Trophy, presented by
Lady Chaytor.
Box 1, Folder 45
Junior Division
n.d.,
1949
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Roxanne Rogers
(daughter of Mary Pickford), Mary Lynn Beech, Leota Weiser,
Suzanne Beech, Jeanette Van Muysen.
Photographs
circa 1934,
1946-1949
Physical Description:
2 folders.
Box 1, Folder 46
circa
1934
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Cora Boettcher, Bobbie Trout, Clema
Granger, Ruth Elder Gillespie, Mrs. Ethel Hamilton, Mrs.
Lloyd Stearman, Thea Rasche, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen,
Lady Chaytor, Mrs. Clark, Alice Miller Hutchings, Miss Edith
Weir, Ethel Jaeckel, ? Mrs. Squire, Col. Arthur Gobel's
mother, Pearl Ridenour, Queen Boardman, Clair Chaytor,
Lillian Chaytor, Mrs. Irvine, Miss Gregory.
Box 1, Folder 47
circa
1946-1949
Physical Description:
11 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Miss Edith Weir, Mrs. J. C. Bowden, Mrs.
James M. Palmer, Mrs. Mac Short, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen,
Dr. Mary Sinclair Crawford, Mrs. Allis Miller Hutchings, Dr.
Catherine V. Beers, Mrs. Mae Carvell, Mrs. Ruth Law Oliver,
Mrs. John K. Northrop, Mrs. Harry Hall Sheeline, Matilde
Moisant, Mary Pickford, J. P. De Bree, Arutumn Shade, Robert
A. Geier, G. O. Noville, Clementine de Forrest Griffin,
Dianna Cyrus Bixby, Major General Roger M. Ramey, Mrs.
Walter H. Beech.
3.
Events
1933-1949
Physical Description:
13 folders.
Box 1, Folder 48
Auguste Piccard at the University of Southern
California
March 4, 1933
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Dr. John F. B. Carruthers, Prof. Auguste Piccard,
Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Jean Piccard, Prof. Earl Hill.
Box 1, Folder 49
99's & friends at the Famous Fliers' Wall, St. Francis
Aviators' Chapel, Mission Inn, Riverside, California
August 18,
1934
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 50
Air Commodore P.F.M. Fellowes at the Los Angeles Breakfast
Club
October 1934
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 51
Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Louise Thaden, unidentified woman
(possibly Gladys O'Donnell), and Elly Beinhorn, Los
Angeles
October 1934
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 52
Reeder Nichols, Clyde Pangborn, Col. Roscoe Turner, Tom Mix,
& Thea Rasche at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club
December 5,
1934
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 53
Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith at the Los Angeles Breakfast
Club
August 14,
1935
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Sir Charles
Kingsford-Smith, Ruth Law Oliver, Matilde Moisant, Budd Morriss.
Box 1, Folder 54
Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay at the Los Angeles Men's
Breakfast Club
1935-1936
Physical Description:
4 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Identified: Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen,
Mae Carvell, Princess Der Ling, Mrs. Alice Miller Hutchings.
Box 1, Folder 55
Wings ceremony at the Mission Inn, Riverside, California, for
Walter Brookins and Col. Albert F. Helgenberger
January 6,
1936
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Col. & Mrs. Pirie, General Story, Walter
& Mrs. Brookins, General & Mrs. Arnold, Mae Robson, Col.
Helgenberger.
Box 1, Folder 56
Louise Thaden & Blanche Noyes, winners of the Bendix
Trophy Race, with Vincent Bendix, National Air Races, Los
Angeles
September 1936
Physical Description:
1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 57
Receptions for Roland Robinson, MP, & Marjorie
Robinson
September
11-12, 1936
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Identified: Pia Diamarini, Roland & Majorie Robinson, Mrs.
Ulysses Grant McQueen, Princess Der Ling, Col. & Mrs.
Easterwood, Baroness von Mueffling, Mrs. Squires, K. Ethel Hill,
Matilde Moisant, Cliff Henderson.
Box 1, Folder 58
Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen's Goodwill Tour of South
America
1940
Physical Description:
4 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Identified: Mrs. Vargas & daughter, Anesia Pinheiro Machado, Leda
Baptista.
Box 1, Folder 59
Luncheon for Mrs. Amy Otis Earhart, Del Mar Club, Santa
Monica
July 23, 1949
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: Vivian Louise Ropes, Anna Held, Mrs. Vida Gentry,
Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Amy Otis Earhart.
Box 1, Folder 60
Unidentified events
circa 1929-1935
Physical Description:
2 photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Photograph 1: Mrs. McQueen between 2 unidentified men, Los Angeles,
circa 1929; photograph 2: Mrs. McQueen at banquet in Washington, DC,
circa 1935 (names written on back: "Mrs. Borah, McCracken, General
Fox, Judge McKesson, McKay").
4.
Printed Matter
1929-circa 1955
Physical Description:
3 folders.
Box 1, Folder 61
Clipping
1929
Physical Description:
1 item.
Scope and Content Note
Persons identified: L. Galanschikoff (1910), Marie Marvingt (1913),
Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay, Amelia Earhart, Mrs. Ulysses Grant
McQueen.
Box 1, Folder 62
Japanese language
n.d.
Physical Description:
4 items.
Box 1, Folder 63
Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA).
Aero-Gram. 15th anniversary
issue
1944
