Collection Guide
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Boyer (Lillian) Personal Papers.
SDASM.SC.10241
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Contributing Institution:
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
Title: The Lillian Boyer Personal Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SDASM.SC.10241
Physical Description:
.75 Cubic Feet
The collection contains materials collected by and related to Lillian Boyer during her time as an aerial exhibitionist in
the 1920s. The material includes personal and biographic history from this time. The collection includes documents, correspondence,
news articles and clippings, photographs, and audiovisual material.
This is a two box collection, one measuring 12.5 x 5.5 x 5" and the other is an album box housing scrapbooks, measuring 15.5
x 12 x 5". The collection has been organized into series.
Date (bulk): 1920-2000
Abstract: The collection contains materials collected by and related to Lillian Boyer during her time as an aerial exhibitionist in
the 1920s. The material includes personal and biographic history from this time. The collection includes documents, correspondence,
news articles and clippings, photographs, and audiovisual material.
Physical Description: Description: This is a two box collection, one measuring 12.5 x 5.5 x 5" and the other is an album box housing scrapbooks,
measuring 15.5 x 12 x 5". The collection has been organized into series.
Content notes: The collection contains materials collected by and related to Lillian Boyer during her time as an aerial exhibitionist
in the 1920s. The material includes personal and biographic history from this time. The collection includes documents, correspondence,
news articles and clippings, photographs, and audiovisual material.
Language of Material:
English
.
The collection is open for research. Some restrictions may apply.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated to the Museum in 2021.
Lillian Boyer was most famously known as an aerial exhibitionist in the 1920s. She was born January 15, 1901, the youngest
of seven children. She had her first ride in an airplane in 1921, and on the second ride, she climbed out on the wing. From
late 1921 to late 1928, Lillian dazzled huge crowds at fairs in 22 states as she took to the air in a Curtiss Jenny biplane
piloted by the well-known flier William S. Brock. Throughout her career, she performed at 352 shows in 41 states and Canada,
completing 143 automobile-to-plane changes and 37 parachute jumps.
As an aerial daredevil, Boyer excelled at changing from a speeding to an airplane (the first woman to do so); change from
plane to plane; hang by her teeth (and toes, knees, or ankles); hang by one hand from the skid under a wing tip; balance on
her head; do stunts on a ladder, and also perform parachute drops. Boyer finished her stunting career on September 8, 1928,
in Bethany, Missouri. In 1937, she married Ernest Werner and moved to Los Angeles in 1944. She moved to San Diego in 1976
where she passed in June of 1989 at the age of 89.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Barnstorming
Stunt flying
Curtiss JN-4 Jenny
Standard J-1
Boyer, Lillian