William B. Ellis papers
Special Collections & University Archives
©2017
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL:
http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: William B. Ellis papers
Date (inclusive): 1942-2009, undated.
Date (bulk): 1975-2005
Collection Number: MS 347
Creator:
Ellis, William B.
Extent:
23.40 Linear Feet
(18 boxes, 4 flat file folders)
material)
Repository: Rivera Library. Special Collections
Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: This collection is comprised of both
print and visual materials from Tuskegee Airman William B. Ellis, including documents,
photographs, correspondence, books, newspaper clippings, audiovisual material, and realia.
The bulk of materials within this collection relate to the military service and history of
the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as to activities of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. at both the local
(Los Angeles chapter) and national level. Additional items regarding Ellis's personal life,
aviation and aerospace history, and African American history are also included.
Languages: The collection is in English.
This collection is unprocessed. Please contact Special Collections & University Archives
regarding the availability of materials for research use.
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be
protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction,
and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements,
donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark
rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed
by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other
restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights
holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests
exclusively with the user.
[identification of item], [date if possible]. William B. Ellis papers (MS 347). University
of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives,
University of California, Riverside.
The William B. Ellis papers were acquired as a gift in 2010.
William B. Ellis was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1916. His family moved to Ohio in 1923,
then to Washington DC where Ellis graduated Armstrong Technical High School in 1935. Ellis
continued his education at Miner Teachers College (Wash., DC), where he was certified to
teach at the Junior HS level, then at Robert H. Terrell law school, where he studied
contracts and property law. When the United States became embroiled in the Second World War,
Ellis enlisted in the US Army Signal Corps at Ft. Monmouth, NJ, where he graduated as a Lt.
in 1942. He went on to train as a fighter pilot at Tuskegee Airfield Flying School in 1943,
then as a bomber pilot at Mather Field in California in 1944. After leaving the Army Force
in 1948, Ellis acquired a BS in business administration from American University in 1953.
Following a move to Los Angeles, Ellis worked as an assessor for Los Angeles County from the
mid-1960s until his retirement in 1992. Ellis was active in educational and other activities
with Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. until his death in 2009.
The William B. Ellis papers are contained within the Tuskegee Airmen Archive. This archive
consists of material related to those individuals who served at Tuskegee Army Air Field, and
its predecessors, as well as material pertaining to Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a non-profit
organization.
This collection is comprised of both print and visual materials including documents,
photographs, correspondence, books, newspaper clippings, audiovisual material, and realia.
The bulk of materials within this collection relate to the military service and history of
the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as to activities of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. at both the local
(Los Angeles chapter) and national level. Additional items regarding Ellis's personal life,
aviation and aerospace history, and African American history are also included.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
African American fighter pilots
African Americans
Los
Angeles (Calif.)
Papers
(documents)
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
Tuskegee Army Air Field (Ala.)
Tuskegee Army Flying School (Tuskegee, Ala.)
Audiovisual
materials
Pamphlets
Photographic
prints
Posters
Realia
Travel
photography