Walter R. Brookins Aviation Collection

Series 1: Photographs 1900-1945

Scope and Contents

The earliest photographs are of the Wright glider of 1900 and of Wilbur Wright in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk in October 1902. These photographs were probably a gift to Brookins from the Wright brothers. The bulk of the photographs date from circa 1910 to circa 1912 and are of various air meets in which Brookins participated, first as a member of the Wright team, later as an "independent." Later photographs include an undated studio portrait of Brookins, and two photographs, 1945 and undated, from reunions of the Early Birds. The collection includes two reproductions of an original photograph, then in the collections of James N. Gillette (cf. James N. Gillette Aviation Collection, Photographic Collection P-140, Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of the County of Los Angeles), of Brookins with Orville Wright, General "Hap" Arnold, and others, at the dedication of the Wright Brothers Memorial at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, on August 19, 1940; these items are of unknown provenance, but are catalogued with the collection as the original photograph was inscribed to Brookins by Orville Wright.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in approximate chronological order.

Box 1, Folder 1

Photographs 1900-1902 and undated

Box 1, Folder 1, Item 1

Wright glider strains against the ropes that tether it to the ground, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina 1900

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 2.5 x 3 in.

Box 1, Folder 1, Item 2

Wilbur Wright flying Wright glider, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina 1902 October 24

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 2.5 x 3 in.

Box 1, Folder 1, Item 3

Wright flyer undated

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w : 2.25 x 3 in.

Box 1, Folder 2

Photographs (1 of 2) 1910

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 1

Dominguez Field Air Meet 1910

Physical Description: 1 postcard : hand-tinted ; 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 2

Albert Bond Lambert (L) and Orville Wright (R) before takeoff, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio 1910 May 18

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 4.5 x 6.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 3

Roy Knabenshue and dirigible 1910

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 4

Biplane at an airshow [possibly Belmont Park] 1910 October 15

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w ; 3.25 x 5.25 in. Annotation at lower left corner: "Brookins, 10-15-10."

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 5

Walter Brookins and Frank Garbutt in aircraft, Los Angeles, California 1910 December

Physical Description: 1 photograph [reproduction] : b&w ; 5.5 x 9.25 in.

Box 1, Folder 2, Item 6

Walter Brookins with male passenger [Frank Garbutt] seated in aircraft, Los Angeles, California 1910 December

Physical Description: 1 photograph [reproduction] : b&w ; 7 x 10 in.

Box 1, Folder 3

Photographs (2 of 2) 1910

Box 1, Folder 3, Item 1

Man with cigarette in two-seat biplane 1910

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 3 x 5.25 in.

Box 1, Folder 3, Item 2

2 men and a woman at an air meet circa 1910

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 3, Item 3

Crowd of men hoisting triumphant flyer circa 1910

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Note

Photograph taken at same time as #4.

Box 1, Folder 3, Item 4

Two men flanking flyer circa 1910

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. (image 2.75 x 3.5 in.)

Note

Photograph taken at same time as #3.

Box 1, Folder 4

Photographs 1911-1912

Box 1, Folder 4, Item 1

Group of men on airfield, Salt Lake City Aviation Carnival 1911 April 6

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 3.25 x 5.25 in. Annotated on bottom in ink: "[illegible] M.Cory [illegible]. Salt Lake City Aviation Carnival-Apr 6-[19]11."

Box 1, Folder 4, Item 2

Four men standing on landing strip at Salt Lake City Aviation Carnival 1911 April

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.25 x 5.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 4, Item 3

Pilot and four men at air show 1911 April 20

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 3.25 x 5.5 in. Caption at bottom: "Photo by H. B. Cole, Boise, Idaho, 4/20/[19]11.

Box 1, Folder 4, Item 4

Glenn H. Curtiss watching the aerial antics of Horace Kearney, Souvenir of San Diego aviation meet 1912 April 6-7

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w : 5.5 x 3.5 in. Annotated on back: "From Collection of T. P. Faulconer, San Diego, Calif."

Box 1, Folder 4, Item 5

Walter Brookins with a group of men on the field at an air meet 1912

Physical Description: 1 postcard : b&w ; 3.5 x 5.5 in. Message on back: "Just returned from Canton Mrs. [?] N. Mrs. L. Jane and I had dinner with Mr. Atwood and Mr. Steevens they left town at 7:15 PM Sunday".

Note

Brookins identified in picture with year "1912" in green ink.

Box 1, Folder 5

Photographs (1 of 2) 1940-1945

Box 1, Folder 5, Item 1-2

(L to R) R. M. Wright; Bernard Whalen, Robert G. Fowler, General Hap Arnold, Orville Wright, Capt. Kenneth Whiting, and Walter Brookins, taken at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, at the dedication of a plaque honoring the pioneer fliers who had trained at Wright Field. 1940 August 19

Physical Description: 1 photograph [reproduction] (2 copies) : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. Inscribed to Brookins by Orville Wright.

Note

Reproduction of the original in the James N. Gillette collection.

Box 1, Folder 5, Item 3

Caption for #'s 1-2, indicating that the image is a "[c]ollectors Item photo from the files of James N. Gillette" 1940

Physical Description: 1 sheet : 8 1/2 x 11 in.

Box 1, Folder 6

Photographs (2 of 2) 1940-1945

Box 1, Folder 6, Item 1

Formal portrait of Walter Brookins circa 1940

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 8 in.

Box 1, Folder 6, Item 2

"Earlybirds", group portrait of 18 pilots posed in front of a military airplane 1944 September

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. Annotated at lower left: "556 BU 18 SEPT. 44 1048.1 EARLYBIRDS". Annotated on back: "Property of Walter R. Brookins, 6547 Cahuenga Terrace, Hollywood 28, Calif"; "I used this head for the portrait--which I thought more suitable--L.E. Thompson".

Box 1, Folder 6, Item 3

Nineteen men in civilian clothes, wearing medals, by brick wall circa 1945

Physical Description: 1 photograph : sepia ; 8 x 10 in. Annotated on back: "Property of Walter P. Brookins, 6547 Cahuenga Terrace, Hollywood 28, California".

Series 2: Printed Matter 1910-1954

Scope and Contents

The materials in this series include numbers 2-8 and 10-14 of a portfolio of photographic plates published on December 17, 1952, by the National Aerographic Society, a subsidiary of the Institute of Aeronautical History, to commemorate important events in the history of flight. Much of the material reproduced is now in the James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History, Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library. The series also includes a page from Popular Mechanics Aviation Album, reproducing a photograph of Roy Knabenshue demonstrating the motor airship Arrow at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, and a limited-edition reproduction of the line sketch "Evolution of Flight", commemorating the golden jubilee (1953) of the Wright brothers' first flight.

Box 1, Folder 7

Prints 1931-1953

Box 1, Folder 7, Item 1

Edward Louis Throm, Popular Mechanics Aviation Album (Chicago: Popular Mechanics Press), pages 23-24. 1953

Note

Page 23 (above): "J. C. McCoy making a balloon ascent outside New York in 1910."

Page 23 (below): "August Piccard, seen through the glass-barred porthole of the aluminum sphere in which he reached a record altitude."

Page 24: "Roy Knabenshue demonstrates the motor airship Arrow at the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904."

Box 1, Folder 7, Item 2

Wright brothers' first flight. Golden Jubilee Plate, "Evolution of Flight" 1931

Physical Description: 1 line sketch : cream paper ; 11 x 8 in.

Note

Box 1, Folder 8

Portfolio of photographic plates published by the National Aerographic Society, a subsidiary of the Institute of Aeronautical History, to commemorate important events in aviation history 1952 December 17

Physical Description: 15 sheets : 11 x 8.5 in.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 1-3

Plate II: Bleriot for France officially embraces Navy aeronauts Noville and Byrd, Paris, July 1927, honoring trans-Atlantic flight of 'America,' one month after Lindbergh's crossing in thirty three plus hours

Note

Attribution: Lt. Commander George Noville Archives, President National Aerographic Society. 3 copies.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 4

Plate III: General Lahm's winning flight plan 1906 - Gordon-Bennet Race; First military pilot trained by Wright Brothers 1908-09

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library, Lahm Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 5-6

Plate IV: Santos-Dumont 1901, Paris first gas-powered dirigible

Note

Attribution: Santos-Dumont Aeronautical Foundation. 2 copies.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 7

Plate V: Langley Book Lilienthal's copy 1891 first edition

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 8

Plate VI: Kitty Hawk Wright plane 1903; Original signature by Orville Wright

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 9

Plate VII: Original piece of Kitty Hawk Hangar 1903, first in the world

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 10

Plate VIII: Kitty Hawk fabric from 1903 first plane

Note

Attribution: Archives of Walter Brookins President of Institute of Aeronautical History.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 11

Plate X: Moisant circling the Statue of Liberty 1910

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Moisant Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 12

Plate XI: "The Brothers Montgolfier, 1783 ..." With text from Francesco Lana Terzi, Prodromo (1670)

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 13

Plate XII: Lana 1670 lighter than air device

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 14

Plate XIII: D'Arlandes and De Rozier 1783 Paris: first free flight by men

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 8, Item 15

Plate XIV: First use of "Aerographique" 1783: first five balloon ascents-Paris

Note

Attribution: Institute of Aeronautical History Library Claremont, Carruthers Collection.

Box 1, Folder 9

Correspondence circa 1950-1954

Note

The correspondence consists of two items: (1) the second page of a letter, circa 1950, from Brookins to an unnamed correspondent concerning exhibition flights, and (2) a sheet of blank letterhead, circa 1954, for the Brookins Lahm Wright Aeronautical Foundation.

Box 1, Folder 10

Newspaper Clippings 1930 July 26

Note

"Air Pioneer recalls start with Wrights," Los Angeles Times , July 26, 1930, section 2, p. 3:3-4, with reminiscences of Brookins of his early days with the Wright brothers, with a photograph of Brookins and Roy Knabenshue at the Dominguez Hills air meet in January 1910.