Walter R. Brookins Aviation Collection

Michael P. Palmer

Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library

800 North Dartmouth Avenue

Claremont, CA 91711

Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu

URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/

Descriptive Summary

Title: Walter R. Brookins Aviation Collection

Dates: 1900-1954

Collection number: H.Mss.0991

Creator: Brookins, Walter R., 1888-1953

Extent: 0.2 Linear Feet (1 slim document box)

Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.

Abstract: Photographs of the Wright glider and flyer, 1900 and 1902, and of various air meets circa 1910-circa 1912, as well as of reunions of the Early Birds, and of Walter Brookins; a loose-leaf binder containing typed transcripts of newspaper articles and book chapters concerning the Wright brothers and Brookins' career; a portfolio of photographic plates published in 1952 by the National Aerographic Society, a subsidiary of the Institute of Aeronautical History, commemorating important events in the history of flight; newspaper article, 1930, containing reminiscences of Brookins of his early days with the Wright brothers.

Physical Location: Please consult repository.

Language of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Walter R. Brookins Aviation Collection (H.Mss.0991). Special Collections and Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Donor and date of acquisition unknown. The collection came to Special Collections together with the James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History.

Accruals

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, July 2004.

Biography / Administrative History

Walter Richard Brookins was born in Dayton, Ohio, on July 11, 1888. He first knew Orville and Wilbur Wright at the age of four, and was a student of their sister, Katherine, a schoolteacher. As a teenager he spent much time at the Wright brothers' bicycle shop, observing them, testing their theories, and after their successful first flight the brothers promised Brookins a plane as soon as he was old enough. Brookins, along with J. W. Davis, Spencer C. Crane, Arch Hoxsey, and Arthur L. Welch, was one of the five men chosen to be trained as pilots to engage in exhibition flying for the Wright Company, and with Davis was the first to arrive at the Wright Brothers' training camp, at what is now Maxwell Field, outside Montgomery, Alabama, on March 19, 1910. Brookins was the first civilian pilot taught to fly by Orville Wright, taking to the air after two and a half hours of instruction, controlling a flight from start to finish on April 30, and flying alone for 12 minutes on May 6. On May 10, Orville Wright left Montgomery to return to Dayton, leaving Brookins in charge of training the other two students. As a member of the Wright Company's exhibition team, Brookins was under a two-year contract, receiving a basic salary of $20 a week, supplemented by $50 per day for every flying day; prize money was turned into the company. Brookins was one of the most daring and accomplished members of the Wright team. On July 10, 1910, at Atlantic City, he became the first person to reach an altitude of one mile in an airplane, winning a $5,000 prize for the Wright Company from the Atlantic City Aero Club, and on September 29, 1911, he set an American distance record by flying 192 miles from Chicago to Springfield, IL, making two stops.

Although he broke with the Wright team in 1911 and retired as an instructor in 1914, Brookins remained active in aviation throughout his life. In 1928, He was a founding member of the Early Birds, an organization of those who had piloted a glider, airship, or airplane before December 17, 1916; he was also president of the organization in 1937. In his later years he was a partner in the Davis-Brooking Aircraft Co., of Hollywood, California, which developed the wing assembly used on all World War II B-24s. He was also sometime president of the Institute of Aeronautical History, and a leading member of the Friends of Aeronautical History, which in 1949 organized the Brookins Lahm Wright Aeronautical Foundation (incorporated in December 1953, after his death) to support (1) the Portal of the Folded Wings, a burial place for pioneer aviators in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, in North Hollywood, California; (2) the Library of the Institute of Aeronautical History (incorporated 1933), now the James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History, Claremont McKenna College, deposited in the Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont, California; and (3) the Gillette Museum Center of International Aeronautical Documentation, of which nothing further is known at present (cf. the James N. Gillette Aviation Collection, Photographic Collection P-140, Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of the County of Los Angeles).

Brookins died at his home in Hollywood, California, on April 29, 1953, after an illness of four months. He was the first aviator to be buried in the Portal of the Folded Wings, in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, in North Hollywood, California.

Sources:

Dave Kendziora, "Wright trainee flew high, set cross-country record," Hilltop Times, Thursday, July 10, 2003, (last accessed June 7, 2004).
Obituary, New York Times, April 30, 1953, p. 31:1.

Scope and Contents of Collection

The collection contains photographs of the Wright glider and Wright flyer from circa 1902-circa 1903, and of various air meets circa 1910-circa 1912, as well as of reunions of the Early Birds, and of Walter Brookins. It includes a loose-leaf binder of typescript transcriptions of newspaper articles and book chapters concerning the Wright brothers and Brookins' career, as well as a portfolio of photographic plates published in 1952 by the National Aerographic Society, a subsidiary of the Institute of Aeronautical History, commemorating important events in the history of flight, and a newspaper article from 1930, with reminiscences of Brookins of his early days with the Wright brothers.

Arrangement

This collection has been organized into the following series:

Series 1: Photographs, 1900-1945
Series 2: Printed Matter, 1910-1954

Separated Materials

A binder containing typescript copies of newspaper articles and book chapters from 1910-1952, concerning the early history of fixed-wing flight in the United States, the Wright brothers, and the career of Walter Brookins was separated from the collection, cataloged, and added to Special Collections' aviation folio holdings. The item can be found in Library catalog using the call number "TL 508 B791."

The loose-leaf binder (14.5 x 12.5 inches) contains multiple copies-primarily carbon copies, with some originals-of most items. A 1953 typescript copy of a 1948 account by Charles E. Taylor, "My Story of the Wright Brothers", formerly in this binder, is now in Box 12, Folder 8 of the James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History.

The items are arranged in the binder without apparent order. The following is a list of the items in chronological order by the date of the event(s) each item describes. The number(s) preceding each entry indicate the relative position of each item in the binder.

Unless otherwise noted, all items are carbon copies.

Item 3: Fred C. Kelly. Why the Wright Plane Was Exiled. The Wright Brothers: A Biography (New York, 1943), chapter 19. [23] p.
Item 12: Charlton Lawrence Edholm. The Noble sport of aviation. Out West, vol. 32, no. 1 (January 1910). 7 p.
Item 1: S. B. Reeve. First International Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field, 1910. Account dated Los Angeles County, California, June 11th, 1930. 13 p.
Item 2: William May Garland to S. B. Reeve, Los Angeles, May 6, 1930. Letter concerning 2nd Air Meet at Dominguez Hills, in 1911. 2 p.
Items 29, 31: Extracts from the Montgomery Advertiser, Monday, April 18, 1910-May 22, 1910, concerning the Wright flying school [include references to Walter R. Brookins]. 5 p. 2 copies.
Item 30: Extracts from Montreal Daily Star, Monday, June 27, 1910, concerning the aviation meet at Lakeside. 4 p.
Items 10, 13: "Brookins more than a mile up. / In Wright biplane he breaks all world records for height / Flies more than an hour / Final figures of remarkable flight not determined yet, but official recognition is certain. / Progress in high flying". New York Tribune, Sunday, July 10, 1910. 3 p. 2 copies.
Items 4, 25: "Aviator-Brookins is hurt. / High flight record holder imperils life to save spectators. / Bruised and nose broken. / Machine turns over in quick shift to avoid onlookers" [article on Walter Brookins]. Chicago Daily News , August 10, 1910. 1 p. 2 copies.
Item 5: "Brookins Makes 12-Minute Flight". Evening American [Chicago], vol. 11, no. 77, Tuesday, September 27, 1910. 2 p. [2 copies of p. 2].
Items 7-9: "Brookins makes great flight". Chicago American , vol. 11, no. 75, Wednesday, September 28, 1910. 3 p. 1 original and 2 copies.
Items 6, 15: "Mr. Drexel and his speedy Bleriot reaches a height of 7,105 feet: / Mr. Brookins, his motor frozen, coasts 4,800 feet to earth / ten thousand spectators at Belmont Park thrilled by masters of the air. / Ten Aviators seen in flight at once". New York Herald, Tuesday, October 25, 1910. 3 p. 2 copies [#6 has p. 1-2 only].
Items 20-21: "Walter Brookins, daring bird man. Piercing the skies: / Met first accident of his career at Baldwin Park yesterday / Brookin's moment of peril." Quincy Daily Herald, June 17, 1911. 2 p. 2 copies.
Items 22-23: "Gill makes new aeroplane endurance record for America at Kinloch meet; / Flyer Eugene Ely killed in Georgia / Robinson reaches Dubuque; / Goes 58 miles in 50 minutes. / Aviator, ascending at Winona at 8:15, reaches / Prairie du Chien at 11- welcomed by 25,000 / On bluffs in Iowa City." St. Louis Times , October 19, 1911. 2 p. 2 copies.
Items 34, 36: "Four aeroplane flights. / Mr. Walter R. Brookins gave fine exhibition in flying machine at Highwood Park / Carried US Mail." Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), January 3, 1912. 2 p. 2 copies.
Items 16-17, 19: "Aeroplane flights attract attention. / Walter R. Brookins demonstrates wonderful ability. / Skilled aviator will establish an aviation camp in this section and will have pupils." Palm Beach Weekly News , January 13, 1912. 2 p. 1 original (#17) and 2 copies.
Items 14, 18, 33: 1 p. [1 original (#18) and 2 copies], with the following: (1) "Collier passenger in Brookins' hydro-aeroplane". New York American , February 10, 1912. (2) "Flys to his houseboat. / Robert J. Collier sends guests by motorboat-Mrs. Collier goes up." New York Sun , February 17, 1912. (3) "Recalls Hoxsie's death." Glendale News Press, Monday, August 3, 1936. (4) "23 years ago today." Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1936.
Items 11, 26: "Air craft beats Kitty Hawk II in first river race. Brookins is victor in thrilling speed contest around Belle Isle, / Winning from the H\hydroplane by only seventy seconds". Detroit News, June 19, 1912. 3 p. 2 copies.
Items 24, 27: "America seeks air speed title." Los Angeles Examiner , June 28, 1936. 1 p. 2 copies.
Item 28: Public Law 722-79th Congress / Chapter 955-2d Session / H. R. 5144 / An Act to establish a national air museum, and for other purposes. Approved August 12, 1946.
Item 32: "Aeronautical museum / Assured for Los Angeles / Fund presented at I A S 'Honors Night' / Establish repository in name of Dr. Durand." Western Aviation, February 1952. 2 p.
Item 35: Almer Isackson. Walter Brookins' Career / Tells aviation history. 5 p.

Related Materials

James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History , Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
James N. Gillette Aviation Collection , Photographic Collection P-140, Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.

Subject Terms

Aeronautical sports -- History

Aeronautics -- History

Early Birds of Aviation (Organization)

Wright, Orville, 1871-1948

Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912

Genre and Form of Materials

Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)

Correspondence

Prints

Photographs

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.