Description
Photographs of Charles Lindbergh and the
Spirit of St. Louis in France at the conclusion of his
1927 trans-Atlantic flight, including photographs of Lindbergh with other famous
aviators and of the dismantling of the Spirit of St. Louis for inspection and
shipment back to the United States. Also materials, primarily reproductions of
prints, drawings, and photographs documenting the history of aviation from 1783 to
1978, collected by Ault to illustrate his book
By the Seat of
Their Pants
, published in 1978. These materials emphasize in particular
the history of aviation in the United States from 1900 to 1950, including the Wright
brothers, barnstormers, the first flight around the world in 1924, early air mail
carriers, Charles Lindbergh, the Dole Derby of 1927, Amelia Earhart, and Douglas
"Wrong-Way" Corrigan.
Background
Phillip Halliday Ault was born in Maywood, Illinois, on April 26, 1914. He graduated
from DePauw University in 1935. From 1935 to 1937, he was a reporter for the LaGrange (Illinois) Citizen. In 1938, he became a
corresponding editor for UPI, serving in Chicago, New York City, Iceland, North
Africa, and London, where he was bureau chief in 1944-1945. In 1948, he left UPI to
become assistant managing editor and director of the editorial page for the
Times-Mirror Company in Los Angeles. From 1948 to 1957, he was editorial page editor
of the Los Angeles Mirror-News, and from 1958-1968,
executive editor and vice president of Associated Desert Newspapers, in Palm
Springs. In 1968, he returned to the Midwest as associate editor of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune. He retired in 1979, and
died in Sun City West, Arizona, on July 2, 2001.
Extent
1 archives carton + 1 oversize box
(0.4 linear foot).
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special
Collections.
Availability
Collection open for research.