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Finding aid of the Howard T. Douglas Records
H1957.2
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Title: Howard T. Douglas records
Dates: 1917-1921
Collection number: H1957.2
Creator:
Douglas, Howard T., circa 1887-1921
Collection Size:
1 archives half-carton + 1 oversize box
(0.2 linear foot).
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd
Library.
Claremont, CA 91711
Abstract: Diary, appointments and awards, letters of condolence,
writings, and published and newspaper accounts, 1917-1921, relating to the life and
career of Howard T. Douglas and to the Alaska Flying Expedition of 1920.
Physical location: Please consult repository.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special
Collections.
[Identification of item], Howard T. Douglas records. Special Collections,
Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium.
Gift to Honnold Library from Mrs. Gordon Douglas (sister-in-law), Covina, California,
May 9, 1957.
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, June 2004; revised by Michael P. Palmer,
May 2010 and 18 February 2014.
Howard Thomas Douglas was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on 1 October 1887, the
second son and youngest of the four children of Summerfield Douglas (1847-1927) and
his wife, Rebecca Clark (1849-1913). The family immigrated to the United States in
1895, and appears in the 1900 census in Lincoln Township, Pembina County, North
Dakota, where Summerfield is listed as a farmer. By the time of the 1910 census, the
family had settled in Covina, California, where Summerfield worked as a salesman for
the Covina Realty Company. Howard graduated from Covina Union High School and the
University of California at Berkeley. He enlisted as a private in the United States
Army in January 1917, joining a coast artillery unit in Covina. In May 1917, after
the United States declaration of war, he was sent to the first officer's training
school at the Presidio in San Francisco, where he received his commission as a first
lieutenant of infantry, U.S.R., at the end of the month. In July 1917, he was called
to active duty, and upon finishing training camp the following month proceeded via
Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he received his
first instruction in aerial observation. In December 1917, he proceeded to France
where he served as an aerial observation officer, where he served with distinction,
being twice recommended for promotion to Major, and receiving the Distinguished
Service Medal. Following the armistice he was placed in command of an aviation unit
in Germany; he returned to the United States in the summer of 1919. He then entered
the Regular Army with the rank of Captain, and was attached to General Mitchell,
Chief of Air Service. He served as Mitchell's aid and flying companion, directing a
cross-country flight and playing a vital role in the Alaska flying expedition of
1920. He helped write the War Department's first aviation manual. He was drowned in
the Chesapeake Bay, off Tangier Island, on June 22, 1921, during a practice bombing
raid on the hulk of the battleship
San Marcos, after
his plane collided with another flown by Lieutenant Marll J. Plumb. His body was not
recovered until July 1, 1921. He was buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Covina, on 12 July
1921.
Sources:
- Diary.
- "Covina Aviator Killed in Chesapeake Bay Fall", Los Angeles Times , June 23, 1921, p. i (1).
- "Covina Airman's Body Recovered from Chesapeake," Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1921, p. ii (8).
- "Last Honor for Hero at Covina," Los Angeles Times , July 13, 1921, p. ii (13).
Scope and Content of Collection
Diary, appointments and awards, letters of condolence, writings, and published and
newspaper accounts, 1917-1921, relating to the life and career of Howard T. Douglas
and to the Alaska Flying Expedition of 1920. The collection comprises a single
series, arranged as follows: (1) Biographical Materials, (2) Writings, (3) Printed
Materials, (4) Newspapers, and (5) Fragile Materials, removed from other
folders.
The Biographical Materials include a recommendation for promotion (1918), papers
appointing Douglas First Lieutenant and Captain (1919), and a letter (1920) from the
Aero Club of America awarding Douglas the Aviation Medal of Merit (the medal itself
is now in the Arthur L. Neuman '23 Collection of Aeronautical Medals [NC010],
Numismatics Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton
University Library), as well as a carbon copy typescript report on Douglas' body;
several letters of condolence, most from Douglas' military superiors, but including
one signed by the explorer Roald Amundsen; and a photograph (1920) of Douglas in
military uniform.
The Writings include Douglas' World War I diary ending on 12 June 1918; his travel
orders for, and a 137-page carbon-copy typescript account of, the Alaska Flying
Expedition of 1920; and carbon-copy typescripts of two articles he had prepared for
publication at the time of his death.
The Printed Materials consist of a single item, a published history of the San
Gabriel Valley towns of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Charter Oak, Covina, Glendora, and
Puente, during World War I. The history includes accounts of the war service of both
Howard T. Douglas and his brother, Gordon C. Douglas.
The Newspapers include clippings and pages, July-October 1920, from the
Nome Nugget,
New York
Times
,
New York Tribune, and unidentified
newspapers, relating to the Alaska Flying Expedition; clippings and pages, June-July
1921, from the
Pasadena Evening Post, the
Nome Nugget, the
Covina
Argus
(2 copies of the complete issue for July 21, 1921), and
unidentified newspapers, relating to the death and funeral of Douglas.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Aeronautics--1910-1920
Aeronautics--History
Alaska--History--1867-1959
Douglas, Howard T., circa 1887-1921
The Aero Club of America Aviation Medal of Merit awarded Douglas in 1920 (see letter
of award in box 1, folder 1) is now in the Arthur L. Neuman '23 Collection of
Aeronautical Medals (NC010), Numismatics Division, Department of Rare Books and
Special Collections, Princeton University Library.