Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Papers

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/
© 2010
The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Papers
Dates: 1912-1994 and undated
Bulk dates: 1927-1949
Collection number: H.Mss.0525
Creator: McQueen, Elizabeth L. (Elizabeth Lippincott)
Extent: 1.4 Linear Feet (1 document box, 1 flat box)
Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: Photographs, correspondence, writings, clippings, and other materials, primarily from 1927-1949, relating to women in aviation, created and collected by Elizabeth L. McQueen (Mrs. Ulysses Grant) in the course of her activities as founder and honorary president of the Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA) and as principal organizer of the 1929 Women's Air Derby.
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 reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen Papers (H.Mss.0525). Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Date and method of acquisition unknown. Articles and photographs relating to Mrs. Jolan Toth Voloszynovich (Box 1, Folder 64) were doanted by Phil Hand in 2023.

Accruals

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Michael Palmer, April 2010.

Biography / Administrative History

Elizabeth Lippincott was born in Pennington, New Jersey, on September 26, 1878, the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Crispin Lippincott, DD, and his second wife, Deborah Diverty. She graduated from Pennington Seminary in 1898, and in March 1900 married Ulysses Grant McQueen (1864-1937), a wealthy inventor and manufacturer in New York City. The couple lived in New York City until 1928, when they moved to Beverly Hills, California. During World War I, Mrs. McQueen served in war relief work in Palestine under Field Marshal Allenby. In 1919 she founded the Jerusalem News, the first English-language newspaper in Jerusalem.
Mrs. McQueen became interested in aviation when in 1920 she witnessed seven airplanes "take the place of two British regiments of soldiers" in routing a large number of rebel Arab cavalry in the desert near Aden. "A vision, mental and spiritual, came to me of millions of women with the hands upraised acclaiming: 'Save my son from war, save my son from war, save my son from war!' I mentally saw these women's faces and hands upraised far into space and heard their voices entreating me. This vision has never left me. Then and there I dedicated my life to aeronautics as an instrument for World Peace."
In September 1928, Mrs. McQueen organized the Women's Aeronautic Association of California, which was soon followed by similar organizations in New York, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. On May 23, 1929, she organized the Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA), which became the principal focus of her activities for the rest of her life. Mrs. McQueen served as "founder and honorary president" of the WIAA; presidents of the association were, in turn, prominent British aviator Lady Mary Heath (1929-1932), British reporter Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay (1932-1940), educator Dr. Mary Sinclair Crawford (1940-1947), actress Mary Pickford (1947-1949), airplane manufacturing executive Olive Ann Beech (1949-1954), and pioneer aviator Matilde Moisant (1954-). A junior division of the WIAA was organized in 1931; members under 7 years old were called "tailwinds", those from 7 through 20 years old "zoomers".
In 1929, Mrs. McQueen and Lady Heath appealed to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Paris to have women's air records recognized, an appeal that was ultimately successful. At the same time, in order to arouse greater interest in women's flying, Mrs. McQueen conceived the idea and was one of the principal organizers of the first Women's Air Derby from Santa Monica, California, to the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland. 19 female aviators took part in this forerunner to the Powder Puff Derby, the winners being Louise Thaden and, in the lighter aircraft category, Phoebe Omlie.
In 1932 and 1933, Mrs. McQueen published a column, "Happy Contacts", concerning women and aviation, in the monthly magazine Speed; she also published several articles in t The Air Pilot in 1933. In July 1933, Mrs. McQueen, who in 1929 had been deputized as the first aerial policewoman in the world by Police Chief Charles Blair of Beverly Hills, organized the Women's Aerial Police Association, whose members were deputized to assist the civil authorities in times of emergency. From March 1940 to February 1941, she also undertook a Goodwill Tour to Mexico and Central and South America, on which she publicly read a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt and met with many pioneer female flyers.
From approximately 1942 to approximately 1947, Mrs. McQueen resided in the Mission Inn, in Riverside, California, the location of the International Shrine of Aviators and the Famous Fliers' Wall. By the late 1940s, she had returned to her house on Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills.
Ulysses Grant McQueen died in April 1937, and about 1955 Mrs. McQueen married Dr. Irving Reed Bancroft, a prominent retired physician. She died at her home in Hermosa Beach, California, on December 24, 1958, aged 80, after a long period of declining health. Her ashes are interred in the Portal of the Folded Wing in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Cemetery, in North Hollywood. Although she had devoted her life to furthering the role of women in aviation, she had never obtained a pilot's license.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The bulk of the collection consists of photographs, together with considerably smaller amounts of correspondence, writings, clippings, and other materials relating to women in aviation, created and collected by Elizabeth L. (Mrs. Ulysses Grant) McQueen. The materials were at an undetermined time, and for an unknown reason, separated from the bulk of Mrs. McQueen's papers, which now form the Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA) Collection, No. 55, Special Collections Department, Doheny Library, University of Southern California. Many of the photographs can be identified in a typescript list in the WIAA Collection. The descriptions in the list often refer to Mrs. McQueen as "the author", which suggests that it is an inventory of materials intended by Mrs. McQueen to illustrate her planned but unrealized history of women in aviation.
Because of its small size, the collection is arranged as a single series divided into four groups, as follows: (1) People, (2) Organizations, (3) Events, and (4) Printed Matter. The first group (People) constitutes approximately two-thirds of the collection, and is arranged alphabetically by name. Most folders contain very few items, usually one or more photographs, correspondence, or a biographical account; the contents of each folder is indicated in the container list. The biographical accounts were often written by Mrs. McQueen, and many appeared in her "Happy Contacts" column in Speed (1932-1933). Of particular interest are the materials relating to Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes, Alys McKey Bryant, and Evelyn "Bobbie" Trout. The photographs of Mrs. McQueen include portraits of her in flying attire, in fancy dress, and with her parrot, Dick. Mrs. McQueen's writings include an undated account of aflight from Seattle to Juneau.
The second group (Organizations) contains materials, almost exclusively photographs, relating to the Women's Aerial Police Association and to the Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA). The materials relating to the women's aerial police include a 1994 account written by Gail F. Ryan-Johnson (added by the Honnold/Mudd Special Collections staff), an autographed photograph of Beverly Hills Police Chief Charles Blair, who had deputized Mrs. McQueen in 1929, and photographs of the dedication of a placque honoring the Association at the Mission Inn, Riverside, in 1938. The records of the WIAA include minutes of the annual Board of Directors meetings for 1953-1955 (the minutes for 1955 are missing the first page). The photographs include the Blind Flying Challenge Cup presented by Lady Drummond-Hay; an undated (but almost certainly 1934) gala luncheon, probably at the Del Mar Club in Santa Monica, attended by many of the leading pioneer women aviators of the day; meetings of the WIAA Board and of the general membership at the Mission Inn, Riverside (1946-1947); and the "Annual Aeronautical Literary Contest in All Languages", sponsored by the WIAA (1947 and 1949).
The third group (Events) contains photographs of events not necessarily attended by Mrs. McQueen or associated with the WIAA. The majority date between 1933 and 1936, and include the visit of the brothers Auguste and Jean Piccard to the University of Southern California, the 99s visiting the Famous Fliers' Wall at the Mission Inn, Riverside, and several breakfasts at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, honoring Air Commodore P.F.M. Fellowes; Col. Roscoe Tanner, Clyde Pangborn, and Thea Rasche; Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith; and Lady Drummond-Hay. Other events include the victory of Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes in the Bendix Trophy Race, Mrs. McQueen's Goodwill Tour of Central and South America (1940), and a luncheon for Mrs. Amy Oris Earhart (1949).
The fourth group (Printed Matter) consists of a single 1929 magazine clipping, 4 issues of an unidentified Japanese-language publication, and the 15th anniversary issue (1944) of the WIAA newsletter, Aero-Gram.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is organized into the following series:
  • Series 1: People, 1912-1991 and undated
  • Series 2: Organizations, 1929-1994 and undated
  • Series 3: Events, 1933-1949
  • Series 4: Printed Matter, 1929-1944 and undated

Related Materials

James Carruthers Memorial Aviation Collection of the Institute of Aeronautical History, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont.

Separated Materials

The bulk of Mrs. McQueen's papers constitute the Women's International Association of Aeronautics Collection, No. 55, held by the Special Collections Department, Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Indexing Terms

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

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Air pilots
Barnes, Pancho, 1901-1975
Bendix Trophy Race
Bryant, Alys McKey, 1880-1954
Drummond-Hay, Grace M., Lady Hay, 1895-1956
Noyes, Blanche, 1900-1981
McQueen, Elizabeth L. (Elizabeth Lippincott)
Policewomen
Rasche, Thea, 1899-1971
Thaden, Louise, 1906-1979
Trout, Evelyn, 1906-2003
Women's Aerial Police Association
Women air pilots
Women's International Association of Aeronautics


 

Series 1:  People 1912-1991 and undated

Box 1, Folder 1

Arnold, Henry H. "Hap" undated

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 2

Barnes, Florence Lowe "Pancho" undated, 1932

General Physical Description note: Correspondence, 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 3

Batten, Jean 1935

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 4

Beech, Olive Ann 1946

Physical Description: 3 photographs.
Box 1, Folder 5

Bernstein, Lena undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 6

Bixby, Diana Cyrus 1953

General Physical Description note: Baby's birth announcement.
Box 1, Folder 7

Bond, Carrie Jacobs 1933

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 8

Bonney, Dolores 1934-1935

General Physical Description note: Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 9

Bowen, Pansy undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 10

Bruce, Victor, Hon. Mrs. 1931

Physical Description: 3 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Edna Mae Cooper, Bobbie Trout.
Box 2, Folder 1

Bryant, Alys McKey 1931-1932

General Physical Description note: Correspondence, 1 photograph, clippings, article, letterhead.
Box 1, Folder 11

Burnham, Roger Noble, Mrs. undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 12

Cooper, Margaret Perry undated

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 13

Drummond-Hay, Grace, Lady Hay undated, 1936

General Physical Description note: 2 photographs, palm print.
Box 1, Folder 14

Earhart, Amelia undated, 1929

General Physical Description note: 1 photograph, 1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 15

Fyle, Gretchen undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 16

Granger, Clema Mildred 1932

General Physical Description note: Correspondence, biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 17

Hamilton, Ethel Inez undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 18

Heath, Mary, Lady circa 1929

Physical Description: 1 photograph.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Lady Mary Heath, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen.
Box 1, Folder 19

Jackson, Frances, Mrs. undated

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 20

Lindbergh, Evangeline Lodge Land undated

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 21

Machado, Anesia Pinheiro undated, 1940-1944

General Physical Description note: 4 photographs, 2 clippings.
Box 1, Folder 22

Mannsbarth, Hedwig undated

Physical Description: 4 photographs.
Box 2, Folder 2

Marvingt, Marie 1953

General Physical Description note: 1 postcard, 1 clipping.
 

McQueen, Elizabeth Lippincott 1929-1953

Physical Description: 3 folders.
Box 1, Folder 23

Papers 1929-1953

Box 1, Folder 24

Photographs 1927-1937

Physical Description: 15 photographs.
Box 1, Folder 25

Writings 1931-1949

Box 1, Folder 26

Moisant, Matilde undated

Box 1, Folder 27

Mollison, Amy Johnson & James Allan circa 1932

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 28

Noyes, Blanche 1939

General Physical Description note: Biographical form.
Box 1, Folder 29

O'Donnell, Gladys circa 1929

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 30

Owen, Ruth Bryan, Mrs. circa 1932

General Physical Description note: 1 photograph, 1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 31

Patterson, Clayton undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 32

Pickford, Mary 1949

General Physical Description note: Resignation statement.
Box 1, Folder 33

Pressler, Dorothy K. undated

General Physical Description note: Biographical account.
Box 1, Folder 34

Quimby, Harriet 1912

General Physical Description note: Typescript copy of last article written.
Box 1, Folder 35

Rickenbacker, Eddie undated, 1934

General Physical Description note: 2 autographed photographs, 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 36

Schubert, Trixie-Ann 1953

Physical Description: 1 clipping.
Box 1, Folder 37

Thaden, Louise 1929

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 38

Trout, Evelyn "Bobbie" undated, 1934

General Physical Description note: 2 photographs, biographical form.
Box 1, Folder 39

Voloszynovich, Jolan Toth, Mrs. 1948

General Physical Description note: Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 64

Voloszynovich, Jolan Toth, Mrs., Articles and Photographs 1927-1991 and undated

Note

Photographs and articles related to Jolan Toth Voloszynovich not part of the original collection. Digital copies of materials were donated by Phil Hand in 2023. Items were printed onto acid-free paper and added to the collection.
Box 1, Folder 40

Warrender, Sara Eugena 1928

General Physical Description note: Correspondence.
Box 1, Folder 41

Unidentified female aviators undated

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

1 photograph labeled "flying instructor and woman pilots of Turkey".
 

Series 2:  Organizations 1929-1994 and undated

Box 1, Folder 42

Aero Police circa 1929-1939, 1994

General Physical Description note: 1 clipping, 6 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Charles Blair, Karena Shields, Bobbie Trout, Mrs. May Charles, Mrs. Maude E. Miller, Mrs. Betty May Furman, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Pretto Bell, Mary Samson.
 

Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA) circa 1934-1955

Physical Description: 5 folders.
Box 1, Folder 43

Board Minutes 1953-1955

Box 1, Folder 44

Flying Trophies undated

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Photograph 1: Blind Flying Challenge Cup, presented by Lady Drummond-Hay; photograph 2: ? Challenge Trophy, presented by Lady Chaytor.
Box 1, Folder 45

Junior Division undated, 1949

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Roxanne Rogers (daughter of Mary Pickford), Mary Lynn Beech, Leota Weiser, Suzanne Beech, Jeanette Van Muysen.
 

Photographs circa 1934, 1946-1949

Physical Description: 2 folders.
Box 1, Folder 46

circa 1934

Physical Description: 1 photograph.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Cora Boettcher, Bobbie Trout, Clema Granger, Ruth Elder Gillespie, Mrs. Ethel Hamilton, Mrs. Lloyd Stearman, Thea Rasche, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Lady Chaytor, Mrs. Clark, Alice Miller Hutchings, Miss Edith Weir, Ethel Jaeckel, ? Mrs. Squire, Col. Arthur Gobel's mother, Pearl Ridenour, Queen Boardman, Clair Chaytor, Lillian Chaytor, Mrs. Irvine, Miss Gregory.
Box 1, Folder 47

circa 1946-1949

Physical Description: 11 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Miss Edith Weir, Mrs. J. C. Bowden, Mrs. James M. Palmer, Mrs. Mac Short, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Dr. Mary Sinclair Crawford, Mrs. Allis Miller Hutchings, Dr. Catherine V. Beers, Mrs. Mae Carvell, Mrs. Ruth Law Oliver, Mrs. John K. Northrop, Mrs. Harry Hall Sheeline, Matilde Moisant, Mary Pickford, J. P. De Bree, Arutumn Shade, Robert A. Geier, G. O. Noville, Clementine de Forrest Griffin, Dianna Cyrus Bixby, Major General Roger M. Ramey, Mrs. Walter H. Beech.
 

Series 3:  Events 1933-1949

Box 1, Folder 48

Auguste Piccard at the University of Southern California 1933 March 4

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Dr. John F. B. Carruthers, Prof. Auguste Piccard, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Jean Piccard, Prof. Earl Hill.
Box 1, Folder 49

99's & friends at the Famous Fliers' Wall, St. Francis Aviators' Chapel, Mission Inn, Riverside, California 1934 August 18

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 50

Air Commodore P.F.M. Fellowes at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club 1934 October

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 51

Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Louise Thaden, unidentified woman (possibly Gladys O'Donnell), and Elly Beinhorn, Los Angeles 1934 October

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 52

Reeder Nichols, Clyde Pangborn, Col. Roscoe Turner, Tom Mix, & Thea Rasche at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club 1934 December 5

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 53

Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith at the Los Angeles Breakfast Club 1935 August 14

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Ruth Law Oliver, Matilde Moisant, Budd Morriss.
Box 1, Folder 54

Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay at the Los Angeles Men's Breakfast Club 1935-1936

Physical Description: 4 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Identified: Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Mae Carvell, Princess Der Ling, Mrs. Alice Miller Hutchings.
Box 1, Folder 55

Wings ceremony at the Mission Inn, Riverside, California, for Walter Brookins and Col. Albert F. Helgenberger 1936 January 6

Physical Description: 1 photograph.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Col. & Mrs. Pirie, General Story, Walter & Mrs. Brookins, General & Mrs. Arnold, Mae Robson, Col. Helgenberger.
Box 1, Folder 56

Louise Thaden & Blanche Noyes, winners of the Bendix Trophy Race, with Vincent Bendix, National Air Races, Los Angeles 1936 September

Physical Description: 1 photograph.
Box 1, Folder 57

Receptions for Roland Robinson, MP, & Marjorie Robinson 1936 September 11-12

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Identified: Pia Diamarini, Roland & Majorie Robinson, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Princess Der Ling, Col. & Mrs. Easterwood, Baroness von Mueffling, Mrs. Squires, K. Ethel Hill, Matilde Moisant, Cliff Henderson.
Box 1, Folder 58

Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen's Goodwill Tour of South America 1940

Physical Description: 4 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Identified: Mrs. Vargas & daughter, Anesia Pinheiro Machado, Leda Baptista.
Box 1, Folder 59

Luncheon for Mrs. Amy Otis Earhart, Del Mar Club, Santa Monica 1949 July 23

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: Vivian Louise Ropes, Anna Held, Mrs. Vida Gentry, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen, Amy Otis Earhart.
Box 1, Folder 60

Unidentified events circa 1929-1935

Physical Description: 2 photographs.

Scope and Contents note

Photograph 1: Mrs. McQueen between 2 unidentified men, Los Angeles, circa 1929; photograph 2: Mrs. McQueen at banquet in Washington, DC, circa 1935 (names written on back: "Mrs. Borah, McCracken, General Fox, Judge McKesson, McKay").
 

Series 4:  Printed Matter 1929-1944 and undated

Box 1, Folder 61

Clipping 1929

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Contents note

Persons identified: L. Galanschikoff (1910), Marie Marvingt (1913), Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay, Amelia Earhart, Mrs. Ulysses Grant McQueen.
Box 1, Folder 62

Japanese language undated

Physical Description: 4 items.
Box 1, Folder 63

Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA). Aero-Gram. 15th anniversary issue 1944