Still is taken from Universal Newsreel Volume 7, Release 406. “Thirty women pilots have groomed their ships for a wholesale assault today and tomorrow on man’s supremacy in the air.” This quote is taken from a newspaper clipping from the production file for Universal Newsreel volume 7, release 406. Since the early years of aviation, … Continue reading Girl Aces Hold Own Air Show: Universal Newsreel and the 1935 Women’s Championship Air Show
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is well known for preserving the first written records of our nation. People come from around the world to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. But what about the first government films? The oldest known government-produced film in our holdings is First Army Aeroplane … Continue reading The Wright Military Flyer Soars on Celluloid: Uncovering the Story of Our Oldest Government Film
This post was co-written with Katherine Stinson, an Archives Specialist in the National Archives (NARA) Moving Image and Sound Branch. One of the joys of archives is discovering a research subject you never even knew was missing from your life. The NARA Moving Image and Sound Branch and the Motion Picture Preservation Lab collaborated on … Continue reading Queens of the Air: American Women Aviation Pioneers
I'm back again with another update regarding the progress of the Subject Finding Aid Project in the Still Picture Branch. Harnessing the momentum gained with Batches 2 and 3, I'm happy to announce that roughly 3500 descriptions for Batches 4 and 5 are LIVE in the NARA Catalog! The Finding Aids in these batches cover … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project (Update 2)
Some of the National Archives’ finest footage of the bombardment and sinking of World War I-era ships dates from after the war. In 1921, 1923, and 1931, the United States Navy, in cooperation with the Army Air Forces, bombarded American and German vessels with bombs ranging in size from 25 to 2000 pounds. These spectacles … Continue reading Sinking the Fleets of World War I
Today marks the 117th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, ushering in the age of powered flight. To celebrate this incredible milestone, we would like to present records related to the Wright Brothers and their achievement. The dawn of the twentieth century was a time of tremendous scientific progress … Continue reading Caretakers of the Sky: The Wright Brothers and Recording the Aerial Age
One century ago, San Francisco's 1915 World’s Fair closed its doors, ending one of the most unique events in American history. For 288 days, the fair brought together an odd array of individuals that seemingly belong in different chapters of the history textbook. Civil War veterans could watch as Henry Ford produced a car every … Continue reading A Fair to Remember: Colored Lantern Slides at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
At the beginning of the 20th century, dreams of flying morphed from science fiction to reality. From the Wright Brothers' early expeditions in Kitty Hawk, to the World War I fighter pilots in Europe, the airplane generated excitement around the world. Yet despite intense interest and publicity, the airplane’s practicality was still in doubt. Although … Continue reading Daring Deliveries: The U.S. Post Office and the Birth of Commercial Aviation
On July 25, 1909, Louis Bleriot became the first man to fly over the English Channel. In 1959, the flight was commemorated with the first crossing by hovercraft. Taking a hovercraft between England and France was a reality for commercial passengers between 1968 and 2000, when a commercial hovercraft service offered transportation across the English Channel. … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: A Hovercraft Crosses the English Channel, 1959
On July 15th, 1931, legendary tennis players Helen Wills and Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman competed against Hilda and Helen Boehm in the first round of the National Doubles Championship at Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The 17-year-old Boehm twins were junior doubles champions in 1931. Between 1922 and 1938, Helen Wills won 19 of the … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: Tennis Legends Wills and Wightman Take on the Boehm Twins, 1931
