The bulk of this collection consists of photographs taken and developed by W.R. Peters between 1942 and 1955 while working for Pan Am. It also includes: a Miami and Latin American Division pilot and cabin service personnel directory, a pilot seniority list, a grievance conciliation and agreement list, and some photographs that were not taken by Mr. Peters that were acquired at antique stores.
The collection candidly depicts the working lives of Pan Am flight attendants and pilots, including excellent images of insignia, aircraft, and architecture. Photographs not by Peters include images taken during the 747SP “New Horizons” speed record breaking around the world flight in 1977, the Orange Bowl Parade, and flight attendant class photos from the 36th Street flight academy.
This collection consists of the papers of Althea “Gerry” Lister from 1935 to 1997. It contains: biographical information pertaining to Lister’s 45 year career at Pan American World Airways; “Along Air Avenues,” an unpublished manuscript that provides a detailed account of Pan Am’s maintenance and safety operations; a list of survey and inaugural flights created by Lister; a list of McCoy print purchasers and prices created by Lister; and a chronology of Pan Am’s aircraft fleet created by Lister. The papers include certificates, correspondence, photographs, and press clippings.
The Randy Liebermann Collection contains five photo albums and one scrapbook of Pan American World Airways materials. The materials primarily concern the Latin American Division, but also airplane models and company policy at large. The Scrapbook contains newsletters, pamphlets, clippings, certificates, letters, envelopes, stickers, postcards, stamps, and other materials.
The collection contains the personal papers of Louis J. Hector, in the form of clippings, invitations, letters, memorandum, notebooks, photographs, and reports. Prominently represented are files pertaining to the University of Miami, the Southeast Banking Corporation, Pan American World Airways, Inc., the Civil Aeronautics Board, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery, the National Humanities Center, and the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Donald W. Thomson worked for Pan American World Airways from 1932 to 1976 when he retired as the company's treasurer. His papers include corporate records, memoranda, reports, memorabilia and photographs. Bound volumes of annual reports and books were separated from the collection for cataloging.
This collection consists of the personal papers of Captain Basil Rowe. Rowe flew for the airline West Indian Aerial Express (WIAX) before being hired by Pan American World Airways, Inc. His papers include: correspondence, news clippings, short stories, reocords of nomination into the aiviaton hall of fame, operations bulletins, photographs, a cockpit checklist, an examination on keeping fit for flying, maintenance bulletins, Martin M-130 information, instructions for the use of the Boeing 247-D Circular Balance Computer, and memoranda concerning emergency landings.
Clipper Pioneers is an organization of former Pan Am pilots and flight crew. This collection includes Pan Am records such as memoranda, flight manuals, and accident reports as well as clippings, log books, pilot files, scrapbooks and photographs.
The L. J. Easterbrook Papers contains Pan American World Airways, Inc. aerospace engineering manuals. Subjects include flight controls, hydraulic and landing gear systems, and maintenance. Personal accident insurance pamphlets are also included.
The Dorothy Brannen Thomas Collection contains a scrapbook collecting letters, photographs, clippings, and other documents pertaining to cadets from the Royal Air Force who trained at the Pan American Training Academy at the University of Miami prior to World War II. Also included are letters from some of the cadets stationed there.
This collection contains aviation research related to the loss of Flight 7, PAA-94, Pan American Clipper Romance of the Skies in the mid-Pacific on November 8, 1957. Included within are documents, photographs, notes, memoranda of conversations, and interview transcripts used in the research and writing of two magazine articles by Gregg Herken and Ken Fortenberry. Also included in the collection are the articles which appeared in Air & Space and Smithsonian magazines.