William J. McEvoy worked as a government liaison for Pan American Airlines for over thirty years. The William McEvoy Papers include his unpublished memoir, Presidents Who Have Flown with Me, which focuses on President Truman’s trip to Wake Island in 1950. The collection also contains photographs from President Roosevelt’s trip to South America in 1936 and Vice President Henry Wallace’s trip to South America in 1943, as well as approximately 1200 slides from McEvoy’s travels around the world in the 1950s.
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biographical information pertaining to Lister’s 45 year career at Pan American World Airways; “Along Air Avenues,” an unpublished manuscript that provides a detailed account of Pan Am’s maintenance and safety operations; a list of survey and inaugural flights created by Lister; a list of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 Leonard Albasi/Gill Family Collection contains eight copy negatives and ten copy prints of 1937 photographs of American pilot Amelia Earhart at an unidentified airfield, probably Miami's Municipal Field. In 1937, Earhart made her second attempt at flying solo around the world. Her preparations included a stop between March 22nd and 31st, at Miami's Municipal Field near today's Opa-Locka Airport. After leaving New Guinea on July 2, 1937, Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
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.
Dr. Vincent A. Jablon was a podiatrist and professor of Roentgenology, who received from the University of Miami in 1931. While at the University of Miami, he worked for the Curtiss Airplane and Motor Company and was part of the Omicron Phi fraternity, which was based on the interest in aviation. The Vincent A. Jabon papers contain materials pertaining to these topics, in the form of scrapbooks of Omicron Phi activities, photographs of Curtiss airplanes, clippings, Jabon's mechanic identity card, letters, photocopies, Jabon's 1930 class schedule, and his jacket, goggles, and pilot hat.
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 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.
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.
