Burrell Tibbs Papers

This collection contains personal papers, manuscripts, clippings, articles, correspondence, radiograms, listings, speeches, ephemera, memorabilia, cartoon, photographs, and maps that were created and/or collected by Burrell Tibbs, his sisters, and his son Francis. The Burrell Tibbs Papers are housed in seventeen manuscript boxes, eight non-standard boxes, and one photo album box of various sizes totaling 23.6 linear feet.

This collection arrived in multiple accessions and is mainly in fair condition except the newspaper clippings which are in poor condition. The archivist identified seven series with the first series being the Personal Documents Series. Materials are personal handwritten notes, oldest photograph in collection of Burrell Tibbs in a Benoist plane of 1912 at St. Louis, clippings, articles; correspondence received, topics are Tibbs' project "St. Peterburg Celebration," Antique Airplane Association Fly-in, Semi-Centennial Exposition, full scale replica Clyde's original airplane, the history of aviation in Texas, National Convention of OX5 Club, listings of Benoit students, and private correspondence from Tibbs' children, and correspondence sent to Tibbs' family.

Speeches, bill of sales for airplanes and contracts between Tibbs and Lestere Miller, and Tibbs and Paul R. Braniff; Burrell Tibbs' stationery, biographical information on Peter Altman, typed or handwritten manuscripts covering events of Tibbs' piloting career from 1914 through 1919 while in the United States Armed Forces and the beginning of barnstorming, meetings with Wiley Post and comedian Will Rogers, railroad transportation and American Indians, and a typewritten manuscript The Curtiss Aviation Book by Glenn H. Curtiss and August Post.

Notes on speeches and The Curtiss Aviation Book, sketches and three views, notes on Early Birds, charts and listings regarding hangar dimensions; Tibbs' pilot's license and other identification cards, correspondence from Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce regarding Tibbs' and Henley's entry in the Dole's Air Race, and business cards, as well as his log book covering the time frame from 1933 through 1937; receipt, brochure, and coupon from Tibbs Flying School; club cards, menus, invitations, and a cartoon created and signed by William J. McClanahan; Tibbs' transcript of speech to the Air Knocker Flight Club including a question and answer session and transcript of address regarding 50th anniversary of powered flight, as well as internet sources about Burrell Tibbs' life and accomplishments and World War I pilot listings.

The second series is the Publication Series and by far the largest and more important series, because it gives an almost day to day account of people and events regarding aeronautics of the first fifty years of aviation including an extensive coverage of aviation during World War I. This series is further organized into six subseries: 1. Articles, 2. Brochures, 3. Clippings Scrapbook, 4. Clippings Loose, 5. General Aviation Topics, and 6. Specific Aviation Topics.

Subseries 1. covers topics such as ballooning, early air meets, advertisements, technical articles about aeronautics, bombing, airplanes, dirigibles, German airships, use of airplanes in agriculture, aircraft engines, women in aviation, airmen during World War I, air races, aerial photography, trophies and awards, Jet age, air boats, airlines, aviation firsts, and air space, and daily flight accomplishments. Some articles stem from The Scientific American.

Subseries 2. topics are instructions for inventors, aviation memorial parks, fifty years of powered flight, and promotion brochure for Avco airplanes.

Subseries 3. includes topics such as balloons, airships, lighter than air dirigibles, early aviation, Wright brothers in Europe, Louis Blériot, women in aviation, airship flight to the North Pole, aviation in France and Italy, first airship in Texas, Emperor William II and Count Zeppelin, Paris airship show, Transatlantic flights, Louis Paulhan in Texas, and other aviation related topics as well as clippings covering World War I. Of interest is a clipping referring to Geronimo's, Apache chieftain's funeral.

Subseries 4. subjects are ballooning, advertisement, flying machines, Santos Dumont airship, Wright Brothers, early aviation, European aviation, Japanese aviation, Texas aviation, Dallas/Fort Worth aviation, women in Japanese aviation, aircraft accidents, cartoons, Dallas Aviation Meet in in 1910, Aeroclub of America, balloons, aviation firsts, Lincoln Beachy's death, successful takeoff and landing from a ship, and airships, military aviation, navy aviation, employment of airships for bombing London, and World War I. Of interest is a clipping where Helen Keller commented about the benefits of aviation to the blind, as well as one from Oct. 2, 1912 reporting on a successful development of a frog clone, and Pancho Villa's role in the Siege of Matamoros. Extensive coverage of the events of World War I, mid-air refueling, barnstorming, air mail, early commercial aviation, Braniff air service in 1929, highlights of aviation, women in aviation, records in aviation, border patrol using aircraft, Trans-Atlantic crossings, endurance flights, airplane accidents, social life of pilots.

Subseries 5. comprises biographical information as well as facts about the organization of a "Burrell Tibbs Day" in 1929 by the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and in 1953 Tibbs', at age 57, flying a World War I Jenny from Bloomington, Illinois to Grand Prairie, Texas in seven days, which covered 750 miles to celebrate 50th anniversary of powered flight.

Subseries 6. encompasses information about a life-sized figure of Christ by an unidentified sculpture, President Wilson, Australian boxer Les Darcy, Pancho Villa, bear attacks, General Arnulfo Gomez, Mexican revolution, 119th anniversary of the founding Salina and third Cherokee reunion, motion picture The Moonshiners, politics, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, local Dallas news, local Sayre news, Beckham County, Oklahoma news, Colonel Edward H. R. Green of Texas, Hugh Burrell and fraud accusations, controversy regarding horses or automobiles for the fire department, buffalos attack in Tonkawa, Barney Oldfield's "Green Dragon" automobile, and advertisements such as a full page promotion of the first Buffalo Bill show in Oklahoma in 1909.

Subseries 7. contains booklets, brochures, listings, Boeing's inter-office memorandum regarding "First Monoplane Flights for the U.S. Government," history and activities of Early Birds, excerpts from different books with various aviation topics, National Aeronautic Association Bulletin regarding aircraft performance listings, OX 5 Club listings and newsletters, declaration of purpose of the Pioneer Airmail Pilot Reunion, rigging instructions, and listings of aircraft by Smithsonian Institution.

The third series is the Photographs Series, which is further organized in four subseries: 1. Burrell Tibbs, 2. Photo albums, 3. Events, and 4. Airplanes.

Subseries 1. depicts Burrell Tibbs in portraits and with his friends, family, Early Bird pilots, Tibbs with his students, working on a replica of Clyde's Cessna original aircraft, Wylie Post's first built aircraft, a plane built by Tibbs and Lester Miller, Ross Anderson's Curtiss pusher, Tibbs attending meetings, and with his awards as well as at award ceremonies; Tibbs during his endurance flight in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma depicting mid-air refueling, Tibbs at Stephenville, Texas, commemoration of the first flight of Charles F. Willard, and a set of pictures regarding famous aviation planes, such as Loening and Barling and pilots, among which are Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh; general topics are Miami Municipal Airport, aerial views, wing walking, and construction of Safe Way hangar; one set of pictures showcase aviation pioneer Billy Parker flying his 1912 pusher plane next to a North American F-86 Sabre.

Subseries 2. Album 1 covers Tibbs flight instruction years and some family photographs and clippings; Album 2 Downtown Airpark Paint Shop shows various single engine airplanes with their custom-made markings, and Album 3 depicts family scenes, C. Pat Murphey's Flying Circus, Southern Aerial Exposition, as well as some clippings and a Certificate of Scholarship dedicated to Ruth Tibbs for the Public Schools of Oklahoma county, Oklahoma, and a ribbon from the OX5 Club.

Subseries 3. includes participants in the 1934 National Air Races for instance Roscoe Turner, Ben Howard, Clayton Folberts, Harold Neuman, Gordon Israel, Earl Ortman, Jimmy Wedell, Lee Gelbach, Marion McKeen, Wedell-Williams AirService Corporation, and airplanes like the Howard (Benjamin O.) DGA-6 Mister Mulligan, the Wedell-Williams Model 44 I (NR 278V) (Race #s: 44, 91), the Wedell-Williams Model 44 II (NR 536V) (Race #: 92), the Wedell-Williams Model 44 (44 III) (NR 61Y) (Race #s: 2, 25, 57, 121), and the Brown (Lawrence) B-2 Miss Los Angeles.

Subseries 4. covers a photographic history including a list of all the aircraft manufactured by the Cessna Aircraft Company; racing airplanes, for example Keith Rider R-5 Elmendorf Special, Keith Rider R-6 Eight Ball, Keith Rider R-1 Suzy, and Heath Baby Bullet and pilots such as Marion McKeen, Earl Ortman, Ben Howard, Harold Neuman, Amelia Earhart, Florence Klingensmith and Ernst Udet just to name a few. In the manufacturer section covers a small representative sample of airplane production from the early aviation through modern days, such as the Wittemann (Aircraft) NBL-1 Barling Bomber operated by the U.S. Army, dirigibles, and Pitts Special. Of interest are the three images depicting the airplane built by Burrell Tibbs and Lester Miller, and the enlarged photo prints of a Benoist type biplane.

Subseries 5. includes negatives of an unidentified child, from a de Havilland (Airco) D.H.4 (Red Star Jenny) at San Antonio, Texas, and images from Tibbs working on a home-built aircraft.

The fourth series is the Ephemera Series. Materials are an invoice issued by the Creek Airplane Company, a ticket stub by Continental Engine, an airplane ticket by Aeronaves de Mexico, S.A. issued to Tibbs, a decal depicting a stunt flyer, and a flyer promoting Burrell Tibbs Day; an autograph booklet entries are from individuals from the Dallas/Fort Worth area; the photo clippings cover general aviation topics; Season Greeting postcards, and air races programs, menu cards, and a flyer promoting the Utex Aviation Company under the management of D.E. Byrd and Burrell Tibbs.

The fifth series is the Memorabilia Series. Items are a 14.5x2" metal sign with black background reading Burrell Tibbs in white with yellow framed letters and a True Course computer by Mototrola Aviation Products.

The sixth series is the Maps Series, which includes a silk map of Upper Burma, a National Geographic Society Louisiana map, and map showing the United States with an unspecified flight route.

The seventh series is the Blueprint Series, containing Army-Navy Aeronautical Standards, Piper J3C Series specifications, Zenith Carburetor Cross-section view, Model A; installation drawing, Model A; and 'Manufacturers' Specification on American Commercial Airplanes' as compiled by Aviation. Of interest is the original blueprint of an engine installation by Lycoming: Installation 0-235-C and 0-235-CI and CIA, Part number 63700.