Oliver C. Aldrich, Jr. Collection

This collection contains correspondence, moving images, video tapes, audio tapes, photographs, slides, printed materials, reprinted or copied materials, personal photographs, and scrapbooks collected and saved by Oliver C. Aldrich, Jr. during his lifetime. The Oliver C. Aldrich, Jr. Collection is housed in twenty-two manuscript boxes, five half-size manuscript boxes, sixteen video boxes, four audio tape boxes, six album boxes, ninety-five moving film canisters, thirteen non-standard folders, twenty-seven items in flat file, and ten non-standard boxes and totals 89.91 linear ft.

The collection came unorganized in many boxes. The processor eliminated duplicates and arranged the collection into twelve series with the first series being the Personal Information Series, which is further organized into six subseries: 1. Letters, 2. Clubs and Organizations, 3. Reprinted materials, 4. Model Aircraft, 5. Printed materials, and 6. Scrapbooks.

Subseries 1. consists of letters to and from the National Archives, personal letters, and telegrams.

Subseries 2. Newsletters, membership information, decals from the many clubs and organizations to which Aldrich belonged.

Subseries 3. Information about model aircraft including catalogs, aircraft descriptions and diagrams, decals, radio control manuals, and rules.

Subseries 4. Reprinted magazine articles with general aviation topics.

Subseries 5. Printed magazine articles with general aviation topics.

Subseries 6. Four scrapbooks. One made by Oliver Aldrich as a boy, another a gift from his daughter in 1964, and two from friends in 1990 and 1992. Topics are general aviation related.

The second Series is the Air Racing and Air Shows Series, which is further organized into four subseries: 1. Air Racing results from 1909 through 1991, 2. Air Races from 1926 through 1992, 3. Air Shows, and 4. Conventions and meetings related to aircraft.

Subseries 1. Results from air races held from 1909 through 1991 with a corrected copy.

Subseries 2. Results, programs, advertisements, ephemera, and newspapers from air races around the country.

Subseries 3. Results, programs, advertisements, ephemera, and newspapers from shows around the country.

Subseries 4. Results, programs, advertisements, ephemera, and newspapers from combined air shows and races around the country.

The third series is the Drawings Series, which is further organized in three subseries: 1. R.S. Hirsch drawings, 2. H. C. Kevelars drawings, and 3. Scale model drawings by many artists.

Subseries 1. Materials are three view drawings of airplane models by R.S. Hirsch.

Subseries 2. Materials are three view drawings of airplane models by H.C. Kevelars.

Subseries 3. Materials are three view drawings of airplane models by various artists.

Subseries 4. Oversize materials are three view drawings of airplane models and blueprints either by artists or publication.

The fourth series is the Newspapers and Newspaper Clippings Series consisting of newspapers and newspaper clippings saved by the donor relating to general aviation.

The fifth series is the Ephemera Series. Materials include posters, oversize pictures, decals, and a pennant in relation to air shows and air races.

The sixth series is the Videos Series, which is further organized into nine subseries: 1. Air Races, 2. Air Shows, 3. Civil Air Transport (CAT), 4. Confederate Air Show, 5. Society of Air Racing Historians (SOARH), 6. Interviews, 7. People, 8. Home Videos, and 9. Uncategorized.

The videos have not been viewed for content and the condition is unknown. They have been organized by information on the labels and divided into subseries from that information.

Subseries 1. Air Races.

Subseries 2. Air Shows.

Subseries 3. Civil Air Transport (CAT).

Subseries 4. Confederate Air Force.

Subseries 5. Society of Air Racing Historians. (SOARH).

Subseries 6. Interviews. Individuals interviewed by Oliver Aldrich.

Subseries 7. People.

Subseries 8. Home Videos.

Subseries 9. Uncategorized.

The seventh series is the Negatives Series, which is further organized into five subseries: 1. Planes Identified, 2. Autographed Photos, 3. Aircraft, 4. People, and 5. Planes Unidentified.

Subseries 1. Materials are identified and dated 35 mm negatives. Topic includes Galveston Air Show, League City, Boeing Museum, Levelor Hangar, QED, Tsunami, Jess Schryack, SOARH, Crawford Museum, Reno, and Quantico.

Subseries 2. Topics cover Hooks Airport, Jet-fighter Museum, Lone Star Museum, Planes of Fame Museum, Richmond VA museum, Pearl River, Okla fly-in, Cobra III in hanger, F-31-1, F-35-1 in Ft. Worth, Maachi-M-72, Kerry Hurt in P-51, Anson Johnson, John and Dorothy Sunyak, Bill Ong, Grace Harris, Dick Becker, and J. D. Reed.

Subseries 3. Unidentified negatives.

Subseries 4. 3 1/4" X 2 1/4" negatives. Topics are airplanes, people, and events.

Subseries 5. features a group of 4x5 negatives found in individual envelopes with some information on the outside of the envelope. Where possible, cross referenced to the photos in other parts of the collection was provided. Topics are airplanes, people, and events.

The eight series is the Photographs Series, which is further organized into five subseries: 1. Planes Identified, 2. Autographed Photos, 3. Aircraft, 4. People, and 5. Planes Unidentified.

Subseries 1. Planes are identified by tail numbers. For further information view FAA Registry - Aircraft - N-Number Inquiry Website, http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Inquiry.aspx

Subseries 2. Autographed photos of aviators, some addressed to Oliver Aldrich.

Subseries 3. Planes identified by other than tail number.

Subseries 4. Individuals and groups of people with some identification.

Subseries 5. Additional photos of planes, people, events, and trophies.

The ninth series is the Slide Series. Some slides were organized by donor, others were taken from labelled boxes with information that was transferred to sleeves. No attempt was made to verify the information on the original containers. Some professional slides purchased by or given to donor. The slides were organized into fifty subseries and put into albums for ease in viewing and retrieval. View container list for more information.

The tenth series is the Personal Photos Series. Some photos were arranged in albums with no apparent order. These photos were kept together and put into albums labelled Albums #1, #2, #3, and #4 and show people, events, museums, air shows, and postcards. Some information is written on the back of some of the photos, Some have been dated by the donor, some have the date imprinted by the developer. Each album was described as a subseries. Subseries 6 is the miscellaneous lose photos found throughout the collection in envelopes or boxes

Subseries 1. Black and white photos.

Subseries 2. Album #1.

Subseries 3. Album #2.

Subseries 4. Album #3.

Subseries 5. Album #4.

Subseries 6. Unorganized photos.

The eleventh series is the Audio Tapes Series, which is further organized into four subseries: 1. Interviews, 2. Air Races/Air Shows, 3. Society of Air Racing Historians, and 4. Recordings.

Interviews, recordings made at air shows and at the meetings of the Society of Air Racing Historians. The tapes have not been listened to ascertain the correctness of the information on the tapes or on the outside covers.

Subseries 1. Interviews with various individuals and organized alphabetically by last name.

Subseries 2. Tapes made at air shows and air races.

Subseries 3. Original recording and master tapes at the Society of Air Racing Historians meetings and symposia.

Subseries 4. Recordings of radio and television programs and purchased tape recordings.

The twelveth series is the Moving Film Series, which contains 8mm, color safety film of various lengths. Topics are air races, air baron, and various airshows, such as Cleveland, Confederate Air Force, Dayton, Harlingen, Mojave, Oshkosh, Phoenix, Pima, Reno, US Air Force, and US Navy.