Josephine (Andrews) Sykes, 1912

Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews played a key role in preparing the U.S. Army’s prewar air combat forces for war. In 1935 he was selected to be the Commanding General of the newly established General Headquarters Air Force. In this position he orchestrated sweeping changes to the employment of air combat units, creating the conceptual and material foundations for a modern Air Force. At the time of his death in early May 1943, he was in overall command of the U.S. Theater of Operations in Europe directing the air campaign against Germany and planning for the D-day invasion of Europe. The collection is organized into four series and three subseries.

Series I, General Information, is divided into three major sections. The first section contains information about General Andrews and his wife, Jeannette. Included in this section is biographical information about General Andrews and newspaper clippings containing information about his career from 1914 to 1943. Also included is the memorial service for General Andrews in England, along with programs for the dedication of buildings in Andrews’ name. Of particular note is two “Day-to-Day” diaries kept by Jeannette Andrews from 1935 to 1944, which recorded her day-to-day activities and the day she received news of her husband’s death. The second major section contains information about General Andrews’ father, James David Andrews, and the rest of the Andrews family. This section includes Andrews’ family genealogy, information about J. D. Andrews’ real estate business, and other family information. Finally, the third section contains information on Allen Andrews, General Andrews’ son. The section includes Allen’s pilot license, information on his wedding, a speech to the Nashville Exchange Club, and a variety of photographs of Allen Andrews and his family.

Series II, Family Correspondence, is the largest series of the collection and is divided into three subseries. Researchers will note that there is very little correspondence between 1920 and 1930.

Subseries IIA, contains the correspondence of General Andrews and his wife, Jeannette “Johnnie” Andrews. Most of the correspondence is from General Andrews to his parents. There is no correspondence from 1922 to 1929 and there are only a few letters after 1940. Researchers will note that Jeannette’s letters are primarily to General Andrews’ parents where she addresses them as “Dear Mother or Father.” Letters from Jeannette after the deaths of the General’s parents are to his sister, Josephine, or to her children.

Subseries IIB, contains the letters of General Andrews’ parents, James David and Lula Maxwell Andrews, and his siblings, James David Andrews, Jr., William Valery Andrews, and Josephine Andrews Sykes. Researchers will note that there are a large number of letters from James David Andrews and Lula Maxwell Andrews from 1880 to 1883. These are primarily letters between the two when James was courting Lula. The letters from James and Lula become more scattered after 1890. James David Jr. was an U.S. Army engineer, and William Valery Andrews, was in the Air Corps during World War I, both serving in Europe. James Jr., gassed with mustard gas during the war, became a career Army officer serving during World War II as well. Researchers will find a large number of letters from these two from 1916 to 1920 in this subseries. Most of the letters were to their parents. There are also a number of letters from James Jr. to Josephine when he was assigned in Louisiana during WWII.

Subseries IIC, contains letters from friends and relatives of the Andrews family. The letters vary from friends of the Andrews, such as Mattie McCord to letters from family, such as W. B. Andrews, the brother of James D. Andrews Sr., who was a Methodist minister in Texas. Also included are letters from children of the Andrews siblings and their spouses, many of which are addressed to Josephine Andrews Sykes. The letters span a period from 1879 to as late as 1970. The bulk of the letters fall into two time-periods – the early 1880s and the 1930s.

Series III, Photographs and Scrapbooks, contains seven boxes of material. The first box, Box 11, contains a family album of photographs of General (then Lieutenant) Andrews and his family when he was assigned to Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont as a Calvary officer from 1912 to 1915. The album contains photographs of the Andrews children, as well as photographs of the fort and of the General and his wife playing polo. Unfortunately, very few of the photographs are identified. Box 12 in this series contains photographs of the Andrews Field, Maryland dedication on March 31, 1945. Most of the photographs show Jeannette with various dignitaries. Box 13 contains a variety of photographs, primarily of General Andrews during his time as Commander of General Headquarters, Air Force. Towards the back of the box are some earlier photographs of General Andrews in the 1920s. There is also a photograph of his burial at Arlington National Cemetery, several letters, including letters from Dewitt S. Copp to Allen Andrews, and several newspaper clippings. Box 14 contains a variety of photographs, including portrait photographs of General Andrews, photographs of an exhibit about the General, and the general with various individuals. Of note is a photograph of the General with Winston Churchill in 1943. Also included are photographs of Jeannette Andrews, various relatives, children, and some photographs sent by James David Andrews of his camp when he was in Arizona. Box 15 contains a scrapbook put together by Jeannette Andrews. The book contains photographs of her father, mother, her husband and her children. The photographs are primarily from 1913 and earlier. Box 16 contains a scrapbook of primarily newspaper clippings documenting General Andrews’ activities during World War II. Of note is a clipping reporting the death of General Andrews in an airplane crash. There are also a few loose photographs. Finally, Box 17 is a very large photograph album that appears to have been given to General Andrews when he left General Headquarters, Air Force. Because of the size of the album, and poor storage condition, the photographs and other items were removed from the album, placed in folders, and stored in a archival box or map case. Besides containing photographs, the album contained his promotion certificates, appointments to command, service school diplomas, and certificates for awards. Some, but not all, of the photographs are identified. The certificates and diplomas are individually listed in the collection inventory and their location.

Series IV, Memorabilia, is the smallest of the four series and is house in two boxes. Box 18 contains a U.S. Flag, probably General Andrews’ command flag that would have been in his office. Box 19 contains five items, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, a small plaque given to the family when the Andrews Engineering Building was dedicated, Lieutenant General rank insignia (three stars), the National Aviation Hall of Fame Medal awarded to General Andrews posthumously in 1986, and an Inventing Flight medal from 1903.