Biography “Ivan R. Gates: Designer, Manufacturer, and Operator of Aircraft,” by Edward Churchill, Circa 1930

Scrapbooks 1-3 contain photographs, all dating from approximately 1929 to 1930. Scrapbooks 1 and 2 contain photographs depicting: Ivan and his wife Hazel wearing pilot garb and posing and sitting in or standing near their aircraft; aircraft painted with “Gates Flying Service”; the Gates Aircraft Belgian RSV convertible monoplane or biplane; and Gates with unidentified individuals. The pages of this scrapbook have been encapsulated due to the extreme brittleness of the pages. Scrapbook 3 contains photographs depicting: Gates Aircraft factory building and workers (pages 31, 38, 42, and 44); the Gates convertible plane (pages 24, 35, and 36); and the Holmes Airport (page 48).

Scrapbook 4 contains newspaper clippings from publications across the United States concerning the Gates Aircraft Corporation, Gates Belgian RSV convertible plane, and various aviation photos that were contributed to the publishers by Gates. Other topics of the clippings include articles about members of the former Gates Flying Circus, as well as women in aviation, including pilots such as his wife Hazel (see folder of loose clippings) and Elinor Smith Freeport (page 15) and the “flying stenographer” Edna Schroeder (pages 19, 25, 26). All newspaper clippings, both in Scrapbook 4 and the folder of loose clippings, date from 1927 to 1929.

Loose photographs in the collection include images of Ivan Gates, Gates Flying Circus, Gates Used Cars, Gates Flying Service, and various pilots and aircraft, including the Gates Belgian RSV. Of particular note are a handful of aerial photographs showing New Orleans, Louisiana, during Mardi Gras in 1924. All loose photographs appear to date to the 1920s, though most are undated.

Documents in the collection include exhibition catalogs and marketing materials for the Gates Flying Circus (circa 1924-1925); Ivan Gates’ industrial pilot’s licenses (1929-1933); Gates’ personal notes on a cross-country flight in 1928; programs and menus for aviation events (1929); two articles about Gates (1930); and a price sheet (undated) for New England and Western Airlines for which Gates was director of the Flying Services Division.