Harvard-Boston Aero Meet Collection
Scope and Content
Series I Glass Plate Negatives
This series contains the original glass plate negatives that were taken by Anthony Philpot at the 1910 and 1911 air meets in Massachusetts. The negatives are of various persons that attended the air meet as well as some, not all, of the airplanes that were flown at meet and their pilots. The images in this series are available online in CORE Scholar: http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms338_photographs/.
Series II Lantern Slides
This series contains lantern slides that were made of the glass plate negatives, as well as other photographs of the 1910 and 1911 aero meets. The images in this series are available online in CORE Scholar: http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms338_photographs/.
Series III Photographs, Negatives, and Supporting Documents
This series contains prints, or paper copies, of the glass plate negatives, lantern slides, and negatives (Box 10, Items 77 through 99). The series also contains copies of the original newspaper articles about the meet. Additionally, there is a pamphlet with an article written by Anthony Philpott about the history of newspapers and a book written by Edward Young about the early aviators with information about the Harvard Boston Aero Meet. Some of the photographs in this series are available online in CORE Scholar: http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms338_photographs/. (Those available online are indicated as "available online" following the description.)
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1997
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1910-1911
Creator
- Philpott, Anthony (Person)
Restrictions on Access
There are no restrictions on accessing materials in this collection.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
History of Harvard-Boston Aero Meet
The first Harvard-Boston Aero Meet took place in September of 1910. Sponsored by the Harvard Aeronautical Society and held in Atlantic, Massachusetts, the meet was the first of its kind to take place on the East coast as well as the largest. The Boston Globe offered a $10,000 prize for the first person to fly from Atlantic, Massachusetts to the Boston Light and back in the shortest amount of time. The meet also consisted of a $5,000 prize and the Harvard Cup to the person who could drop the most bombs on a battleship model. Approximately 67,000 people paid to see the meet while many more watched the meet from other places. Claude Grahame-White, an English Aviator, won the race to the Boston Light and back winning the $10,000 award. An additional spectacle at the meet was Samuel F. Perkins who took the first man up in a kite. The pictures of these events in this collection were taken by Anthony Philpott, editor of the Boston Globe and an airplane enthusiast.
The second Harvard-Boston Aero Meet took place August 27 through September 6, 1911. This meet was also sponsored by the Harvard Aeronautical Society with additional funding from the Boston Daily Globe. This second meet, unlike the first meet, was plagued with rain, high winds, dissatisfaction among the aviators, and low attendance. The high light of this meet was the Tri State race, which was sponsored by the Boston Daily Globe. Claude Grahame-White, and other aviators, refused to fly in the meet because they felt that the route was too dangerous. Despite their suggestions to change the route of the race, the race continued as planned. The winners of the Tri State race were Earl Ovington in a monoplane and Lt. Milling, representing the United States Army, in a biplane. Claude Grahame-White once again won the prize for flying to the Boston Light and back but, it was Earl Ovington that earned the most monetarily at the Harvard-Boston meet. Overall, the meet appears to have been a disappointment in comparison to other meets that were held earlier in the year.
Extent
6 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The papers consist of glass plate negatives, lantern slides, and photographs of pictures taken by Anthony Philpott editor of the Boston Globe. Of particular interest in these files are copies of newspaper clippings from 1910 and 1911 about the meets, as well as pictures of Wilbur Wright, Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald, President William H. Taft, Claude Grahame-White, Glenn Curtiss, and other distinguished people from that time period.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is made up of the following record series:
- Series I Glass Plate Negatives
- Series II Lantern Slides
- Series III Photographs, Negatives, and Supporting Documents
Other Finding Aid
The images in Series I and Series II, as well as some of the photographs in Series III, have been scanned and are available online in Wright State University's Campus Online Repository (CORE Scholar): http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms338_photographs/.
Acquisition Information
The Harvard Boston Aero Meet papers were donated to the WSU Archives by Rick Ruggles on March 25, 2004.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by: Jennifer Manuel, March 2005
- Title
- Guide to the Harvard-Boston Aero Meet Collection (MS-338)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Manuel, March 2005
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- October 2006: Finding aid revised by John Armstrong
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092
library-archives@wright.edu
