Walter Matthews Jefferies Aviation Collection (MS-344)

The Walter Matthews Jefferies Aviation Collection primarily consists of aviation photographs. Most of the photographs document military aircraft produced by a variety of aircraft manufacturers. However, the collection also contains a significant number of photographs taken by movie studios during the filming of aviation-themed movies. The collection is divided into four series.

Series I, Research and General Information, is divided into several subseries, including aircraft information, publications, maps, drawings, and other materials. Researchers should take note that there may be some overlap of subjects and formats between Series I and Series II and III. The material in Series I was received primarily with the original donation in 2003, which was mostly photographs, whereas Series II and III were received as part of the donation in 2016, which was mostly paper materials. Materials in this series date from 1917 to 2002.

Subseries I-A: Aircraft Information contains airplane records from 1922 to 1943, in both paper and microfilm format. The subseries also contains information on aircraft, by license number, information on a variety of aircraft including the P-12 and P-26, articles about aircraft, and promotional material. Materials in this series date from 1917 to 1998.

Subseries I-B: Correspondence contains correspondence, most of which is general in nature. Correspondents include the American Aviation Historical Society, Harold Cabot Jr., Robert Cavanagh, Margaret Clark, National Air and Space Museum (NASM), actor William Shatner, and others. The bulk of the materials in this series date from 1956 to 2002, but one file of correspondence dates from 1932 to 1933.

Subseries I-C: Newsletters, Newspapers, and Magazines contains a variety of publications and articles. Of particular note are articles on the National Air Races during the 1940s at Cleveland, Ohio, and the New York Times series “Along the World’s Airways: The Week in Aeronautics from 1931 and 1932. Materials in this series date from 1927 to 1999.

Series I-D: Maps, Drawings, Press, and Ephemera contains press releases, maps, drawings, and commemorative items accumulated by Mr. Jefferies. Materials in this series date from 1932 to 1981.

Series II: Technical Orders and Maintenance Manuals, contains instructions for a variety of aviation topics and tasks, including erection, maintenance, operations, flight, service, overhaul, parts and repairs, etc. The booklets are arranged according to the manual number, with T.O. (the most numerous) first, followed by AN (second most numerous), then NAV, NACA, and finally manuals with varied title codes or naming conventions. The materials in this series date from 1918 to 1971, with the bulk dating from about 1935 to 1950, particularly the World War II era. This series is stored off-site, so a minimum of two business days advance notice is requested for use of materials in this series.

Series III: Subject Files, focus mainly on aircraft and to a certain extent other, more general aviation topics. Please note that this entire series is minimally described (box-level only description, not individual file level); however, materials have been rehoused into archival folders. Materials in this series are estimated to date from approximately 1930 to 1990. The series is divided into two subseries. This series is stored off-site, so a minimum of two business days advance notice is requested for use of materials in this series.

Series III-A: Aircraft Subject Files, includes files on various aircraft, arranged alphabetically. The description within this document is box-level only, but the files themselves are separated according to different individual aircraft models.

Series III-B: General Subject Files, includes files on airports, NACA, air shows, aviation art, the military, and space.

Series IV, Photographic Material, contains more than 15,000 photographs, as well as many slides, dating from about 1920 to 2002. Overall, the collection documents aircraft developed by a wide-variety of aircraft manufacturers from the 1930s to the 1960s. While virtually every aircraft manufacturer can be found in the collection, the largest concentrations are Boeing, Curtiss, Douglas, Lockheed, and WACO. This series is divided into three subseries.

Subseries IV-A: Mounted Photographs, contains more than 12,000 photographs mounted on cardboard. Each photograph is briefly identified on the top left of the cardboard mount with the manufacturer (abbreviated) and the model number. On the upper right is a number assigned to the photograph by Mr. Jefferies. To find out more information about the photograph, such as the airplane manufacturer, aircraft number, when the photograph was taken and by who, refer to the small (5” x 7”) books found in Boxes 5 and 5A. These books were developed by Mr. Jefferies to track his collection of photographs. Materials in this subseries date from 1921 to 1984, with many photos undated though likely still falling within this time frame.

Series IV-B: Photograph Albums, contains more than 3,000 photographs stored in album sleeves in the photograph album boxes. These photographs are minimally described on the reverse of the photograph and divided according to manufacturer. Materials in this subseries date from approximately 1960 to 1970, with many undated.

Series IV-C: Other Photographs and Related Information, contains a variety of other images and related descriptions. Many items in this series do not even related to aircraft but to Jefferies’ other work and personal activities in California. Most notably, there are nearly 500 slides (35mm color) depicting scenes from nearly every episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969). These slides have been digitized for preservation purposes, and researchers must use the reference prints rather than the original slides. An item-level index for the slides is available. Furthermore, it should be noted that the circumstances of the slides’ creation, and by extension their copyright status, has not been verified, so reproduction, publication, or other uses of the Star Trek images may be restricted. Materials in this subseries date from approximately 1920 to 2002.

A selection of aircraft photographs from Series IV have been scanned and are available online in Wright State University’s Campus Online Repository (CORE Scholar): https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms344_photographs/. To search for images from this collection in CORE Scholar, search for available items from a given folder using the following format: ms344_BBB_FFF*, where “BBB” is the three-digit Box number listed in the finding aid, “FFF” is the three-digit File number, and be sure to include the asterisk (*). For example, to locate any digitized images of Aero Commander 1121 airplanes from Box 6, File 2, enter “ms344_006_002*” into the search box. To check whether any images from a particular box (not specific to a certain folder) are available in CORE Scholar, search for ms344_BBB* (leaving off the folder code but including the asterisk).