Phillip H. Ault Aviation collection
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises photographs and other materials relating to the history of aviation from the first balloon ascent in 1783 to 1978. It consists of two distinct series:
The first series is a collection of photographs and other materials concerning the reception of Charles Lindbergh upon his arrival in France at the conclusion of his 1927 trans-Atlantic flight. Those photographs documenting the dismantling, for inspection and shipping back to the United States, of the "Spirit of St. Louis", are of particular interest.
The second series consists of materials collected by Phillip Ault to illustrate his book By the Seat of Their Pants, published in 1978. While the book covers the period 1783-1978, it concentrates on the history of aviation in the United States from 1900 to 1950, with special emphasis on the Wright brothers, barnstormers, the first flight around the world in 1924, early air mail carriers, Charles Lindbergh, the Dole Derby of 1927, Amelia Earhart, and Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan. Although the great majority of the photographs are copies of originals held elsewhere, the collection contains four original photographs from the period 1910-1920. Ault makes particularly extensive use of the collections of Lawrence Bell, founder of Bell Aircraft, one of the finest private collections of material on the early history of aviation in the United States, but one that is under-utilized by aviation historians.
Dates
- Creation: 1783-1993 (bulk 1900-1950).
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1900 - 1950
Creator
- Ault, Phillip H. (Creator, Person)
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
Biography
Phillip Halliday Ault was born in Maywood, Illinois, on April 26, 1914. He graduated from DePauw University in 1935. From 1935 to 1937, he was a reporter for the LaGrange (Illinois) Citizen. In 1938, he became a corresponding editor for UPI, serving in Chicago, New York City, Iceland, North Africa, and London, where he was bureau chief in 1944-1945. In 1948, he left UPI to become assistant managing editor and director of the editorial page for the Times-Mirror Company in Los Angeles. From 1948 to 1957, he was editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Mirror-News, and from 1958-1968, executive editor and vice president of Associated Desert Newspapers, in Palm Springs. In 1968, he returned to the Midwest as associate editor of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune. He retired in 1979, and died in Sun City West, Arizona, on July 2, 2001.
In addition to his wire service and newspaper work, Ault was a prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring 18 books: Springboard to Berlin (1943); This is the Desert (1959); Reporting the News (1959, coauthor); News Around the Clock (1960); Introduction to Mass Communications (1960, co-author), used as a textbook in over 400 colleges and universities; How to Live in California (1961); Home Book of Western Humor (1967); Wonders of the Mosquito World (1970); These Are the Great Lakes (1972); Wires West (1974); All Aboard (1976); By the Seat of Their Pants (1978); Perspectives on Mass Communications (1982, co-author); Whistles Round the Bend (1982); Reporting and Writing the News (1983, co-author); Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics (1986, co-author); Santa Maria Historical Photo Album (1987). Three of these books were Junior Literary Guild selections, and All Aboard received a Spur from the Western Writers of America for the best juvenile book of 1976. Ault also contributed articles to the Saturday Evening Post, American Heritage, American Legion, Argosy, Phil Delta Kappan, The Scroll, True West, and Michiana.
Ault was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998, and into the DePauw University Media Wall of Fame in October 2001.
Source: Who Was Who in America, 14 (New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who, c2002), 11.
Extent
2 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Photographs of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis in France at the conclusion of his 1927 trans-Atlantic flight, including photographs of Lindbergh with other famous aviators and of the dismantling of the Spirit of St. Louis for inspection and shipment back to the United States. Also materials, primarily reproductions of prints, drawings, and photographs documenting the history of aviation from 1783 to 1978, collected by Ault to illustrate his book By the Seat of Their Pants, published in 1978. These materials emphasize in particular the history of aviation in the United States from 1900 to 1950, including the Wright brothers, barnstormers, the first flight around the world in 1924, early air mail carriers, Charles Lindbergh, the Dole Derby of 1927, Amelia Earhart, and Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan.
Physical location
Please consult repository.
Acquisition Information
Series 1 (Lindbergh Photographs), gift to the Aviation Special Collection, Sprague Library, by Phillip H. Ault, 1992.
Series 2 (Photographs for By the Seat of Their Pants), gift to the Aviation Special Collection, Sprague Library, by Phillip H. Ault, circa 1995.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
General Physical Description note
1 archives carton + 1 oversize box(0.4 linear foot).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, June 2004.
Subject
- Earhart, Amelia (Creator, Person)
- Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus) (Creator, Person)
- Ault, Phillip H. (Creator, Person)
- Corrigan, Douglas (Creator, Person)
- Title
- Finding aid of the Phillip H. Ault Aviation Collection
- Author
- Michael P. Palmer
- Date
- © 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in: English
Repository Details
Part of the 01 - Special Collections & Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library Repository
800 North Dartmouth Ave
Claremont CA 91711 United States
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu