Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Alda Jane Lewis Papers focuses on materials collected by Lewis from 1946 to 1950 during her time as a United Airlines (UAL) flight attendant.
The material covers Lewis's training and active service as a Mainliner stewardess and includes personnel records, such as incident reports, compliment letters, and stewardess air logs, and six (6) photographs which depict Lewis in her stewardess uniform. There is a large amount of United Airlines documentation, including training and on-the-job reference materials, such as how to handle passenger discomfort, employee memos and newsletters, flight menus, route maps, and UAL brochures about the Mainliner. Additional documentation includes material related to the Air Line Stewardesses Association (labor union), including a 1949 labor agreement booklet and the constitution and by-laws of the association and various ephemera, such as a Washington Pilots Association decal, two typed sheets of assorted recipes, and two books.
While most of the collection relates to Lewis's career and United Airlines, there are a few materials for two other airlines; Pan American World Airways and Northwest Airlines, including postcards featuring various locations serviced by the airlines, in-flight menus, decals, and route schedules. At the end of the collection are some personal materials.
Dates
- Creation: 1939-1984
Creator
- Lewis, Alda Jane (Person)
Language of Materials
All materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.
Conditions Governing Use
The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.
Biographical Note: Alda Jane Lewis
Alda Jane (Gabel) Lewis was born to George C. and Pearl M. Gabel on October 26, 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio. While attending Ohio State University, World War II began and Alda went to work for the Navy Ferry Squadron in the Port of Columbus (Ohio). During this time, she also began flying lessons.
In 1946, Lewis began working with United Airlines as a flight attendant. She relocated to Portland, Oregon and worked on 21-passenger Douglas DC-3s flying to various locations within the Pacific Northwest. It was during one of these flights that she met her future husband, Alfred R. "Dick" Lewis. They wed in 1950 and relocated to Olympia, Washington where she did volunteer work with many organizations, including the Seattle Children's Hospital, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and Clipped Wings (a group for current, former, and retired United Airlines flight attendants). Lewis passed away on January 10, 2012.
Source:
Biography derived from The Olympian, January 22, 2012 and collection materials.
Extent
0.75 Cubic Feet (1 full-width legal size document box, 1 half-width legal size document box, and 1 oversized folder)
Abstract
Alda Jane Lewis (1923-2012) was born in Ohio and worked as a United Airlines flight attendant. The collection contains photographs, manuscripts, reports, maps, personnel records, and brochures collected during her career.
Note on Arrangment
Physical Location
The following item will be on display for Destination Moon, April 2019 - September 2019.
- Sheet music, "Wait Till You See What I Saw In Seattle," 1962
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Separated Materials
The following items have been separated from the archival component and are kept in Objects storage:
- Three (3) bracelets
- Two (2) commemorative buttons
- One (1) key chain
- One (1) serving dish
- Three (3) pairs of earrings
- Two (2) uniforms consisting one each of jacket, skirt, and hat
- Two (2) nameplates
- Four (4) napkins
- Thirteen (13) patches
- Four (4) lapel pins
- One (1) military pin
- Three (3) occupational pins
- Six (6) pairs of sunglasses
- One (1) identification tag
- Three (3) t-shirts
- One (1) pair paper slippers
- One (1) blue ribbon
- One (1) plane sighting device
- Coffee, Tea, or My Favorite Recipe. Clipped Wings, United Airlines Stewardess Alumnae, Inc., Lancaster Press, 1983.
Subject
- Northwest Airlines Corporation (Organization)
- United Airlines (Organization)
- Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Organization)
- Pan American World Airways, Inc (Organization)
- Patterson, William A. (William Allan), 1899-1980 (Person)
Source
- Lewis, Alda Jane (Former owner, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Alda Jane Lewis Papers
- Status
- Completed Level 4
- Author
- J. Jones, J. Parent
- Date
- 2015, 2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
- Edition statement
- 2nd Edition
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org