The collection contains materials from the World War I career of Samuel E. White, who served with the balloon companies of the American Expeditionary Force. The diary documents White's training in the United States and service in France as a balloon observer, with details on fellow servicemen, daily movements and activities. Additional materials include various military documents relating to his service, as well as a few photographs of balloons and other scenes.
Dates
- circa 1918-1919
Creator
- White, Samuel E. (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.
Extent
0.03 Cubic Feet (2 legal width folders)
Abstract
Samuel Elbert White served in various balloon companies of the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I. The collection documents his training in the United States and his service overseas.
Biographical Note: Samuel E. White
Samuel Elbert White was born in Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army Air Service with balloon companies during World War I. White enlisted on September 21, 1917 at St. Louis, Missouri, and began his training at balloon and flight schools in Missouri, Texas, and Nebraska. He received his commission on January 31, 1918. He was stationed at Kelly Field, Texas for the early part of the year then received orders to travel to the Aviation Concentration Camp and Supply Depot in Morrison, Virginia. He left for Europe from Newport News, Virginia on April 23, 1918 aboard the U.S. Transport Siboury. They arrived at Brest, France on May 7 and from there traveled to Coëtquidan. White moved about the country extensively for the first few months, completing additional training before being stationed near Raulecourt (Meuse), France. According to his military record, White served with the 3rd, 5th, and 9th Balloon Companies in France from April 1918 to June 1919. He participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives toward the end of the war, and appears to have remained after the armistice as part of the occupation forces. In August 1919, White was honorably discharged from service at Camp Dodge, Iowa, having attained the rank of second lieutenant in the Air Service.
He later married Alma Gertrud Grundman. White worked as a west coast sales manager for the Dobeckmun Company, including selling plastics that were used to cover Boeing aircraft. He died sometime around 1967.
Sources and further reading:
Biographical note derived from collection materials.
S.W. Ovitt and L.G. Bowers, eds. The Balloon Section of the American Expeditionary Forces. London : A.H. Stockwell, [1939].
Center of Military History, United States Army. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War - Zone of the Interior: Directory of Troops, vol. 3, pt. 3. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988.
He later married Alma Gertrud Grundman. White worked as a west coast sales manager for the Dobeckmun Company, including selling plastics that were used to cover Boeing aircraft. He died sometime around 1967.
Sources and further reading:
Biographical note derived from collection materials.
S.W. Ovitt and L.G. Bowers, eds. The Balloon Section of the American Expeditionary Forces. London : A.H. Stockwell, [1939].
Center of Military History, United States Army. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War - Zone of the Interior: Directory of Troops, vol. 3, pt. 3. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Existence and Location of Copies
Materials from this collection have been digitized and are available at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.
Separated Materials
The following items have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in Objects storage:
- Two (2) identification bracelets
Creator
- White, Samuel E. (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Samuel E. White Collection
- Status
- Completed - Level 4
- Author
- A. Demeter
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Sponsor
- Processing, cataloging and digitization of this collection was made possible by a Council on Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR) "Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives" grant.
- Edition statement
- 1st Edition
Revision Statements
- November 2018: Finding aid migrated to ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
Contact:
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org