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Archives at The Museum of Flight


Nancy W. (Biddle) Seidel Trans World Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Box: One
Identifier: 2015-04-03

Contents of the Collection

The Nancy W. (Biddle) Seidel Trans World Airlines Flight Attendant Collection documents Seidel's 1946-1947 service as an air hostess with Trans World Airlines (TWA). The materials were collected by Seidel and include her 1946-1947 flight log, which includes date, flight and airplane numbers, crew names, destination and origin locations, arrival and departure times, and other notes, such as altitude. Not every entry includes the same information.

Additional materials include seven scrapbook pages. The scrapbook was disassembled for preservation reasons but materials have been kept in original order....
The bulk of the scrapbook is business correspondence with a few clippings and two black-and-white photographs, including one that is a portrait of Seidel in her TWA uniform.

The collection also holds instructional materials that include handouts, worksheets, and Seidel's handwritten notes during the 1946 TWA flight attendant training. There is also a small amount of TWA-related ephemera, such as recruitment brochures for "Airline hostesses"; Biddle's TWA business cards, a circa 1947 blank TWA employment application, and two April 1946 TWA timetables.

At the end of the collection is a March 27, 1962 letter from Camas High School in Camas, Washington that expresses thanks to Seidel for participating in Career Day as a speaker and a small notebook that includes her handwritten notes for the event.

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Dates

  • Creation: circa 1940-1947

Creator

Language of Materials

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research but has not been fully processed. Access to the collection may be limited or may require additional processing time. 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: Nancy W. (Biddle) Seidel

Nancy W. (Biddle) Seidel was born in Indiana in 1920. Seidel worked as an flight attendant for Trans World Airlines (TWA) from 1946-1947. Seidel resigned from TWA to join the American Red Cross in Europe. She died on January 15, 2010 in Portland, Oregon.

Source:

Biography derived from collection materials and donor information.

Extent

0.20 Cubic Feet (1 half-width letter size document box)

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Separated Materials

The following items have been separated from the archival component and are kept in Objects storage:

  • TWA flight attendant uniforms including two dark blue silk dresses and one gray-blue suit with hat

Processing Information

This collection has not been fully processed. The scrapbook has been dismantled for preservation reasons, but original order has been maintained and the pages have been sleeved.

Title
Guide to the Nancy W. (Bidde) Seidel Trans World Airlines Flight Attendant Collection
Status
Completed Level 2
Author
J. Parent
Date
2019
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
1st edition

Repository Details

Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository

Contact:
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874


The Museum of Flight | 9404 E. Marginal Way South | Seattle WA 98108-4097 | 206-764-5874
Contact us with a research request
curator@museumofflight.org