Early Tacoma Aviation Scrapbook

Collection — Box: Scrapbook Box 13

Identifier: 2018-00-00-102

Content Description

This small collection consists of one scrapbook containing photographs and clippings relating to early aviation in and around the Tacoma, Washington area.

There are 19 clippings, primarily relating to Gustav W. Stromer including stories on his July 2, 1915 Tacoma to Port Angeles flight and ones on him and Jane O'Roark.

There are 72 photographs, which are mostly unidentified. 34 photographs are related to aviation and include hydroaeroplanes and amphibious aircraft and some aerial views, presumably taken over Tacoma. 31 photographs depict early cars, including automobile races. Identified subjects include Teddy Tetzlaff, G.W. Benedict, Earl Cooper, R. Dutton, R. Croston, J. Crane, F. Verbeck, F. Smithson, as well as the number 7 and number 8 Stutz cars. Some of the photographs depict a family, possibly that of Conrad Hansen. One photograph depicts funerary flowers, inscribed to "Daddy." Some of the photos are credited to C. R. Roediger and Boland of Tacoma.

Dates

Creation: circa 1914-1920s

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: Gustav W. Stromer

Gustav W. Stromer was born July 12, 1885 in Kropp, Sweden as Gustav Waldemar Strömer. He emigrated to the United States in 1900. In the 1910s he was involved in experimental aircraft, especially hydroareoplanes.

He began building airplanes in Washington around 1912 and by 1914 he had a workshop on Day Island, at the south end of the Tacoma Narrows. He barnstormed and took passengers on sightseeing flights. In early January 1915 Stromer met the actress Jane O'Roark. On January 13, 1915 he took her on a flight making her the first woman to see Tacoma from the air in a well-publicized event. The following month, on February 20th, they went on an airmail flight together from Tacoma to Seattle, making the first airmail delivery between those two cities.

Around 1917 he moved to Portland, Oregon and had a workshop along the Willamette River. He and his flying partner T. H. Lipps were hoping to make the first coast-to-coast flight by a seaplane, though that never came to be. City directories for Portland in the early 1920s list his profession as cabinetmaker. He died on November 19, 1924 in Portland, Oregon at the age of 39.