Cynthia P. Bayne Calbraith Perry Rodgers Vin Fiz Collection
Content Description
The Cynthia P. Bayne Calbraith Perry Rodgers Vin Fiz Collection is a small collection of visual and textual materials related to the first North American transcontinental flight in 1911 successfully completed by Calbraith Perry Rodgers in his Vin Fiz Flyer. The collection is comprised of photographs, postcards, philatelic materials, and clippings. In addition, there are promotional and commemorative materials from the centennial anniversary of the flight.
Most notable in the collection are the photographs and postcards which contain images of Calbraith Perry Rodgers, his 1911 flight, his niece and nephew Patty and Perry Pease, his Vin Fiz Flyer, as well as five images of his fatal crash off of Long Beach, California on April 3, 1912. Included on one of the postcards is one of the original stamps that his wife, Mabel Rodgers, designed for the 1911 flight. This particular postcard and stamp were sent by Mabel to Martha Rodgers Pease. In addition, there are a large number of clippings dating from 1911 to 1912 that discuss Rodgers’ various flights, successes, and his untimely death in 1912. The remaining documents in the collection are commemorative posters of the 1911 flight and the events tied to the centennial celebration in 2011.
Dates
- Creation: 1911-2011
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: Calbraith Perry Rodgers
Calbraith P. Rodgers was an American aviation pioneer, who made the first transcontinental airplane flight across the United States in 1911.
Calbraith Perry Rodgers was born on January 12, 1879, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Calbraith Perry Rodgers Sr. and Maria Chambers Rodgers. His father was a Captain in the United States Calvary and passed away while on duty in 1878, prior to Rodgers’ birth. Rodgers came from a family of naval commanders and had hoped to follow their path but was unable to due to an illness that made him deaf in one ear and caused hearing loss in the other. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania and then in 1902 moved to New York, New York to join family. In 1906 Rodgers married Mabel Avis Graves and they lived together in Havre de Grace, Maryland. They shared no children.
In 1911, Rodgers received 90 minutes of flying lessons from Orville Wright. He had been introduced to Wright by his cousin, John Rodgers, who was also taking lessons from Wright in Dayton, Ohio at the Wright Company. Following his brief instruction, Rodgers passed his flying test on August 7, 1911 at Huffman Prairie, earning the 49th aviator license. In the same year Rodgers purchased a Wright Flyer, the first Wright airplane to be sold to a private buyer. On his way home with his new Wright Flyer he participated in the 1911 Chicago International Aviation Meet, setting several records and earning prize money.
Just a month after receiving his aviator license, Rodgers entered the William Randolph Hearst transcontinental flight competition which had been announced in 1910. He took off from Sheepshead Bay, New York on September 17, 1911. His airplane was a Wright Model EX and was named the Vin Fiz after a new soda on the market from his sponsor, Armour and Company. Then on December 10, 1911, Rodgers landed the Vin Fiz in Long Beach, California, successfully completing the first North American transcontinental flight. Though Rodgers had succesfully flown from coast to coast he did not win the Hearst prize as he did not meet the 30-day requiremnet. While flying the Vin Fiz in an exhibition in California, Rodgers crashed off the coast of Long Beach when his plane collided with seagulls. He passed away moments after the accident on April 3, 1912.
Biographical Note: Cynthia P. Bayne
Cynthia P. Bayne was born in October of 1953. She is the great-granddaughter of Martha Rodgers Pease, who was the sister of Calbraith Perry Rodgers.
Biographical note derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com.
Extent
.3 Cubic Feet (1 2-inch legal size document box and 1 oversize folder (16x20))
Language
English
Overview
The Cynthia P. Bayne Calbraith Perry Rodgers Vin Fiz Collection is a small collection of visual and textual materials related to the first North American transcontinental flight in 1911 successfully completed by Calbraith Perry Rodgers in his Vin Fiz Flyer.
Custodial History
The collection was originally created by Martha Rodgers Pease, Calbraith Perry Rodgers' sister, in the early 1900s following Rodgers' successful North American transcontinental flight. The materials remained in the family’s possession until they were donated to The Museum of Flight by Cynthia P. Bayne, the great-granddaughter of Martha R. Pease, in 2023. Cynthia P. Bayne had also acquired some commemorative materials, much of which relates to the centennial anniversary of Rodgers' flight. She incorporated the materials with the original collection and donated them together.
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 books have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in the Library:
- Flight of the Vin Fiz.
- I Mean to be First, Part 1 and Part 2.
- American Philatelist Magazine, Nov. 2011.
- Linn’s Stamp News Magazine, August 2019 and April 2020.
- Arroyo Magazine, June 2011.
- Aero Pioneer Times, January 1911 and August 1911.
The following items have been separated from the archival component of this collection and are kept in Objects storage:
- lapel pin from invitation to the Vin Fiz Centennial event
Please contact us for more details.
Processing Information
This collection has been fully processed.
Subject
- Rodgers, Calbraith Perry (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Cynthia P. Bayne Calbraith Perry Rodgers Vin Fiz Collection
- Status
- Completed Level 2
- Author
- Charise Dinges
- Date
- 2023
- 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
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org