Abstract James D. Griffin was an engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The collection contains five hundred and ninety-six (596) photographs, likely collected and notated by Griffin, featuring primarily Douglas Aircraft Company airplanes manufactured during the 1910s-1970s but also, to a lesser extent, other manufacturer models; including Aero Spacelines, Boeing, Consolidated, and Northrop. There is also a small amount of clippings, newsletters, and articles.

Overview James Hamilton Smith (1913-2002) attended the Boeing School of Aeronautics and worked in the field of aviation as a government contractor for the Boeing Company, as well as the Defense Contract Administration Services. This small collection consists primarily of black-and-white photographs that were either taken or collected by Smith during his time at the Boeing School, as well as throughout his career in aviation, which spanned from the early 1930s to the late 1960s.