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Archives at The Museum of Flight


Barnstorming

 Subject
Subject Source: Local sources
Scope Note: Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed aerial acrobatics, such as the barrel roll and loop the loops. Some barnstormers specialized as aerialists, performing daredevil feats while aloft. Such feats included wing-walking, mid-air plane transfers, and stunt parachuting, among others. Barnstormers performed both individually or in groups called flying circuses. Barnstorming was unique in that it was not just male or white. In fact, many women and people of color gained fame, including Bessie Coleman, Katherine Stinson, and the Five Blackbirds (an all-Black stunt pilot group). It was most popular during most of the 1920s, prior to safety regulations passed in 1927. Many notable pilots were barnstormers, including Tex Johnston, Charles Lindbergh, and Harriet Quimby.

Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:

Air Show and Air Race Collection

 Collection — Box One
Identifier: 2018-00-00-137
Contents of the Collection

The Air Show and Air Race Collection is a small collection pertaining to assorted historic air events. This is an artificial collection with materials gathered from a variety of sources.

The collection is primarily comprised of newspaper clippings and printed ephemera. Events documented include the Chicago International Air Show in Grant Park in 1911 and Rudolph's Flying Circus from 1984.

Dates: 1911, 1984
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Halden H. Emrick Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 1989-02-16
Abstract

The collection contains materials relating to Halden H. Emrick's personal life and varied aviation career as a pilot's instructor during World War I, chief pilot for Curtiss-Wright and other aircraft companies, and a stunt pilot during the heyday of barnstorming in the 1920s and 1930s.

Dates: circa 1914-1975; Majority of material found within 1920-1949
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Clyde Pangborn Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2005-12-27
Abstract

Clyde Edward Pangborn (circa 1890s-1958) was born in Bridgeport, Washington and was a military pilot and barnstormer. The collection contains photographs and illustrations, correspondence, advertisements, newspaper clippings, a date book, military service records, and ephemera related to the Pangborn's personal life, military service, and barnstorming career from approximately 1912 to 1981.

Dates: 1912-1981
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Alan Lonsdale Patterson Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2021-08-03-A
Overview Alan Lonsdale Patterson worked extensively in the field of aviation from the 1920s to the 1980s. Throughout his career he worked as a barnstormer, pilot and established multiple companies that facilitated the sale of aircraft and aeronautical equipment, predominately between companies based in the United States and China. The collection represents both his professional and personal life through correspondence, photographs, business records, clippings and audiovisual materials, as well as...
Dates: 1876-2021; Majority of material found within 1920-1981
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Dorothy (Hester) Stenzel Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 1992-09-26
Abstract

Dorothy (Hester) Stenzel (1910-1991) was born in Ardenwald, Oregon and learned to fly in the late 1920s. Stenzel then gained fame for stunt flying and broke several records through the mid-1930s. The collection contains seven (7) scrapbooks and assorted textual materials and photographs that document Stenzel's career as one of the first female stunt pilots.

Dates: circa 1928-1991
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

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Contact us with a research request
curator@museumofflight.org