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National Air and Space Museum Archives
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) (USA) Foreign Air Mail (FAM 18) First Transatlantic Scheduled Airmail Flight Flown Letter
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NASM.2015.0021
- Creators:
-
Schieferecke, Kathryn
- Dates:
-
1939
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
0.05 Cubic feet1 folder
- Repository:
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) inaugurated transatlantic air mail service under scheduled contract (Foreign Air Mail FAM 18) in 1939. This collection consists of a letter from Kathryn Schieferecke to her two children, Laurence and Bernadine, sent through the New York postmaster. Mrs. Schieferecke arranged for the letter to be flown on the first transatlantic airmail flight operated by Pan American Airways (Pan Am).
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a letter from Kathryn Schieferecke to her two children, Laurence and Bernadine, sent through the New York postmaster. Mrs. Schieferecke arranged for the letter to be flown on the first transatlantic airmail flight operated by Pan American Airways (Pan Am). In the letter, dated May 4, 1939, Mrs. Schieferecke encourages the children to keep the letter because it might be valuable someday. The envelope has been stamped on its left side of the front with a blue cachet showing a Boeing Model 314 Clipper in flight over the Statue of Liberty and the words, "United States of America, Trans-Atlantic Air Mail Service, First Flight FAM 18." There is a New York postmark on the front, and a Marseilles postmark on the back flap.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) inaugurated transatlantic air mail service under scheduled contract (Foreign Air Mail FAM 18) in 1939. The first flight was made on May 20, 1939 by the Boeing Model 314 Yankee Clipper (NC18603) from New York to Marseilles, France. The pilot was Arthur Earl Laporte. Kathryn Schieferecke was the postmaster for Lenora, Kansas. In May 1939, Schieferecke was hospitalized and her two children were temporarily in an orphanage in Abilene, Kansas.
Administration
Author
Jessamyn Lloyd
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Patrick Wilder, Gift, 2015, NASM.2015.0021
Processing Information
Arranged and described (2015) and encoded (2020) by Jessamyn Lloyd.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) (USA) Foreign Air Mail (FAM 18) First Transatlantic Scheduled Airmail Flight Flown Letter, Accession NASM.2015.0021, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Air mail service | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Aeronautics, Commercial -- Freight | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Correspondence | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| philately | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Pan American World Airways, Inc. | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu
