Francis Frederick "Fred" Parker Photo Album

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of a photo album created by Francis Frederick "Fred" Parker. Aircraft depicted in the album include the Walsh 1911 Silver Dart Biplane; Parker (Francis) Firecracker; Parker (Francis) Firecracker 2; Andermat Biplane Bomber; Parker (Francis) Canard Pusher Biplane (1913); Parker (Francis) Tractor Biplane 1 (1913); and the Andermat Cabin Biplane. Aviators shown in the album include Silas G. Christofferson and Charles Forster Willard. The album also includes aerial photographs and several photographs of aircraft engines. Tucked in the back of the album is a program for an open house event held at the San Jose Municipal Airport on June 14, 1953 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of powered flight. Note: Blank pages in original album have not been digitally reproduced in slideshow. Any gaps in numbering of filenames are due to their omission. All pages with content are shown.

Arrangement

Collection is a single album.

Biographical / Historical

Francis Frederick "Fred" Parker (1880--1965) was an early aviator, mechanic, and aircraft designer and builder. Prior to his involvement in aviation, Parker worked at various odd jobs, spent time as a cowboy, served as a ship's carpenter on a vessel bound for Australia that was shipwrecked, and worked as a hospital orderly and ambulance driver in California. Parker made his first solo flight in an aircraft he helped build at Dominguez Field in Los Angeles, California on July 20, 1911. From 1912 to 1913, Parker worked for fellow early aviators Charles H. Paterson and Roy N. Francis, and Parker also helped build the Gage 1912 Tractor Biplane (Fowler Gage) in which Robert G. Fowler made a flight across the Isthmus of Panama on April 27, 1913. From 1914 to 1915, Parker served as shop foreman for Silas G. Christofferson in San Francisco, California. In 1915, Parker moved to the Andermat Company in Sunnyvale, California where he mainly engaged in experimental work. Parker designed and built an airplane in 1917 for the Union Gas Engine Company of Oakland, California that was flown by Stanley H. Page. From the 1920s until 1942, Parker worked as a contractor and builder until shifting into work for the war effort from 1942 until 1945, after which he retired. Parker was a member of the Early Birds of Aviation.