Photo Exhibits

Photo exhibits spotlight various topics in Florida history, and are accompanied by brief text intended to place selected materials in historical context.

Florida Flights of Fancy


Showmen, Students, and Entrepreneurs

Pilot Bill Lindley with his airplane (1921)

Image Number: N027970

Bill Tankersley from the NYA's Camp Roosevelt posing in front of an airplane: Ocala, Florida

Image Number: N036042

Camp Roosevelt, located in Ocala just off highway 301/441, was a resident camp first built for the Army Corps of Engineers crews of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. From 1936 to early 1938, the WPA and the University of Florida assumed ownership for providing adult education classes. Later in 1938, the National Youth Administration (NYA) used it as a girls' resident camp in conjunction with the Marion County Vocational School to educate and provide job skills to young women (boys were later included). During the 1940s, the NYA conducted defense work out of it, before it reverted back to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1943. By the late 20th century, the buildings were part of a residential neighborhood. Printed on sleeve: Vocational School, Secondary Flight Class.

Pilots at Pensacola Naval Air Station: Pensacola, Florida (1921)

Image Number: N047515

The third from the left on the wing is Luther W. Coleman, Sr.

Blue Angels in flight (ca. 1962)

Image Number: RC11235

The third from the left on the wing is Luther W. Coleman, Sr.

Student pilot Betty Wynn with instructor Ivan Munroe: Tallahassee, Florida (1938)

Image Number: N042096

Note from sleeve: FSCW student Betty Wynn of Coral Gables, the first student to win her flying permit in Tallahassee, with instructor Ivan Munroe.

Student pilot Jean McRae of Homosassa: Tallahassee, Florida (1940)

Image Number: N042081

Early group leaving for Havana on a Pan American F-7 Flight (ca. 1930)

Image Number: PR00513

First air mail in Tampa

Image Number: RC15210

Aircraft fuselage (1930)

Image Number: RC15224

New York, Rio & Buenos Aires Line airplane.

Passengers on a Pan Am Boeing 307 (ca. 1945)

Image Number: RC15258

The first of Pan American World Airways' four-motored airliners with sleeping compartments was the Boeing 307, which featured another innovation: the pressurized cabin. Built for added comfort, the clipper was equipped to carry 33 passengers in day flights and 25 at night. Full course meals were served, and dressing rooms were smartly decorated. The cockpits were spacious and outfitted with the most modern equipment befitting the first of the high altitude passenger airliners in the world. Powered by four 1100 horsepower Wright Cyclone engines, the Boeing 307 had a wingspan of 107 feet, a length of 74 feet, an overall height of 20 feet, and a gross weight of 45,000 pounds.

Interior view of Sikorsky S-40 plane with passengers: Miami, Florida (1931)

Image Number: RC15285

The Sikorsky S-40 was placed in operation by Pan American World Airways in 1931. The S-40s were the first four-engine aircrafts to be regularly used in commercial air service.

Men sitting in the flying boat "Benoist": Saint Petersburg, Florida (ca. 1920)

Image Number: RC00228

Tony Jannus, the pilot, is in the plane.

Pilot Dan Cardinal picking up seafood: Naples, Florida (1947)

Image Number: C003353

Accompanying note: "Guests at the Villa Nakomis on Florida's west coast can be certain that 'fresh seafood' on the menu means just that. Former Army cargo pilot Dan Cardinal flies 40 miles to Naples, Fla., to pick up fish, shrimp and crabs caught only a few hours earlier. Here mackerel is loaded on his piper sea plane—an hour later guests will have broiled mackerel for lunch."

Lt. Commander William M. Corry on seaplane: Pensacola, Florida (1915)

Image Number: RC03509

Naval aviator number 23 and the first Floridian to enter training in Pensacola. Corry Field is named after him.

First aviator class at the Naval Air Station: Pensacola, Florida (1915)

Image Number: RC06192

Standing (L-R): Robert R. Paunack, Earl W. Spencer Jr., Harold T. Bartlett, Edwards, Clarence K. Bronson, William M. Corry, Norfleet, Edward O. McDonnell and Harold W. Scofield. Seated: Richard C. Saufley, Patrick N.L. Bellinger, Kenneth Whiting, Henry C. Mustin, Albert C. Read, Earle F. Johnson, Alfred Austell Cunningham, Francis T. Evans, and Haas.

Interior view of Sikorsky S-40 plane: Miami, Florida (1931)

Image Number: RC07641

The Sikorsky S-40 was placed in operation by Pan American World Airways in 1931. The S-40s were the first four-engine aircrafts to be regularly used in commercial air service.

Crowd gathered around a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus: Coral Gables, Florida (1922)

Image Number: RC06575

Part of a sales promotion for Coral Gables' early real estate development. The Mabel Cody Flying Circus featured night-flying, wing-walking, auto-to-airplane transfers, single- and double-parachute drops, and acrobatic loop-to-loops. Cody (who was not officially a pilot) was hired by fairs and promoters like George E. Merrick to attract crowds and potential land and home buyers.

Man posing in front of a biplane, part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus: Coral Gables, Florida (1922)

Image Number: RC06904

Part of a sales promotion for Coral Gables' early real estate development. The Mabel Cody Flying Circus featured night-flying, wing-walking, auto-to-airplane transfers, single- and double-parachute drops, and acrobatic loop-to-loops. Cody (who was not officially a pilot) was hired by fairs and promoters like George E. Merrick to attract crowds and potential land and home buyers.