I went to the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin this past Thursday, and checked out the Houston Post and The San Antonio Express. I decided to start with some of the large cities first, before moving on to the smaller weekly newspapers. However, as I'm sure that others have found, the papers I looked at mostly repeated the same AP stories, with little, if any, original (local) material.
I found these names mentioned in AP stories as having picked up messages possibly from AE. These may all be in your database, but if any of them aren't, I can supply more information:
Carl Pierson
Howard Coons
Ernest Henderson
W.E. Tippin
Also, in the San Antonio Express, July 8, 1937, p. 2, there is a really bizarre doctored up photo of the Electra, drifting in the ocean, with AE sitting on top. The caption says (in part), "In a vivid brush dramatization, artist Walt Scott of NEA Service has depicted for San Antonio Express readers the scene that rescuers might see if they reach the castaways in time--both flyers perched on the plane's deck, eagerly scanning the horizon for a sign of approaching assistance."
What a great way to spread misinformation.
There are two more photos in that spread--and the captions say that they were taken before the flight. In one, AE is "inspecting the tanks on which she counted in emergency" and in the other AE is testing a "collapsible rubber lifeboat" which the caption indicates she had on the plane with her. In this picture, she is smiling. I took photos of this page, because it seemed to me such a great example of how such photos could be the source of confusion and misconceptions.
With regard to AP---I wonder how someone would access the AP story archives? I did some searching online and only found reference to AP archives for still photos and film. Perhaps a university library that has a journalism school...
I am going back to Austin again soon, and this time I will be looking at weekly newspapers from small towns.
Cindy
I like Cindy's idea of coordinating newspaper archive volunteers. Any takers? I'm in. Let's talk.
I've put up a very abbreviated timeline of post-loss radio messages.
I've only got a few things in it. It needs a lot more to make it really useful. But it's a proof of concept and a start for keeping track of what people find in their newspaper searches.
If anyone can get at an AP archive for the key dates (July 2 to July 9), that might help in fleshing out some of the details.