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Author Topic: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers  (Read 16106 times)

Martin X. Moleski, SJ

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W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« on: February 22, 2010, 07:39:44 AM »

Ric and Pat received a very interesting e-mail and link.

From John W. Davison, Jr.:

Quote
My family has a file of all correspondence and messages related to Amelia Earhart's attempted round the world flight. It was the personal collection of duplicate originals (carbon flimsies) compiled by W. T. Miller, the then CAA Superintendent of Airways between him, George Palmer Putnam, and other government agencies regarding preparations and equipment before the flight, and of all message traffic and correspondence after her disappearance. We are donating the originals to the Smithsonian Institution and my brother has copied the entire file and scanned it into two PDF files, one in the order found and the other sorted chronologically, both of which he has posted on line at http://public.me.com/hankdavison as Amelia Earhart Papers.pdf and Amelia Earhart Papers-chronological.pdf.

... Each PDF is 49 MB.

These came into our possession among the effects of our late father, who married the widow of Mr. Miller's successor at the FAA, who found and rescued the file, so we can avouch their provenance.

John W. Davison, Jr.

I've downloaded the two files and read the first 35 pages with great interest.

Ric notes that the Chater Report is (not surprisingly) in this collection--Miller was the one who asked for the report in the first place.
LTM,

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Monty Fowler

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2010, 04:30:02 PM »

More than 70 years later and things are still turning up ... amazing. And it really makes you wonder what else is out there moldering away in a dusty forgotten box somewhere, besides a certain set of bones.
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Alfred Hendrickson

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2010, 03:55:40 PM »

More than 70 years later and things are still turning up ... amazing. And it really makes you wonder what else is out there moldering away in a dusty forgotten box somewhere, besides a certain set of bones.

You are right. It does make me wonder. I have thought about those bones many times! Where'd those things get to, anyway?
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Monty Fowler

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2010, 06:56:09 PM »

I have skimmed through the first 50-odd pages and one thing has really struck me - Miller and Black put up with an incredible amount of, ummmm, crap from Putnam and Earhart. As a fellow paper-pusher, I can relate to what it's like to have someone with a friend in high places who's not afraid to throw their weight around. I would have probably told her to pound sand (and gotten fired) only a few months into their constant demands.
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2010, 12:39:57 PM »

Careful there Monty.  You're starting to get an impression of the REAL Amelia Earhart.
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Martin X. Moleski, SJ

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2010, 05:21:31 PM »

More than 70 years later and things are still turning up ... amazing. And it really makes you wonder what else is out there moldering away in a dusty forgotten box somewhere, besides a certain set of bones.

You are right. It does make me wonder. I have thought about those bones many times! Where'd those things get to, anyway?

Your guess is as good as ours.   :(

Here is my effort to sort out the possibilities.
LTM,

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Mona Kendrick

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2010, 02:31:49 PM »

>>I have skimmed through the first 50-odd pages and one thing has really struck me - Miller and Black put up with an incredible amount of, ummmm, crap from Putnam and Earhart. As a fellow paper-pusher, I can relate to what it's like to have someone with a friend in high places who's not afraid to throw their weight around. I would have probably told her to pound sand (and gotten fired) only a few months into their constant demands.<<

Yes, if you were ordered by your superiors to facilitate a project you had no personal interest in, it would be aggravating to have to deal with an endless stream of requests.   But how else was such a big project to be accomplished?  Every world flight I've read about required numerous support personnel dealing with gazillions (conservative estimate :)) of logistics details.
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2010, 05:20:32 PM »

But Bill Miller DID have a personal interest in the project.  The Bureau of Air Commerce desperately needed Earhart to successfully use an airfield built on one of the "American Equatorial Islands," thus justifying the expense of maintaining Vidal's American Equatorial White Elephants.  Original source material like Miller's papers consistently give the lie to the image of AE constructed by Putnam and the lady herself.
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Mona Kendrick

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2010, 08:18:51 PM »

With you on the quid pro quo between Earhart and the BAC.  I don't get what aspect of her image the Miller papers gives the lie to, though.  (I must confess I haven't finished reading the Miller papers.)
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: W. T. Miller's Amelia Earhart papers
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2010, 08:53:14 PM »

I guess it depends on what you consider her image to be.
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