Hidden away in a corner of SPN2 is one of UTD’s largest, yet little-known, historical preservation projects. With artifacts ranging from the personal desk of Aviator General Jimmy Doolittle, the man responsible for U.S.’s Doolittle raid on Japan during World War II, to a memorial plaque preserving the names of fallen and missing U.S. air transport workers, the room holds aviation’s rich history. This is the History of Aviation Archives, a place where the history of flight is kept grounded at UTD.
The archives fall under UTD’s Special Collections Division, which preserves art and research like rare books or university archives that tell of UTD’s past. Serving as the largest section within the divisions, the History of Aviation Archives house news clippings, photographs, and other sources from around the globe related to aeronautics. Groupings like the Chance Vought collection, which focuses on carrier-based air travel, to the Twirly Bird collection of helicopters, fill the space with airfare’s diverse, complex history. Patrizia Nava, senior curator of the archives, said that the archives aren’t limited to an engineering focus.
“The crux about aviation archives is that [people] think it’s about mechanics and aeronautics, but aviation is so much more,” Nava said. “It is women in aviation, it is journalism and how it is reported, what role does aviation play in history.”
The field of aviation first saw significant advancement in World War I, where airplanes were categorized as military planes, pursuit airplanes, bombers and more. Commercial flight, such as airmail and civilian transport, developed afterward on the foundation of military technology. In the present day, the aviation industry focuses on developing drones for various purposes, ranging from military use to civil projects like observing wildlife unobtrusively from a bird’s-eye view. According to Nava, all of this recorded history touches upon only a minute aspect of aviation’s expansive reach.
“I was watching a German documentary about the Frankfurt Airport in Germany, and I did not [realize] how many professions [worked] at this airport,” Nava said. “It’s [many] things, [like] how do you nourish these people? Our challenge should be to ask so many more questions about these topics.”
Nava’s exploration into archival work began with her passion for history and wanting to know why things are the way things are.
“It’s like beautiful detective work,” Nava said. “It gave me the opportunity to get personally in touch with people I don’t know, I’ve never met, but they [spoke] in their letters and their diaries about their personal experiences and it’s fascinating to see and read.”
Through learning about aviation, Nava said her knowledge about histories and cultures that went beyond her schooling flourished. An example that stands out to her is the Hmong’s role in the Vietnam War. The Hmong aided in reducing the growth of communism in North Vietnam as well as assisting American air force pilots and soldiers in both combat and rescuing the injured. In the present day, many Hmong currently reside in Minnesota after immigrating to the U.S.. Nava found that aviation has the potential to open gateways that may not be seen at first glance, such as the storied history of women pilots and engineers.
“[These] were adventurous women who did something and succeeded in that,” Nava said. “It is inspiring, and there are [many] programs that encourage young girls to get into aviation in all aspects, whether it is space flight or the military [and] commercial side. Young girls are encouraged through the STEM programs, and not just reduced to humanities and languages.”
As time continues to pass and the profession seeks archivists to continue preserving these stories, one factor will keep such history alive, according to Nava: enthusiasm from future generations.
“I did not know anything about aviation, and I am not an aeronautical engineer,” Nava said. “You have to have the enthusiasm for it, and not to shy away from a topic that you do not know anything about and think this is a challenge to grow [within].”
Across the world, museums are treated as accessible and educational to a lay audience, while archives are seen as secluded and focused on academia. According to Nava, archives hold the same importance as museums and should be seen as valuable places worth visiting.
“People shy away and think it’s this dusty [place], which in fact we are not,” Nava said. “It is upon us to educate the students, the faculty and the general public alike how to access our materials and what we have.”
The archives’ space in SPN2 includes the archive room, which is a controlled environment to safely maintain the various records and collections. Ellen Safley, dean of the McDermott Library, said the aviation archives are also available online in the library’s collection.
“We believe that digital material will make it easy for students to find,” Safley said. “If you are in Australia, you might find something in one of these guides that may make you come to UTD.”
The archives are located in Synergy Park North 2 (SPN2 11.206) and are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The space welcomes students, faculty and the public, and it is recommended that the purpose of the visit is notified to Patrizia Nava through email prior, so she may aid the visitors. The space includes a reading room, which allows visitors to access the collections of boxes and folders upon request and is otherwise a place for quiet study and reflection that will be available for UTD students to reserve online in the future.
“It is our daily lives,” Nava said. “Aviation is so much [a part] of our daily lives whether we fly on vacation, [go to] conferences, [receive] airmail or packages, aviation is everywhere.”