Dayton’s most famous sons are undoubtedly the Wright Brothers; Orville and Wilbur. The two brothers are credited with inventing and building the world’s first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. This December marks the 108th anniversary of that fabled first flight, which was on December 17, 1903.  The Wright Brothers continued their flight research in Dayton, improving on their original designs and creating new ones. Orville Wright lived until 1948, residing in Dayton the entire time. Orville’s life spanned the horse-and-buggy age to the dawn of supersonic flight.  To commemorate both the historic first flight, and the anniversary of Orville Wright’s death, we have posted a selection of photos from the Dayton Daily News collection. Please click on the thumbnails to make them larger.
Hi,
My grandmother was a pilot and was featured in many articles and pictures; all have been lost. Her name was Ellen Cook, and may have gone by Ellen Livesay. She was born in 1912, so I imagine she would have been around the years 1922-1940. If anyone can find anything about her, I would love to find out more. Thank you so much,
Tracy
Thank you for your comment! That sounds like an interesting story! Please fill out our research request form, and we will see what we can find : http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/research/request/. Have a great day!