MS-177 Amy Johnson Papers |
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Access and ProvenanceThe Amy Johnson Papers were acquired by Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives in July, 1987. The materials were purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, a rare book dealer in Valley Stream, New York. Mr. Apfelbaum purchased the collection at a general auction held in London. There are no restrictions on the use of the material(s) in this collection. |
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Series Listing |
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| Series I: Manuscripts | ||
| Series II: Correspondence | ||
| Series III: Misellaneous Materials | ||
Brief Biographical SketchAmy Johnson was born in 1903 in Hull, England, where her father was a fish merchant. She entered Sheffield University where she earned a B.A. in 1926. After working as a secretary for three years she became a member of the London Aeroplane club, located at Stag Lane. Not only did she obtain her pilot's license in 1928, but with the teaching of Jack Humphries became the first woman in England to earn an aircraft engineer's license.In 1929 she decided to make a reputation for herself by attempting a long distance flight no woman had ever tried before. She chose to fly to Australia so she would not have to pilot over a large expanse of ocean. She had trouble finding financial backing, but finally persuaded Lord Wakefield to front half of the expense for her craft, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth named "Jason", her father paid for the other half. After 85 hours of solo flight and a previous cross country flight record of 147 miles she left for Australia in May, 1930. Her trip took 19 and 1/2 days and she became and instant celebrity. She continued making record flights, including a failed attempt to Peking in 1931 and with Jack Humphries as a copilot set a speed record from London to Tokyo in ten days. In 1932 she married Jim Mollison, who was a leading British flyer and had set numerous records of his own. He flew England to Capetown, South Africa in 4 days and made the first solo Europe to America crossing a month after the wedding. Ironically Amy then beat his Capetown record in '32. They decided to attempt a long distance around the world flight, but due to fuel loss crashed in Connecticut. They late tried to win the Australia-England Trophy Race in 1934, but had to withdraw due to mechanical difficulty. By 1938 they were divorced; Amy began to write articles about flying and gave up the pursuit of long distance flights. With the advent of World War II Amy joined the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). While flying from Blackpool to Oxford Amy Johnson overshot her destination by 100 miles. She ditched in the Thames Estuary after running out of fuel, and although a convoy trawler tried to rescue her, she drowned on January 5, 1941. Scope and ContentAmy Johnson's papers are organized into three Series: Series 1, Manuscripts, has several book manuscripts written by Amy Johnson's sister, Betty Falconer-Stewart. Manuscript 1, "My Sister Amy", is dated 19-2-43 and runs 1-215 pages. Manuscript 2, a serial article called "Britain Did It First", is dated 27-4-51 and runs 20 pages. Manuscript 3 is dated 11-5-53, runs for 14 chapters, and Manuscript 4, no date, runs for 1-245 pages. All of these manuscripts are variations on the same work, Manuscript 1. There is also a grouping of various rewritten chapters and notes. All of these manuscripts are incomplete. There are also two articles written by Amy Johnson contained in this Series: "What Next" (August, 1938) and "4000 Miles in a Car" (October, 1938).Series 2, Correspondence has personal letters from Amy to her parents (1930-1936). It also contains all of Mrs. Falconer- Sterwart's correspondence regarding research on Amy's friends, background, and personality (1949), as well as her contact with a London editor, Peter Cattle, in reference to publication of her book (1942-1958). All of these items are arranged in chronologically. Series 3, Miscellaneous, contains such varied items as Mrs. Falconer-Stewart's 1941 marriage certificate and a fan request for Jim Mollison's autograph. The Johnson Family photographs are also in this Series, being separated into 3 dateless categories: 1) Amy Johnson/Aviation Related 2) Family Photographs and 3) Photographs taken during Amy's trip to the United States. |
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Container Listing |
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| Series I: Manuscripts | ||
| Box 1 | Containing manuscripts by Betty Johnson Falconer-Stewart | |
| File 1 | Manuscript 1 "My Sister Amy" / 2-19-43 | |
| File 2 | Manuscript 1 | |
| File 3 | Manuscript 2 "Britain Did It First" / 4-27-51 | |
| File 4/5 | Manuscript 3 / 5-11-53 | |
| File 6 | Manuscript 4 / no date | |
| File 7 | Misc. Chapters and Notes | |
| Box 2 | Containing manuscripts by Amy Johnson | |
| File 1 | "What Next" / August, 1938 | |
| File 1 | "4000 Miles in a Car" / October, 1938 | |
| Series II: | Correspondence | |
| Box 2 | ||
| File 2 | Letters from Amy / 1930-1936 | |
| File 3 | Research by Betty Falconer-Stewart / 1949 | |
| File 4 | Letters to Editor from B.F.S. / 1942-1958 | |
| Series III: | Miscellaneous | |
| Box 2 | ||
| File 5 | Miscellaneous | |
| File 6 | Photographs | 1. Aviation Photographs |
| 2. Family Photographs | ||
| 3. Trip to the United States | ||