Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Collection
Acc. 1992-0023

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (1912-2002) was the commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and 332d Fighter Wing (better known as the "Tuskegee Airmen") during World War II before going on to become the first black general in the United States Air Force. After his retirement from the Air Force in 1970 Davis became the Director of Public Safety in Cleveland, OH, the first Director of Civil Aviation Security for the U. S. Department of Transportation, and the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Environment, Safety, and Consumer Affairs during the Nixon and Ford Administrations. This collection consists of correspondence, press clippings, and photographs gathered by the Davises, particularly after Davis left military service.

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Lee Ya-Ching Papers
Acc. 2008-0009

Lee Ya-Ching was a Chinese aviatrix in the 1930's and 1940's. Beginning her flying career in Switzerland in 1934, Ms. Lee was the first woman to receive a pilot's licenses from the Ecole Aero Club de Suisse, the Boeing School of Aeronautics and the government of China. In partnership with several other pilots, Ms. Lee opened a civilian flying school in Shanghai. Despite being instrumental in the formation of a Chinese air force prior to World War Two, Ms. Lee found she was not allowed to fly for her country when Japan invaded. Finding other ways to serve her country, Ms. Lee helped form hospitals and flew Red Cross planes from Hong Kong to Canton. Wishing to do more, Ms Lee embarked on a goodwill tour of the United States, Canada and South America, raising money for the war effort in China. Following the war, Ms. Lee returned to China, where she receded from public life. This collection consists of news clippings, photographs, magazines and three scrapbooks. The majority of the collection is in English; however, there are significant occurrences of Chinese, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch. Collection size is 11.9 cubic feet (22 boxes).

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