Thomas Scott Baldwin was a U.S. Army major and pioneer balloonist. In 1904, Baldwin created a motorized hydrogen filled balloon using a Curtiss motorcycle engine. He later toured countries in Asia, making the first airplane flights in many locations. In 1911, Baldwin began testing a new airplane that was similar to the basic Curtiss Pusher design, but constructed of steel tubing instead of wood. These "Red Devil" aircraft were covered in rubberized red silk, and every surface was painted red.

This propeller was removed from the museum’s Red Devil. Its provenance is not known, but it may have been built by Hall-Scott of Berkeley, California, which provided engines for most of the Red Devils. However, Curtiss also provided engines to Baldwin, so the artifact may have been built by the Burgess Company of Marblehead, Massachusetts, which supplied Curtiss with wood propellers beginning in 1910.