Natchez Mardi Gras Association broadside, February 27, 1900. Call Number: OSXBroadsides/1900 (MDAH Collection)
This broadside (OSXBroadsides/1900) was discovered within a larger collection of materials from the attic of the Elms in Natchez. The two sided broadside was recently scanned and made available online through the catalog (click here to access both sides). Many of the other materials from the attic are now in Z/1879 The Elms Papers at MDAH.
We will be exploring Mississippi’s rich aviation history in this series. From early flight photographs to the moon landing and beyond, MDAH collections document this exciting part of our past.
The Dutchmen at Jackson Army Air Base. Call Number: Z/0839.001/S (MDAH Collection)
The story of the Flying Dutchmen has become a kind of legend in Jackson. It doesn’t show up in most history books, but if you ask any of our older residents, chances are they’ll tell you stories about them flying under power lines and the like. But what really happened in 1942? Who were the “Flying Dutchmen” of Jackson? Much of this information can be found in the MDAH collection! Here’s the story:
Near the beginning of World War II Hitler and Germany overran the Netherlands, and later its colony, the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) was conquered by the Japanese as they overran all of southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the Indonesian archipelago. The Dutch were without a home, and more importantly for the war effort, without training bases for their armed forces. This is where Jackson, Mississippi comes into the story. The Dutch needed a base for their air force flying school, and General Henry Arnold (head of the U.S. Army Air Force) obliged, choosing Jackson as the new home of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School.
Old Terminal (c. 1936) at Hawkins Field in 2008
The city was already host to the Jackson Army Air Base at Hawkins Field when the Dutchmen arrived in May 1942, many with their wives and children in tow. Jackson became an international city literally overnight, as the foreign speaking Dutch and native Indonesians wandered the streets and explored their new home. They delighted in shopping and eating in restaurants, pleasures that were hard to come by in war ravaged Europe and the Pacific.
The Dutch fliers trained here for nearly two years, and during that time formed warm attachments with the locals, who reciprocated in kind. Some of the Dutchmen married Jackson girls, and settled down in Mississippi after the war. Over 30 Dutchmen who were killed in training accidents at the school are buried at Cedarlawn Cemetery in Jackson. Several of the Dutch fliers and one widow have been buried there in more recent years.
Memorial Day ceremony at Cedarlawn Cemetery in 2009
The monument at the Dutch plot reads: Voor Hen Die Vielen (For Those Who Fell) and lists the fliers killed in training accidents.
Their story has been somewhat forgotten in the annals of Mississippi history, but it is one of Jackson’s hidden treasures, documented here at the archives.
"Dutchman Row" street sign near Hawkins Field
Sources:
Barber (Bette E.) Photograph Collection. MDAH call number Z/0839.001/S.
The Clarion Ledger, 1942-44. On file at MDAH.
“Dutch in Jackson,” subject file, MDAH.
Jackson Army Air Base News, 1942-1944. On file at MDAH.
Lutgert, W.H., and R. de Winter. Voor Hen die Vielen. The Hague, Holland: Historical Section of the Netherlands Air Staff, 1992. MDAH call number 949.2/L973v/1992.
“Netherlands Flying School,” subject file, MDAH.
Remous: Organ of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School. March-December 1943. MDAH call number OS/949.2/R81r/D.
Stubbs, Ben. The Dutch Fliers. Interview with Fred Streuding on January 17, 2000. MDAH call number 949.2/S932d/2000.
Van der Laan, 1st Lt. R., ed. Royal Netherlands Military Flying School in United States of
America. New York: E.W. Smith and Company, 1943. MDAH call number 949.2/R81.
We will be exploring Mississippi’s rich aviation history in this series. From early flight photographs to the moon landing and beyond, MDAH collections document this exciting part of our past.
Photograph from the Matthews (Burnita Shelton) Papers, Z/1965.000 (MDAH Collection).
This photograph represents one of those times when a researcher comes across an unexpected treasure in the archives. The photograph, from the Matthews (Burnita Shelton) Papers, depicts (l-r) Judge Burnita Shelton Matthews; Mrs. Harvey W. Wiley, National Woman’s Party; Amelia Earhart, famous aviatrix; Anita Pollitzer, National Woman’s Party; and Mrs. Ruth Taunton at the White House in 1932. Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, is immediately recognizable because of her tall stature and short haircut. Matthews was a Mississippi native who was a prominent figure in the women’s movement.
Burnita Shelton Matthews. Accession Number: 1993.14.1 (Museum Division Collection)
Burnita Shelton Matthews (1894-1988) was born in Burnell, Mississippi, and studied music and voice in Cincinnati before marrying lawyer Percy Matthews in 1917. She studied law at the National University in Washington, D.C., (now George Washington University) and received the bachelor of laws degree in 1919. She practiced law in Washington, D.C., for twenty-five years and was actively involved in the National Woman’s Party. In the photograph at top, she is pictured with the leaders of the National Woman’s Party and Earhart, who also was a strong supporter of women’s rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.
Matthews was appointed to the United States District Court of the District of Columbia by President Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949, becoming the first woman to be appointed as a federal district court judge. She retired from that position in 1968 and continued to serve on other federal courts until 1983. She died in 1988 and is buried in the Shelton family cemetery in Copiah County.
Matthews is in the Mississippi Hall of Fame and the portrait above, as well as other Hall of Fame portraits, are on exhibit at the Old Capitol Museum.
We will be exploring Mississippi’s rich aviation history in this series. From early flight photographs to the moon landing and beyond, MDAH collections document this exciting part of our past.
Program from Lindbergh banquet. Call Number: B/L7425b/1927 (MDAH Collection)
In May 1927, Charles Lindbergh became an instant celebrity when he completed the first solo transatlantic flight. He then embarked on a tour of the United States to promote commercial aviation, which was still in its infancy at that time. Lindbergh arrived in Jackson, one of the tour stops, on October 7, 1927. One eyewitness described the landing at Davis Field (now Hawkins Field):
It was a pleasant, mild October afternoon. The Spirit of St. Louis came in from the west, passed the reviewing stand at a a few hundred feet, then pulled up sharply. The first wing dropped and the plane did a half-roll, then, having reversed course, glided, landed and rolled to a stop in front of the stands. It should be noted that the plane had no brakes. I knew enough about flying to recognize that Lindbergh had executed an Immelmann Turn, one of the most demanding of all flight acrobatics, one for which the Spirit of St. Louis was about as well-suited as a Model T Ford for barrel-jumping.1
It should also be noted that there were no front-facing windows on the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh had to turn to the side in order to see ahead of him!
Lindbergh rode on the backseat of car for a parade down Capitol Street and spoke to the crowd from the steps of the New Capitol. A banquet was given in his honor by the Jackson Chamber of Commerce that evening. The banquet program is pictured above. It was “Lindbergh Day” and his visit sparked aviation fever in Jackson and helped spur the city to construct the state’s first municipal airport at Hawkins Field in 1928.
1 William Ewing, “The day Lindy flew to Jackson,” Clarion-Ledger, October 7, 1988. From “Lindbergh, Charles Augustus 1902-1974″ subject file, MDAH.
In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, we will be highlighting collections related to the military history of Mississippi and veterans who served the state beginning with the territorial militia in 1797 through World War II (the most recent engagement for which we have collections). Special thanks to Jim Pitts, of the MDAH Government Records section, for compiling the military records and their descriptions and to Nan Prince, Museum Division, for compiling the artifacts.
World War II uniform coat. Accession Number: 2000.10.2 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)
This World War II uniform coat, known as an Eisenhower jacket, belonged to George C. Sargent of Bentonia, Mississippi. Sargent served in the U.S. Army from 1944-1946. He was a member of Company D in the 3rd Armored Division and in the 67th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division. He was involved in battles at Ardennes, Rhineland, and in Central Europe.
Artifacts in the collection of the Museum of Mississippi History are available for viewing by appointment only. Please contact Cindy Gardner, Director of Collections or Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections by email to schedule an appointment.
Pages from the Turcotte diary. Call Number: Z/1606.000/SM; Turcotte (William H.) Diary. (MDAH Collection)
The image above shows two pages from the World War II diary of William H. Turcotte, an officer in the 322nd Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Turcotte was shot down in October 1943 and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. His diary is an excellent historical source. These images show the diary cover and a page illustrating the various devices constructed from metal cans as part of a contest in the camp.
