Title: John G. Kaminski Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1912-1960

Creator:

• Kaminski, John G., 1893-1960

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 146

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (1 archives box, 1 flat box, 6 oversize folders)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a stunt flyer who was the first Polish-American aviator and the first licensed pilot in Wisconsin. His flying career, which spanned 1912-1919, included exhibition flying for the Curtiss Exhibition Company and service with the 7th Aero Squadron, based in Panama, during World War I. Included in the papers are advertising posters, correspondence, interviews, legal documents, news clippings, programs, photocopied scrapbooks, and a few artifacts. Photographs document his Curtiss Model D pusher aircraft and other planes, his crashes at Tomahawk, Wis., and at the Milwaukee Yacht Club, and his aircraft and fellow pilots in Panama.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00146

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Kaminski was the 121st licensed pilot in the world, the first pilot in Wisconsin, and the first known Polish American pilot. He flew exhibition flights for the Curtiss Exhibition Company from 1912-1915, and served in the 7th Aero Squadron, which was based in Panama, during World War I. His eyesight was permanently damaged when he was splashed with gasoline, and was grounded in 1919. Kaminski worked for the Post Office in Milwaukee until his retirement in 1955.

The period 1920-1950 is almost completely undocumented in the collection. Most items date from his flying years; these include correspondence and employment contracts with the Curtis Exhibition Company concerning exhibition flights; and broadsides, newsclippings, and numerous photographs documenting his flights.

Most of the collection was originally kept together in Kaminski's scrapbooks, which were in very poor physical condition. The scrapbooks were photocopied, and documents and photographs were removed. The scrapbooks were disposed of after copying. Each photograph was sequentially numbered, as was the original location in the photocopied scrapbooks. The photographs were arranged by their sequential number. The collection also contains a photograph file that was not part of the scrapbooks. The photographs taken at a particular event were normally kept together in the scrapbooks, but they were sometimes scattered and in no logical order. Many of the photographs were not identified, but most can be recognized by using Kaminski's available notes on the back of pictures and looking at newsclippings in the photocopied scrapbooks.

The photographs are mostly of Kaminski and his Curtiss Model D pusher aircraft “Sweetheart,” taken between 1912-1914 at public exhibitions, especially at Tomahawk, Wisconsin and High Point, North Carolina. Other photographs include students and planes at the Milwaukee School and College of Aviation and the Silver Lake Aviation School in Cuyahoga, Ohio.

There are some photos of Kaminski's crash at the Milwaukee Yacht Club in June 1915 and at Tomahawk, Wisconsin on July 4, 1914. Other photographs are of his aircraft and fellow pilots in the 7th Aero Squadron during World War I, including the aircraft Kaminski flew in the first airmail flight across Panama. The collection also contains correspondence, newsclippings, and photographs concerning Kaminski's participation in events marking the fiftieth anniversary of powered flight in 1953. There is a script and several photos of Kaminski's May 25, 1955 interview on WTMJ TV's Man Next Door Program, and his transcripts of his interview with George Hardie in September 1955.

The collection also includes some memorabilia, such as Kaminski's goggles, flying hood, and the pennant which hung on his plane.

The advertising posters and pennant are maintained in oversized folders.

Acquisition Information

Presented by George Hardie to the Milwaukee Urban Archives, February 1991. Transferred to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, June 1992. Accession Number: M91-244

Processing Information

Processed by Kyle Krause and Michael Klawitter at the Milwaukee Urban Archives, 1991.

	Advertising Posters, circa 1912-14
Oversize Folder   1	Tomahawk, Wisconsin, July 4, 1914
Oversize Folder   2	Ashland, New York, July 4, 1912
Oversize Folder   2	Curtiss-Wright-Beloit Aviators, circa 1912
Oversize Folder   2	Lumberton, North Carolina, July 4, 1913
Oversize Folder   3	Curtis Exhibition Co., circa 1912
Oversize Folder   3	Wisconsin Amusement Co., circa 1912
Oversize Folder   4	Riverview Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, circa 1912
Oversize Folder   5	Washington, Ohio, circa 1912
Box   1	Artifacts Scope and Content Note: Knit facemask, goggles, printing stamps, piece of a propeller, banner, bookmark, Royal Order of Jet Jockeys certificate
Oversize Folder   6	Polish Pennant
Box   2 Folder   1	Incoming Letters, 1912-1919, 1951-1956
Box   2 Folder   2	Interviews, 1912-1913, 1953-1955
Box   2 Folder   3	Legal Documents, 1913-1916
Box   2 Folder   4	Newspaper Clippings, 1912-1950
Box   2 Folder   5	Photographs, 1912-1950s
Box   2 Folder   6	Programs, 1912-1955
	Scrapbooks
Box   2 Folder   7	Scrapbook 1 (photocopy)
Box   2 Folder   8	Documents
Box   2 Folder   9	Photographs 1-50
Box   2 Folder   10	Photographs 51-105
Box   2 Folder   11	Scrapbook 2 (photocopy)
Box   2 Folder   12	Documents
Box   2 Folder   13	Photographs 1-60