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.
