McDermott Library
- Clark Special Collections has over 1400
donated manuscript collections. The Friends of the USAFA Library has been deeply involved with the
first three outstanding
collections that are described below. In
coordination with the Academy’s Department of
English and the staff of the Library’s Special
Collections Branch, the exhibits were placed on
the Internet. To
return to this page after viewing the
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THE FRIENDS’ STALAG LUFT III EXHIBIT
In April l997, The
Friends sponsored a major exhibit of
selected holdings of the historical
collection of the Stalag Luft III Former
prisoners of war. The collection contains
memoirs, diaries, photographs and
memorabilia donated by former prisoners of
war of Stalag Luft III. The German prison
camp made famous by the “Great Escape” of
World War II. Mr. Henry Soderberg, YMCA
representative to Allied prisoner of war
camps during the war gave the key- note
address. Over 300 former prisoners of war
attended the presentation and reviewed the
exhibit. It was subsequently displayed at
the Academy Library from March through June
l997. During this time, Academy cadets,
faculty and staff as well as thousands of
Academy visitors reviewed the exhibit.
THE COLONEL RICHARD
GIMBEL AERONAUTICAL HISTORY COLLECTION
This collection is the
result of a dedicated effort on the part of
Colonel Richard Gimbel to build a
collection, unrivaled in the world, on the
history of man’s dream of flight from the
earliest times to the advent of powered
flight.
The collection
comprises an amazing array of items
pertaining to the history of flight.
Five-thousand-year old seals carved from
semi-precious stones document man’s earliest
dreams of flight. The collection contains
prints, rare commemorative medals,
manuscripts, periodical literature, and
books, which chronicle the pre-history of
powered flight. The variety and richness of
the collection make it unique and priceless.
Published in October
2000, The Genesis of Flight with
accompanying Compact Disc (CD) meets a
long-standing need to provide scholars
worldwide and the general public with a
published catalogue to selected holdings of
one of the most prestigious aeronautical
history collections in existence. The
Genesis of Flight provides the reader
with a scholarly description of selected
materials within the Gimbel Collection. It
highlights its contents and offers a
comprehensive record of aeronautical
history. The book significantly fulfills the
mission of The Friends by enhancing the
prestige of the Academy as an educational
and scholarly institution.
DOOLITTLE PHOTOGRAPHS
The McDermott Library
Special Collections at the United States Air
Force Academy (USAFA),
Colorado Springs,
received a collection of books, memorabilia,
and photographs from General James H.
Doolittle in 1973.
These were described and listed as
SMS 46 (Oversize) and have been available
for cadet and other research use.
In 2007, the Friends of the Library,
sponsored a project to select photographs
from the 122 albums and make them available
digitally.
Captions for the photographs were
taken from index cards prepared by James W.
Jacobs (SMS 739) who identified all the
images in the albums.
Although there are few photos of the
famous Doolittle raid during World War II
and no images after the 1970’s, these
photographs offer an overview of many events
in his life.
There are also some photographs with
personal autographs that were sent to
General Doolittle from personalities
associated with his aviation and military
career.
General James H. Doolittle was
born in Alameda, California
on December 14, 1896.
His parents then moved to
Nome, Alaska, where he stayed until 1908.
After high school and college in California, he enlisted
in the Army Signal Corps in 1917.
That year, he married Josephine E.
Daniels, with whom he had two children:
Joseph
H. Doolittle, Jr. and John Prescott
Doolittle.
He received his doctorate in
aeronautical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1925.
He stayed in the Army Air Reserves
after he left the military in 1930 and
distinguished himself by flying experimental
aircraft and winning the Bendix Trophy for
setting a transcontinental flying record.
In 1940, Major Doolittle was called
back into the Army Air Corps as a member of
the staff of General “Hap” Arnold.
On April 19, 1942, Lt Col Doolittle
led a daring raid on Tokyo with sixteen North American B25-B
“Mitchell” bombers.
He landed in China
and, while still there, received a promotion
to Brigadier General, skipping the rank of
Colonel.
In March 1943, he was made the
Commanding General of the Northwest Africa
Strategic Air Force and in November 1943,
assumed command of the 15th Air
Force.
In January, 1944, Lt General
Doolittle became the Commanding General of
the Eighth Air Force.
President Reagan awarded him a fourth
star on June 13, 1985.
After the war, General
Doolittle left military service, but
remained involved with aircraft and space
ventures.
He was Chairman of the US Air Force
Scientific Advisory Board from 1955 through
1958 as well as Chairman of the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1956
to 1958.
He was also active in the Air Force
Association and visited the Air Force
Academy several times. Doolittle Raider
goblets formerly displayed at USAFA are now
on exhibit at
National
Museum of the Air Force, Ohio.
At the Air Force Academy, the
Association of Graduates building is named
Doolittle Hall in his honor.
General Doolittle died on September
17, 1993 in
California.
CLARK Firearm COLLECTION BROCHURE
The Clark Firearm
Collection Brochure features the collection
of 31 military shoulder arms donated by Lt.
Gen. A. P. Clark, USAF to the Air Force Academy and on
display in the spiral stairwell of the McDermott Library.
Photographs and descriptions of these arms
which reflect most of the principal types of
arms issued to United States troops during
and since the American Revolution are
included.
PREMIER RAF EAGLE SQUADRON'S COLLECTION
In 1987,
Brig. Gen. Phil Caine, USAF (ret), The Friends’
President, began his work with the three
Royal Air Force (RAF) Eagle Squadrons. These
units, nos. 71, 121, and 133 of RAF Fighter
Command, made up of American volunteers,
began their service in October 1940,
well-over a year before the United States
entered World War II. On September 29, 1942
most members transferred to the U.S. Army
Air Forces to become the nucleus of the
Fourth Fighter Group of the Eighth Air
Force, the highest scoring unit in the
European Theatre during the war. Over the
nearly two years of the Eagle Squadrons’
existence, 245 American pilots were assigned
to one of these RAF units and nearly half
were killed or taken prisoner. Today the
Eagle Squadrons are a legend in the history
of World War II and military air power.
During the
past twenty years, General Caine has become
the acknowledged authority on the Eagle
Squadrons. In the process he has built an
impressive collection of interviews, and
other primary and secondary materials, which
make his collection unique. When he began
interviewing in 1987, there were
seventy-four Eagle Squadron survivors. The
Friends believe these interviews are of
great importance. Since the cassettes on
which they were recorded are so fragile, in
2006 General Caine authorized their
transcription for preservation. He also
agreed to put copies of the transcriptions
in the Academy Library.
At its
reunion in Colorado Springs in 1989, the
Eagle Squadron Association, at General
Caine’s urging, designated the Academy
Library as its official record depository.
Since that time, a large number of Eagles
have placed papers, photographs, logbooks,
letters, and other materials in the Clark
Special Collections Branch. This resulted in
a major Eagle archive. In September 2008,
General Caine agreed to give his own Eagle
collection to the Academy Library. This
acquisition will make the Eagle Squadron archive
at the Academy without parallel in the
world.
In 1993,
Brasseys, Inc. published General Caine’s
definitive history of the Eagle Squadrons,
American Pilots in the RAF. Two more,
well received books dealing with the Eagles
followed: Spitfires, Thunderbolts and
Warm Beer in 1995, and Aircraft Down!
in 1997. Since that time he has been working
on a volume that contains a biographical
sketch and picture of each of the 245
members of the three renowned units. The
RAF Eagle Squadrons has been published
by Fulcrum Publishing and is now available.
