Van Lear Black photograph collection
Abstract
This collection contains photographs of Van Lear Black and his travels worldwide by plane and boat. Also included are portraits of the crew and the Dinka tribe in the Sudan, Africa.
Dates
- 1925-1930
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.
Biographical / Historical
Van Lear Black (1875-1930) was a Baltimore banker and businessman turned civil aviation pioneer. From 1915 until his death in 1930, he was chairman of the board of the A.S. Abell Company, Sunpapers publishers.
In 1927, Black undertook a plane journey around the world to prove the viability of civil air flight, with a Fokker plane chartered from the Royal Dutch Airline, K.L.M. His crew consisted of K.L.M. staff: chief pilot G.J. Geysendorffer, copilot J.B. Sholte, and mechanic Peter Bunk, as well as Black's personal secretary, J. Leo Bayline. Additional trips were made over several years time, some combining air and ship travel. In 1930, Black and crew took a new plane, the Maryland Free State, from London across Europe and Asia to Batavia (now Jakarta) in Java, Indonesia. Traveling a total of 200,000 miles in five years, Black's trips were the first intercontinental flights of such length for purely civilian purposes.
Black died suddenly in 1930, apparently falling from the afterdeck of his yacht Sabala in rough water enroute to Baltimore following an excursion to New York.
Extent
1.0 Linear Feet (1 flat box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged according to PP catalog numbers.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon M. Holland, 1991.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of one box with 16 folders containing 34 photoprints made from 1925-1930. Subjects are primarily Black's plane and boat travels, including maps of his air route London-South Africa-Japan. There are photographs of him and his crew with the Fokker aircraft and at sites in Europe, Asia and Africa including the Acropolis in Greece, pyramids of Egypt, Rhodesia and Siam. There are pictures of the Dinka tribe in the Sudan, Africa.
Other travel documents include photographs of ships and aircraft: the maiden voyage of Japanese cruise ship Tatsuta Maru, the Maryland Free State airplane and wreck, and the yacht Sabola. There is also a also pictures of Black and his wife in Eskimo clothing given them by Richard E. Bird.
The collection contains one piece printed ephemera: sheet music to "Hello Batavia" with William Swapp's autograph; and one map which is kept with the Rolled Maps.
- Title
- Guide to the Van Lear Black photograph collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Katherine Cowan
- Date
- 1999-12
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2020-02-05: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Mallory Herberger.
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org