Emmett Tanner Personal Papers

Collection

Identifier: SDASM-SC-10182

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This is a one box collection with measurements 15 ¼ x 10 ½ x 5 inches. The collection contains newspaper clippings, patent documents, and drawings, certificates, photographs, and a photographic album. It also contains four panoramic photographs rolled up into scrolls.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1889 - 1923

Biographical / Historical

Emmet Tanner enlisted in the Army at the start of World War I. In 1919, Tanner won the first transcontinental air race from San Francisco to New York City in a de Havilland plane (the first of the Western flyers to make the trip). Additionally, he piloted Lydia “Grandma” Kahl, in her eighties, making her the oldest woman to fly. He also holds a patent on a rotary gas engine which helped increase engine power for future aircraft.

Emmett Tanner died as a result of an aircraft crash in the San Francisco bay on August 22, 1923.

Extent

.4 Cubic Feet (This is a one box collection with measurements 15 ¼ x 10 ½ x 5 inches. The collection contains newspaper clippings, patent documents, and drawings, certificates, photographs, and a photographic album. It also contains four panoramic photographs rolled up into scrolls.)