Earl Frederick NEWMAN

NEWMAN, WEDELL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/26/2013 at 21:40:02

Earl Frederick Newman was born on May 5, 1901, in Kanawha, Iowa. A graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia (Bachelor of Journalism, 1924), Newman found employment in newspaper work in Texas and Louisiana. In 1928 he became publicity director for Menefee Airways (New Orleans), at which time he learned to fly under the direction of James Wedell. From May 1928 to about March 21, 1931, he was employed by the Wedell-Williams Air Service, Inc. (New Orleans) as a publicist, flying instructor, and aircraft salesman. From April 1931 until about 1937, he was employed as a salesman by the Aerotopograph Corporation of America (later absorbed by Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc.), which trained him in the methods of aerial photogrammetry. During this period he worked on map compilations for the U.S. Geological Survey (December 1, 1933 to July 15, 1934). Newman also worked briefly for Eastern Air Lines during the mid 1930s. His work in aviation ended shortly thereafter when he went to work for the Marchant Calculating Machine Company. He died on Oct. 27, 1966, in Baton Rouge, La. Newman's work for the Wedell-Williams Air Service and the Aerotopograph Corporation of America was centered at New Orleans with some activity in other areas of Louisiana and neighboring states. The collection is especially interesting because of the picture it conveys of commercial aviation in Louisiana during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Contents: Records and memorabilia of aviation in Louisiana, with much material on the Wedell-Williams Air Service, Inc., of Patterson and New Orleans, La. The collection consists mainly of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, aircraft catalogs, business records, and miscellany.

Source:
Newman Louisiana aviation collection, 1916-1945.
Location: University of New Orleans, Earl K. Long Library, Louisiana.