The Clark Special Collections of the Library contains a significant body of personal papers donated to the Academy by Air Force officers and civilians who were instrumental in the development of American air power. The Friends often plays a crucial role in the acquisition, processing, cataloguing, and/or digitization of many of these collections. Following are some of the many collections in the Clark Special Collections section. Select those with a for an expanded presentation.

The Aeronautical History Collection of Colonel Richard Gimbel

The Crown Jewel of the Clark Special Collections, it consists of more than 20,000 books, prints, manuscripts, and other items which trace 3,000 years of humanity’s aspirations and eventual achievement of flight. Included are the rarest aeronautical print in existence, manuscripts from H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, early letters of the Wright brothers, and the first air mail.

Stalag Luft III

This collection tells the story of the Allied airmen who, having been shot down in combat over Europe in World War II, were prisoners of war in Stalag Luft III, the German camp located in Silesia (now Poland). This was the camp that became famous for the Great Escape of March 1944.

Albert P. Clark          Stalag Luft III

Albert P. Clark had a long and distinguished Air Force career, culminating in his service as the sixth Superintendent of the Air Force Academy. He retired as a lieutenant general in 1974. His collection includes a wealth of photos, diaries, and other documents from his career with special emphasis on the years he spent as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III.

Burton C. Andrus          International Military Tribunal of 1946

Andrus was called to active duty in 1917 and by June 1942 he had advanced to the rank of Colonel. His most significant military duty came after World War II when he served as Commandant of the 6850th Security Detachment. This unit was responsible for guarding the accused Nazi war criminals who were tried by the International Military Tribunal in 1946, also known as the Nuremberg Trials.

Henry H. "Hap" Arnold          Aviation and Air Forces Pioneer

General of the Air Force and pioneer airman who was taught to fly by the Wright Brothers, and commander of Army Air Forces in victory over Germany and Japan in World War II, his life paralleled the growth of America's air power and he personally contributed to most of the major milestones of development during the long period until he retired in 1946.

Erwin Beardslee          37th Aero Squadron

Private First Class Erwin W. Beardslee served in the 37th Aero Squadron in France during World War I. His widow, Mrs. Lily V. Beardslee contributed his collection of newspapers printed overseas for servicemen assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces.

Charles Dolan          Lafayette Escadrille

While in Paris, Dolan met some American Lafayette Escadrille pilots, who felt he would be an asset to their squadron. He eventually chose to join the French Foreign Legion as a first step toward that goal. After a series of flight training assignments, he finally joined the Lafayette Escadrille in May 1917.

James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle          Tokyo Raiders

After leading the Tokyo Raiders as a lieutenant colonel in 1942, he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the Northwest Africa Strategic Air Force. In November 1943, he took command of the 15th Air Force. In January 1944, he became the commander of Eighth Air Force. President Reagan awarded him a fourth star on June 13, 1985.

Wilson V. Edwards          RAF Eagle Squadrons

In November 1940 Wilson Edwards signed up to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was sent to England, completed training for Hurricanes and Spitfire aircraft, and was assigned to the 133 Squadron, the last of the famous Eagle Squadrons, doing convoy escort and operational training missions in Ireland and England. In 1942 he officially joined the USAAF, flying P-51D’s escorting bombers on deep missions in Germany. On 13 July 1944 he was shot down and spent the remainder of the war as a POW in a Stalag Luft I camp in Barth, Germany. After the war, Edwards served in various command and leadership positions in both the US Army Air Force and the US Air Force in Air Training Command and Air Defense Command, retiring in 1968.

The collection contains materials related to Wilson V. Edwards and his career in the Eagle Squadron. This collection consists of 10 Series divided into 3 boxes, to include photographs, newspapers, maps, technical manuals, correspondence, military dress insignia, and books.

Benjamin Foulois          Military Aviation Pioneer

Benjamin Delahauf Foulois (1879-1967) was a United States Army General who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright brothers in 1909. He became the first military aviator to pilot an airship, and he was the only pilot, navigator, instructor, observer, and commander in the heavier-than-air division of the U.S. Army from 1909 to 1911.

Leroy Gover          RAF Eagle Squadrons

Leroy Gover was an experienced pilot when he volunteered for service with the British RAF. He arrived at Liverpool, England on December 7, 1941 and was assigned to the 53rd Operational Training Unit at Llandow. After graduating, he transitioned into an instructor role at the school. In March he was assigned to the 66th Fighter Squadron based at Portreath, England and in August transferred to the 133rd Fighter Squadron at Biggin Hill. 

Alexander Jefferson         Stalag Luft III

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson was a Tuskegee Airman and second lieutenant who flew in Europe with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He was shot down on August 12, 1944, and became a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III. His collection in the Cadet Library includes numerous drawings made while he was a prisoner. He published his wartime experiences in Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW.

Hugh Johnson Knerr         Air Logistics and Inspector General Pioneer

Hugh Johnston Knerr graduated from the Naval Academy in 1908, transferred to the Army in 1911, and earned a pilot rating in 1917. Eventually he became Commanding General for the Air Technical Services Command, the precursor to the materiel and logistics command for the Army Air Corps, ultimately leading the development of Logistics Command and the Air Force Inspector General’s Office.

The collection consists of ten boxes of manuscript material, relating to General Knerr’s military career from 1904-1949. The most significant parts of the material deal with Knerr’s role as Commanding General for Air Technical Services Command, while the balance, mostly of a personal nature, relate to his formulation of the Logistics Command and his development of the Air Force Inspector General’s Office.

Laurence S. Kuter         War Planner & MAJCOM Commander

Kuter was a brilliant planner and leader. As a major in August 1941, he was one of four principal authors of the plan that guided the use of air power in World War II. Later that year he became the youngest brigadier general in the Army. His career included command of Military Air Transport Service, Pacific Air Forces, Air University, and North American Air Defense Command.

This massive collection of more than 25,000 pages consists of 48 boxes of manuscript material and 51 bound scrapbooks, an addendum with 15 boxes of manuscript material and 45 books, and a second addendum with seven boxes of manuscript material. It includes correspondence, books, speeches, conferences, orders, biography, recordings, scrapbooks, portraits, guest books, diaries, photographs, periodical, passports, and a wide variety of documents.

Richard Lehner          ICBM Modernization

In the 1980s President Reagan's modernization program brought the Peacekeeper (MX) missile into existence under the purview of defense. ICBM productions once again increased until 1991, when the United States and Soviet Union agreed to the START I treaty. Richard Lehner donated hismaterials to Clark Special Collections in 2024.

Materials focus significantly on the modernization of the United States' Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program during the 1980s. The collection is presented in seven boxes divided into twelve series consisting of reports, bound presentations, press releases, military publications, clippings, printed matter, photographs, political cartoons, books, videos, and artifacts (e.g. bumper stickers).

Pat Pateman          Women's Airforce Service Pilots

Lt. Col. Yvonne “Pat” Patemen entered the Army Air Forces in 1943 and earned her wings as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP). She was the only WASP to have served in three wars (World War II, Korea, and Vietnam) and retired in 1971 after 22 years as a U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer.

Maria Scruggs          Wartime Sheet Music            

During World War I, composers produced music to be played at home that honored service members sent to frontlines in France. Likewise, this musical trend returned when the United States entered World War II.

This collection consists of sheet music produced between 1905 and 1984. Over half of this sheet music was produced during the 1910s with a focus on World War I. The collection is presented in one series divided into two boxes. Marie Scruggs donated these materials to Clark Special Collections in 2023.

Ralph O. Searles          Gulf to Pacific Flight of 1919            

Ralph O. Searles was the commanding officer of the Gulf to Pacific Flight of 1919, a cross-country US Army Air Service mission intended to make observations for a proposed transcontinental aerial mail route following World War I.

The collection consists of a single box containing a scrapbook comprised of photographs, drawings, and newspaper articles regarding the Gulf to Pacific Flight of 1919. The locations of most of the photos are identified, and the newspaper clippings provide excellent context and details of the mission.

Lance Sijan          The Medal of Honor

On 9 November 1967, Sijan and his commander, Colonel Armstrong, were struck by antiaircraft fire while on a night mission over North Vietnam. He parachuted into the karst hills, suffering severe injuries. Despite these injuries and subsequent severe weight loss, he remained at large for about 46 days. Following his capture, Sijan was removed to a holding point from which he escaped after overpowering a guard. Recaptured, he was kept in solitary confinement and tortured, but refused to reveal any information to his captors. He was then placed in the care of fellow prisoner, subsequently contracted pneumonia, and died at Hoa Lo on 22 January 1968. On 4 March 1976, in ceremonies at the White House, President Gerald R. Ford posthumously awarded Captain Sijan the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Walter Steck          Stalag Luft III

Lt. Walter Steck (Ulana’s late husband) was a POW in Stalag Luft III, 1944-1945. In the camp he was the leader of the band “The Flying Syncopators,” and together with others, put on several shows for the prisoners. The collection includes some 40 pages of drawings, original poems/songs, and illustrated showbills. 

Reade Tilley          RAF Eagle Squadrons

Reade Tilley was a World War II fighter ace who flew with the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force. He kept photos, flight logs, and diaries of his experiences. His collection includes these documents as well as others from his service as Public Affairs Officer for Gen. Curtis LeMay at Strategic Air Command.

Unmanned Aerial Systems

Nazi Germany launched the first V-1 drones (pilotless flying bombs) against London in June 1944 only one week after the Allies landed at Normandy. The Friends helped acquire collections of World War II issues of Stars and Stripes and sponsor the work of Melissa Robohn in Special Collections as she acquires material on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones) and makes this material available online.

Leigh Wade          First Flight Around the World

n 1924, Lt. Leigh Wade was one of the U.S. Army Air Service pilots to make the first flight around the world. The flight of Douglas World Cruisers with interchangeable pontoons and wheels circumnavigated the globe in 175 days. Wade eventually retired from the Air Force as a major general.

Women Air Training Officers         USAFA

In 1975, 15 female lieutenants were selected from a pool of 600 young women Air Force officers to serve as both test pilots and role models for the first female Air Force Academy cadets. The use of women Air Training Officers (ATOs) was based on the Academy’s decision in 1955 to use young male Air Force lieutenants–instead of upperclass cadets from West Point or Annapolis–to train the first three classes of AFA cadets.  

Barbara Wyatt        Viet Nam POWs

This collection was donated by Barbara Powers Wyatt, editor of the book We Came Home: POWs of Viet Nam, which was published in 1977. She acquired and assembled these materials through her correspondence with hundreds of Vietnam prisoners of war, whose biographies are included in this book and in the contents of this collection.

The collection consists of twenty boxes divided into five Series, Series One, by far the largest of the five, contains 470 files each containing information on individual Vietnam prisoners of war. Each file includes letters, photographs, and narratives written about each subject and their experiences as soldiers and prisoners. Each is a mix of original materials and photocopies, which were produced either at the time the events occurred or shortly thereafter, prior to the publication of Dr. Wyatt’s book in 1977. The remaining materials consist of additional photographs, government and other documents, some unpublished material, and a copy of the book that was the culmination of Mrs. Wyatt’s research.