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Title: Jane Spencer collection
Dates: 1940-2002
Collection Number: 80076
Collector: Spencer, Jane, 1922- , collector.
Collection Size:
3 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(1.6 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: The Jane Spencer collection contains writings, correspondence, flight logs, lists, printed matter, videotapes of interviews,
clippings, and photographs relating to the British Air Transport Auxiliary, an organization of civilian British and American
and other foreign pilots of both sexes to ferry military aircraft during World War II. The collection includes writings by
and interviews of pilots.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
The collection is in English
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Jane Spencer collection, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1980.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Ann Wood-Kelly papers, Hoover Institution Archives
John Leonard Yingst papers, Hoover Institution Archives
Roberta Boyd Sandoz Leveaux papers, Hoover Institution Archives
| 1922 | Born |
| 1934 | Received first flight instruction |
| 1936 | Apprentice, airplane repair shop |
| 1940 | Received ground instructor's license |
| 1941 | Received commercial license and instructor's rating |
| 1941-1942, circa | Instructor, Civilian Pilot Training Program |
| 1943-1945 | Ferry Pilot, First Officer, Air Transport Auxiliary |
| 1945 | Became the last foreign pilot or woman to fly for Air Transport Auxiliary |
| 1946-1955 | Photographer |
| 1956-1965 | Technical writer and researcher |
| 1965 | Bachelor of Science in humanities, Johns Hopkins |
| 1968 | Master of Liberal Arts, John Hopkins |
| 1980s-1990s, circa | Collected material for ATA History Project |
Source: British Air Transport Auxiliary, Jane Plant Spencer. http://www.airtransportaux.com/members/plant.html
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains material collected by Jane Spencer for the ATA History Project, an effort to document American participation
in the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), an organization of civilian pilots who ferried military aircraft during World
War II. Formed in 1939, the ATA transported planes for the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Fleet Air Arm, and the British Army.
Its membership included women, handicapped, and elderly pilots from twenty-eight countries. Because of the nature of their
work, pilots were asked to fly different types of planes and were not required to receive an initial checkout before flying
planes new to them. The ATA ended its services in 1945, when Spencer became the last women or foreign pilot to fly for the
organization.
The
Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) file contains material collected from ATA pilots, including correspondence, logbooks, and diaries, as well as materials created
after World War II documenting the ATA. A significant portion of the material comes from Roy William Reisert, including diaries
and logbooks from his time as an ATA pilot. Also included are letters of ATA pilot Emily Chaplin written in 1942 and 1943.
Much of the collection consists of materials that were created after World War II, such as the newsletters of the Air Transport
Auxiliary Association, an organization formed in 1946 for former members of the ATA. The file contains materials on Spencer's
efforts to document the ATA as part of the ATA History Project, including information sheets collected from former pilots.
Recorded interviews of ATA pilots can be found in the
Air Transport Auxiliary videotapes.
Source: British Air Transport Auxiliary. http://www.airtransportaux.com
The collection is organized into three series: Air Transport Auxiliary file, Air Transport Auxiliary videotapes, and Oversize
material and artifacts.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Great Britain. Air Transport Auxiliary.
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations.
World War, 1939-1945--Transportation.
World War, 1939-1945--Women.
Videotapes.