Materials depict the celebrations of Howard Hughes's circumnavigation flight in 1938. Along with a crew consisting of Harry Connor, Tom Thurlow, Richard Stoddart, and Ed Lund, Hughes flew the Super Electra on a global circumnavigation flight. On July 10, 1938, Hughes and the crew departed Floyd Bennett Field in New York and flew to Paris, France, Moscow, Russia, Omsk, Russia, Yakutsk, Russia, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Minneapolis, Minnesota before landing back in New York on July 14. The photographs primarily depict the parades thrown for Hughes after completion of the flight. The photographs also depict Hughes and his crew meeting with New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at New York City Hall, the National Press Association, and crowds of onlookers who attended the plane's landings in various cities.
Archival Collection
Howard Hughes Public Relations Photograph Collection
The Howard Hughes Public Relations Reference Files (1931-1997) were compiled by Richard "Dick" Hannah, vice-president of the Los Angeles public relations firm Carl Byoir & Associates, which was hired to direct public relations for Hughes’ companies. The collection is primarily composed of newspaper clippings organized into reference files. A significant number of the files contain articles about Howard Hughes’ personal life, the operations of his companies, and legal and political disputes involving Hughes and his companies. The files also document a range of other subjects related to his business ventures, including aviation, aerospace, defense industries, motion picture studios, film stars, communism in Hollywood, and the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Later in life Hughes became obsessed with how he was being portrayed in the media. In addition to collecting magazine articles, newspaper clippings, transcripts, screenplays, and books that referenced him. He also collected newspaper clippings about the activities of print media outlets, columnists, radio-television stations, current and former employees, and competitors. The collection also contains newspaper clippings about Watergate, organized crime, gambling, and Las Vegas and contains press releases, correspondence and records generated by Carl Byoir & Associates as well as Rosemont Enterprise, Inc.
Top view of the Hughes H-1 Racer with an X painted over its R registration number on its starboard wing. The registration number NX 258Y is seen on the rudder.
Ashley Hall was born April 3, 1943 in Caliente, Nevada. After high school, he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad at the Nevada Test Site as a cashier and as a signalman. He later attended Brigham Young University and the University of Nevada, Reno. After college, Hall served the City of Las Vegas in significant ways. Notably, as City Manager he was instrumental in the initial development of Summerlin, Nevada. Though he has retired from local politics, he remains active as the President of the Old Spanish Trail Association and as the U.S. Army Reserve Ambassador.