Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78022046
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Harold Gatty, aviator, navigator, naturalist, and inventor, were given to the Library of Congress by his widow, Allerdina Fenna Bolderhey Gatty Scott, in 1965.
The collection was processed in 1965. The finding aid was revised in 2012. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Three-dimensional objects, including a ground-speed indicator and a drift meter, have been transferred to the Smithsonian Institution.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Harold Gatty in the collection of papers in the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of Harold Gatty are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Harold Gatty Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Harold Gatty (1903-1957) span the years 1901-1957, with most of the collection concerning the history of land and nautical navigation. Comparatively little relates to the Wiley Post-Harold Gatty eight-day flight around the world in 1931. The collection is organized into nine series following the basic outline established by Gatty: Book File , Navigation File , Ground-Speed and Drift Indicator , Transoceanic Flights , Pacific Airline Routes , Printed Matter , Miscellany , Bibliographic File , and Oversize .
Material relating to Gatty's published works in the Book File ,
The Navigation File contains manuscript material concerned with navigation, its history, and its methodology. This section consists mainly of articles from books and journals that have been recopied and in some cases translated from the original language. Included is bibliographical material, biographical sketches, and a file of articles on navigational activities from the
Closely connected with the files on navigation is Gatty's bibliography of the subject on index cards. Also in the Bibliographic File are index cards on the Arctic and Antarctica used as the basis for a confidential report for the United States Navy in 1944 on navigational methods in the two regions.
Correspondence, charts, maps, notes, and aeronautical timetables in the Pacific Airline Routes series relate to the South Seas Commercial Company that Gatty started with Donald W. Douglas of Douglas Aircraft in 1934. The founders hoped to obtain leases or concessions on islands in the Pacific for the construction of landing facilities for airline operations from the Pacific coast of the United States to Honolulu, continuing one line to Pago-Pago, New Zealand, and Australia, and another to the Philippines and China. The company was later dissolved and Pan American Airlines assumed control of the routes; Gatty then worked for the new owners. Correspondence in the series indicates that, despite the claims of others, Gatty surveyed the original routes in the Pacific. Some of the communications were sent to him in secret code, and not all have been decoded.
Also in the collection is material on Gatty's two 1931 inventions, the ground-speed indicator and the drift meter. Included in the Ground-Speed and Drift Indicator series are foreign and domestic patent applications, lists and reports of patents in the United States Patent Office concerning navigation, blueprints, diagrams, correspondence, and other material relating to the inventions.
The Miscellany includes newspaper clippings on Gatty's attempted transpacific flight with Harold Bromley in 1931. Printed matter consists of pamphlets and clippings from magazines and journals mainly concerned with navigation, nature, and navigational theory.
This collection is arranged in nine series:
Drafts, notes, maps, photographs, tables, charts, and other material relating to
Arranged by title of book and therein by type of material.
Reprints and copies of articles from books and journals, including biographical sketches, bibliographic outlines, a file of articles from the
Arranged by topic or type of material with dated articles organized chronologically according to the year of their writing.
Patent correspondence and applications, both domestic and foreign, results of experiments about Gatty's invention, photographs and charts, miscellaneous notes, blueprints, and diagrams. Included is an index and a description of patents concerning navigational instruments granted by the United States Patent Office.
Arranged by type of material.
Correspondence, maps, reports, notes, and press releases.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, reports, notes, and drawings pertaining to Gatty's activities as an agent for airline companies in the South Pacific.
Arranged chronologically.
Pamphlets and clippings from magazines and newspapers.
Magazine clippings are arranged chronologically. Pamphlets and newspaper clippings are arranged by subject heading.
Sketches, reprinted articles, bibliographic material, congratulatory messages, star-finders, correspondence, photographs, notebooks, maps, speeches, position books, honorary awards and maps.
Arranged by type of material.
Bibliographic index cards on navigational topics.
Arranged in card trays in sequences created by Gatty.
Maps, awards, certificates, portrait, and miscellaneous printed matter.
Arranged and described according to the series and container from which the material was removed.