Guide to the George H. Williams, Jr. Collection (1915 – 2006) Bulk Dates: 1909 – 2000 Inclusive Dates: 1914 - 1981 53.41 Linear Feet Accession Number: 55-94-6-64-15 Collection Number: F55-94-6-64-15 Prepared by Thomas Allen, Ph.D. September 1st, 2009 CITATION: Document name or type, Folder number, Box number, Series number, George H. Williams Collection, History of Aviation Collection, Special Collections Department, McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas. Special Collections Department McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas 1 Table of Contents Historical Sketch ............................................................................................................................. 4 Sources ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Additional Sources .......................................................................................................................... 5 Series Description ........................................................................................................................... 5 Series I: Entente (Allied) Powers. 14.5 linear feet .................................................................... 5 Subseries I: France. .5 linear feet. ......................................................................................... 5 Subseries II: Italy. .5 linear feet. ........................................................................................... 5 Subseries III: The United Kingdom and Dominions (Includes Australia and Canada). 11 linear feet. ............................................................................................................................... 5 Subseries IV: The United States of America. 2.5 linear feet. ............................................... 5 Series II: Central Powers. 4.5 linear feet. ................................................................................. 6 Subseries I: Austro-Hungary. .5 linear feet. ......................................................................... 6 Subseries II: Germany. 4 linear feet. .................................................................................... 6 Series III: Biographies. 2.5 linear feet. ..................................................................................... 6 Series IV: Magazines, Journals, and Organizations. 1.5 linear feet. ........................................ 6 Series V: George Williams WWI History Class. .5 linear feet. ................................................ 6 Series VI: World War I Aviation Topics. 1.5 linear feet. ......................................................... 6 Series VII: George Williams Correspondence. 1.5 linear feet. ................................................. 6 Series VIII: World War I Multimedia. 9.5 linear feet. .............................................................. 6 Subseries I: Audio Tapes. 4.5 linear feet. ............................................................................. 6 Subseries II: Video Tapes. 2.5 linear feet. ............................................................................ 7 Subseries III: Microfilm. 2.5 linear feet. ............................................................................... 7 Series IX: Photographs. 5 linear feet. ....................................................................................... 7 Subseries I: The Entente Powers. 4 linear feet. .................................................................... 7 Subseries II: The Central Powers. 1.5 linear feet. ................................................................. 7 Subseries III: Other Aviation Photographs. 1 linear foot. ..................................................... 7 Series X: Oversize Materials. 3 linear feet. ............................................................................. 7 Scope and Content .......................................................................................................................... 7 2 Provenance Statement ................................................................................................................... 10 Literary Rights Statement ............................................................................................................. 10 Note to the Researcher .................................................................................................................. 10 Container List ................................................................................................................................ 11 Image Identification Guide ........................................................................................................... 11 3 Historical Sketch George H. Williams, Jr. was born in Frost, Texas on April 7, 1915. Shortly thereafter his family moved to Waco, Texas where he attended Sanger Avenue Jr. High and Waco High School, graduating in 1933. From 1934 to 1939 he attended Baylor University where he graduated with a BA in Business. From 1939 to 1941 he worked for Hodell and Company, a Houston, Texas area mortgage firm. In 1941, George Williams enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, where he attended Officer Candidate School and radio and signals training at Harvard University. Upon completion of training he was assigned as a Signal Officer to the 94th Signal Battalion, based at Camp Crowder, Missouri in 1942. His unit was sent to Europe and played a part in General Patton’s relief of American forces trapped at Bastogne, during The Battle of the Bulge, in 1944. His unit remained in Europe repairing communication wires and telephone lines in Germany and France until late 1945. After returning to the United States at the end of the War he remained active in the Army Reserve until the 1950s. Back in Dallas, George Williams took a job as an executive with the mortgage division of Equitable Life Insurance Corporation. He also continued his interest in researching and collecting information about World War I aviation. He was involved with both the League World War I Aviation Historians, and its journal, Over the Front, as well as Cross and Cockade and several other aviation societies. He also worked with the History of Aviation Collection at The University of Texas at Dallas, helping it acquire the World War I material collection of A.E. Ferko, as well as numerous other World War I collections. He also taught a World War I history class at The University of Texas at Dallas in the late 1970s, and in 1988 he organized a World War I aviation seminar at the History of Aviation Collection that brought together 125 aviation scholars, as well as the only three surviving American Aces of World War I. Williams continued to volunteer his time and effort at the History of Aviation Collection well into his 80s. He also donated his own, extensive collection of World War I documents and photographs to the History of Aviation Collection. George Williams married his wife Ginny on May 27, 1933. They had three children; Holly (born 1944), Kay (born 1949), and Scott (born 1955). Williams passed away on June 15, 2006 at the age of 91. Sources Simnacher, Joe. 2006. “George H. Williams, Jr. – Ex-insurance exec, 91 helped UTD build aviation Collection”. The Dallas Morning News, June 15. Williams, George. 1999. George Williams Oral History Interview. Conducted by Mary Caspari, History of Aviation Collection, The University of Texas at Dallas. Additional Sources The History of Aviation Collection holds several other aviation document and photograph collections dedicated to World War I in its World War I holdings. It also maintains numerous books about World War I aviation, and print runs of the World War I journals Over the Front, Cross and Cockade, and Cross and Cockade Great Britain/International. Series Description The George H. Williams, Jr. Collection is arranged into ten series Series I: Entente (Allied) Powers. 14.5 linear feet 29 boxes. This series is arranged into four sub-series. Each subseries focuses on information related to the air forces of country’s that made up the Entente Powers during World War I. Subseries I: France. .5 linear feet. 1 box. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. It contains information about French squadrons, units, pilots, aircraft, and military activities during World War I. Subseries II: Italy. .5 linear feet. 1 box. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. It includes information about Italian squadrons, units, pilots, aircraft, and military activities during World War I. Subseries III: The United Kingdom and Dominions (Includes Australia and Canada). 11 linear feet. 22 boxes. This subseries is arranged numerically by squadron number. It consists of information about United Kingdom (including Australian and Canadian) squadrons, units, pilots, aircraft, and military activities during World War I. Subseries IV: The United States of America. 2.5 linear feet. 5 boxes. This subseries is arranged numerically by squadron number. It contains information about American squadrons, units, pilots, aircraft, and military activities during World War I. 5 Series II: Central Powers. 4.5 linear feet. 9 boxes. This series is arranged into two subseries. Each subseries focuses on information related to the air forces of countries that were members of The Central Powers during World War I. Subseries I: Austro-Hungary. .5 linear feet. 1 box. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. It contains information about Austro-Hungarian squadrons, units,