New Collections – Page 10

Historical records detailing the growth of one of the world’s largest airlines are available to the public online through the Digital Library of Georgia, thanks to a partnership between the Delta Flight Museum, the University of Georgia Libraries, and GALILEO.

The collection contains Delta Air Lines’ digitized timetables, flight maps, and annual reports for the past century through its expansions, moves, and mergers with other airlines to become the aviation industry leader in the United States.

“Sharing our collection of digitized annual reports and timetables of Delta and family member airlines provides wider access to this rich resource of materials documenting the nearly 100 years of Delta’s history and the development of commercial aviation both locally and globally,” said John Boatright, president of Delta Flight Museum, a non-profit museum housed in the original 1940s hangars at Delta’s Atlanta headquarters.

“This partnership with DLG allows us to enhance our engagement with educators, researchers, and aviation enthusiasts.”

Delta Air Lines traces its history to the world’s first crop-dusting company in Macon in 1925, and the company has been headquartered in Atlanta since 1941.

For Toby Graham, university librarian and associate provost at UGA, those connections to the state align the digital archive with the mission of the Digital Library of Georgia, a GALILEO initiative based at UGA’s Main Library dedicated to the digital preservation and open access of historic materials that reflect the state’s history and culture.

“As one of Atlanta’s largest employers, Delta and its business history are fully integrated with the story of our state. We are proud to partner with the Delta Flight Museum to preserve and share these historical documents with the community and with researchers interested in aviation, business, travel, and other fields,” said Graham.

In addition to historical items directly related to the airline, the Delta Flight Museum’s online archive contains business publications from many of the more than 40 affiliated airlines that make up the “Delta family tree.”

These include:

Chicago and Southern Air Lines, which brought Delta’s first international routes to the Caribbean and Venezuela in 1953;

Boston-based Northeast Airlines, which extended Delta’s East Coast services from Canada to Florida and Bermuda in 1972;

Los Angeles-based Western Airlines, the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States before Delta acquired it in 1987;

and Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines, which carried the most passengers across the Pacific Ocean and was a top domestic cargo carrier until its merger with Delta in 2008.

[View the collections online]

About Delta Flight Museum

The Delta Flight Museum is a premier international destination located in the heart of Delta Air Lines’ worldwide headquarters in Atlanta, where visitors explore aviation history, celebrate the story and people of Delta, and discover the future of flight.

Housed in Delta’s historic 1940s aircraft hangars, the not-for-profit Delta Flight Museum offers an unmatched experience for aviation enthusiasts of all ages. A fleet of rare vintage aircraft and artifacts from more than 40 airlines related to Delta enhance our interactive experiences and unique event and education spaces. Visit online at deltamuseum.org

Selected images from the collection:

This brochure documenting Delta's entry to passenger service describes air transportation for businessmen as reliable, cost-saving, and efficient. The expansion was significant for Delta, which began in 1925 as a crop-dusting company based out of Macon, Georgia, and then Monroe, Louisiana. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Fly for business and why [Fall/Winter 1929]

Description: This brochure documenting Delta’s entry to passenger service describes air transportation for businessmen as reliable, cost-saving, and efficient. The expansion was significant for Delta, which began in 1925 as a crop-dusting company based out of Macon, Georgia, and then Monroe, Louisiana.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_das_das-brochure-fly-1929

Printed pamphlet for Delta customers with flight schedules, fares, and contact information for customers, with service to 10 locations in the Southern U.S. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Air Lines Schedules and Fares 1934 November 1

Description: Printed pamphlet for Delta customers with flight schedules, fares, and contact information for customers, with service to 10 locations in the Southern U.S.

Cover page from a yearly financial and performance report published by Delta, highlighting aircraft fleets, corporate mergers and alliances, personnel, facilities, routes, major investments and initiatives, board of directors, and officers. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Air Lines annual report 1948

Description: Cover page from a yearly financial and performance report published by Delta, highlighting aircraft fleets, corporate mergers and alliances, personnel, facilities, routes, major investments and initiatives, board of directors, and officers.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-ar_dal-ar-1948

A photo printed in a yearly financial and performance report published by Delta, highlighting aircraft fleets, corporate mergers and alliances, personnel, facilities, routes, major investments and initiatives, board of directors, and officers. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Air Lines annual report 1948

Description: A photo printed in a yearly financial and performance report published by Delta, highlighting aircraft fleets, corporate mergers and alliances, personnel, facilities, routes, major investments and initiatives, board of directors, and officers.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-ar_dal-ar-1948

The oldest annual report in the collection dates to 1939, when the company was known as Delta Air Corporation, based out of Monroe. Delta later moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 1941 and would officially become Delta Air Lines four years later in 1945. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Air Corporation annual report 1939

Description: The oldest annual report in the collection dates to 1939, when the company was known as Delta Air Corporation, based out of Monroe. Delta later moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 1941 and would officially become Delta Air Lines four years later in 1945.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-ar_dal-ar-1939

Title: Delta Air Lines annual report 1950

Description: Image of a Delta Air Lines flight crew in front of a plane, shown in a 1950 Delta Air Lines printed annual report from 1950.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-ar_dal-ar-1950

Delta Air Lines' first international routes to the Caribbean and Venezuela grew out of its first airline merger with Memphis, Tennessee-based C&S, in 1953. The collection above houses annual reports for C&S from 1940-1953, before the merger with Delta. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Chicago and Southern Air Lines Annual Report 1940

Description: Delta Air Lines’ first international routes to the Caribbean and Venezuela grew out of its first airline merger with Memphis, Tennessee-based C&S, in 1953. The collection above houses annual reports for C&S from 1940-1953, before the merger with Delta.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_csa-ar_csa-ar-1940

Printed, multi-page booklet for Delta customers with flight schedules, contact information, airline route maps, aircraft types, meal service, and advertisements. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Air Lines System Timetable 1968 October 1

Description: Printed, multi-page booklet for Delta customers with flight schedules, contact information, airline route maps, aircraft types, meal service, and advertisements.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-tt_dal-tt-19681001

A modern Delta Air Lines flight timetable (August 2019). Today, nearly 5,000 Delta flights take off every day, connecting people across more than 265 destinations on six continents. — Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

[dal-tt-201908]

Image courtesy of Delta Flight Museum

Title: Delta Worldwide Timetable August 2019

Description: A modern Delta Air Lines flight timetable (August 2019). Today, nearly 5,000 Delta flights take off every day, connecting people across more than 265 destinations on six continents.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-e-tt_dal-tt-201908

In partnership with Special Collections & Archives at the University of North Georgia, the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) has digitized school yearbooks dating from 1975 to 1995. This period covers the years leading up to the second name change for North Georgia College (which became North Georgia College & State University) and its growth from a college to a university.

This project contained approximately 4,700 pages in 20 bound volumes that document how (then-) North Georgia College (NGC) saw extensive growth during this time, thus demonstrating its high research value as a digitized collection.

Dr. John H. Owen (1922-2011), a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, was named the twelfth president of North Georgia College (NGC) in 1970. During his tenure, the enrollment of North Georgia College (now the University of North Georgia) nearly tripled, thanks to having produced more course offerings and programs, having integrated the campus in 1967, and having enrolled women military cadets beginning in 1973.

NGC saw significant changes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For example, in 1967, NGC integrated, and in 1973 women were included in the Corps of Cadets. The effects of these policy changes shaped campus culture from 1975 to 1995.

Dr. Owen stepped down as president in 1992, and the vice president for academic affairs, anatomist Delmas J. Allen was named president. Dr. Allen served as president from 1993 to 1996 and managed the school’s transition from a college to a university due to the changes in student body population and faculty/staff demographics that followed nearly two decades of growth for the school and the region.

The makeup of the student body, the increase in student organizations, the addition of inclusive multicultural groups, and the expansion of the faculty/staff of the college all reflect the more significant demographic shifts in Northeast Georgia, and thus the university. In addition, most students at NGC during this time were from Northeast Georgia. Because of this, the Cyclops collection also serves as an essential historical representation of the Northeast Georgia region.

Wendi D. Huguley, the University of North Georgia’s Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, emphasizes the value that these digitized volumes have: “Our office frequently sends digital yearbook links to family members, alumni, reunion groups and University staff who contact us requesting materials picturing their loved ones, classmates, or former colleagues. The online access to these records provides ease of use for anyone who is searching for their memories.”

Special Collections & Digital Initiatives Librarian Allison Galloup welcomes questions about the digitization project and can be reached at Allison.Galloup@ung.edu

[View the entire collection online]

About the University of North Georgia. Special Collections & Archives, Dahlonega Campus (Dahlonega, Ga.)

The Special Collections and Archives serve as the institutional memory of the university and its predecessors, Gainesville State College, and North Georgia College and State University. In addition, the Special Collections and Archives seeks to collect, arrange, preserve and make accessible collections related to the history of Appalachia, Northeast Georgia, and the communities surrounding the university’s five campuses. You can find out more at ung.edu/libraries/sc-archives/index.php.

Selected images from the collection: