Apollo 11

On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Neil Armstrong, “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins ventured through space to the moon. On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step out onto the moon’s surface, followed shortly thereafter by “Buzz” Aldrin. The astronauts safely returned to earth on July 24, the mission a success.

This pass came into HMSF’s collection in 1989, a gift of Marie Oscar. Individuals invited to watch the launch of the mission were issued one of these official guest passes. Even though Kennedy Space Center is over two hundred miles from Miami, Dade County residents were still able to see the orange streak in the morning sky created by the Saturn V rocket as it pushed the spacecraft into orbit, though the view was certainly much better for those “official guests.”

As a space geek, I would like to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 by reminding everybody that it was “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

-- Robert Harkins, Assistant Curator – Object Collections

1989.031.001

Pan Am Captains Martin & Martin

When Frank Carroll Martin renewed his membership, he chose the new category of Senior. This level requires a birth date to prove that the member is 65 years of age or older, so I called Mr. Martin to record his date of birth, which did not appear on his application.

As I spoke to Mr. Martin, I noticed airplane pictured on the check he had enclosed with his renewal. Curious, I asked him if he had been a pilot. Frank said that he had been a Pan Am Clipper skipper and that his father, Frank Crawford Martin, had been an original China Clipper pilot.

I invited Frank to come to the museum to see some of the Pan Am Collection and to have lunch with the President/CEO Bob McCammon. During lunch, his father’s extensive flights during World War II brought forth many tales about Miami’s place in aeronautical history. Frank informed us that the majority of the soldiers captured from Rommel’s Africa Corps were housed as POWs in South Dade. He told us that the St. Sebastian Apartments in Coral Gables were used as barracks for Royal Air Force student pilots and navigators who were trained almost exclusively in Miami due to its advanced aeronautical facilities. One particularly interesting story relayed was that near the end of the war, his dad piloted the then Prince Feisal of Saudi Arabia to America for his first visit and, true to the “it’s small world” axiom, Bob’s father had flown the prince on the second leg of this same journey in California.

Frank Carroll Martin served as a Pan Am captain for more than fifteen years. He is currently the Area Coordinator for the Blue and Gold Program of the United States Naval Academy, in which he and his associates identify and mentor fine young men and women to become Midshipmen.

Frank is proud of Miami’s place in aeronautical history and the accomplishments of his father that changed the lives and history of the African American community in South Florida. The rewards of Frank Crawford’s labor are still being reaped today; the work of Frank Carroll will be seen tomorrow in the lives of young officers that will serve our nation with distinction.

Captains, the Historical Museum salutes you both!

-- Hilda Masip, Membership Officer

Top picture: Pan Am China Clipper, ca. 1935. HMSF, 1992-233-11.
Bottom photo: Frank Crawford Martin. Courtesy of Frank Carroll Martin.

Independence Day

Sometime around 1905, someone sent this patriotic postcard to Ralph Munroe in Coconut Grove. Happy flag-waving Fourth!

Image no. 1994-624-6

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Curator of Research Materials