Historical Aircraft Accidents Through the Lens of the New York Times Newspaper Archive

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The New York Times offers a browser-based archive of all newspaper issues from 1851 to 2002 called TimesMachine which allows users to query the database through keywords, date, and other search criteria. Members of the AerAqua Project, a research-based 501(c) non-profit organization, have utilized this online research tool to create a catalogue of articles pertaining to historical aircraft accidents and other aviation-related news. Articles on early aviation pioneers, safety concerns, development of commercial routes and air-mail, and exhibition flights are ubiquitous throughout the 20th century, while news of aerial combat and associated accidents becomes more prevalent during times of conflict such as the First and Second World Wars.

This paper touches on some general themes and trends observed during the creation of the database and discusses how the New York Times may be used as a primary source for the identification of potential historical aircraft wreck locations for further investigation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow