Celebration Days in August

August 30, 2024

April may be the cruelest month, but August is surely the sunniest! Warm days and clear azure skies make me think of two seemingly unrelated subjects that reach great heights: aviation and
rollercoasters. Perhaps by coincidence, perhaps by intention, two days in August celebrate these wildly different marvels of human engineering.

(From left to right) Roscoe Turner Building Dedication at Indianapolis Municipal Airport; IHS, P0569. Checking Out a TWA Airplane at Weir Cook Municipal Airport; IHS, M1080. (both cropped)

August 19th is National Aviation Day, a date those terrified of flying would rather ignore. As the birthplace of the Wright brothers, Indiana has a special connection to aviation and its pioneers.
The two images above were captured at the Indianapolis International Airport, known over time under different names. The airport opened in 1931 as the Indianapolis Municipal Airport and was
renamed Weir Cook Municipal Airport in 1944 as an homage to Air Force Colonel Harvey Weir Cook. Cook was born in Wilkinson, Indiana and served as a WWI American Fighter Ace before perishing over the Pacific during WWII. In 1976, the airport became Indianapolis International Airport.

Test Plane at Roscoe Turner Aviation Institute. IHS, P0569. (cropped)

To me, this little test plane looks like some giddy amusement park ride. This photograph depicts a room in the Roscoe Turner Aviation Institute building, which was erected at the Indianapolis
Municipal Airport in 1941. American air racer Roscoe Turner oversaw the Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corporation at the airport beginning in 1940. The organization assisted on the
airfield, repaired aircraft, and trained personnel, as demonstrated in the image above.

Speaking of amusement park rides! …

(From left to right) Roller Coaster at Riverside Amusement Park in Indianapolis, Indiana; “Flash” Roller Coaster at Riverside Amusement Park in Indianapolis, Indiana; IHS, P0569. (both cropped)

August 16th is National Rollercoaster Day, another thing acrophobes (those fearful of heights) dread! Coasters remind me of some of my fondest times with family and friends—summer trips
to Indiana Beach and Holiday World, the slow climb up The Voyage’s lift hill, getting lost across the state line at King’s Island… Both rollercoasters highlighted above were part of the Riverside
Amusement Park in Indianapolis, open from 1903 to 1971. One of the park’s top attractions was “The Flash,” a coaster of classic wooden construction that riders can be seen enjoying in the second image.

All images featured in this blog are accessible on our digital collections site.

Cooper Davis is an Assistant Librarian at the IHS. When he’s not researching history, he enjoys reading poetry and playing Chopin nocturnes.

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