Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Lansing Callan (1886-1958) span the years 1907-1956. His career of more than half a century as pioneer aviator, aviation instructor, and leader in the aeronautics industry, plus twelve years of active naval duty, is well documented in this collection. With the exception of a brief period in 1917 spent on board the cruiser Seattle, Callan’s naval career was concerned almost entirely with civil and naval aeronautical activities, which is reflected in this collection.
The papers consist of diaries, notebooks, correspondence, orders to duty, subject files, awards, a biographical file, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and assorted miscellaneous material and are organized into the following series: Diaries and Notebooks, Correspondence, Orders to Duty, Subject File, Miscellany, and Oversize. Although most of the items relate to Callan’s naval career and experiences in aviation, part of the correspondence also concerns his personal and business interests. The collection also includes copies of his speeches and articles on aviation.
Callan was a member of a small group of pre-World War I aviators known as the “Early Birds,” who helped pioneer advances in the aviation industry. Earning his wings in 1911, Callan joined the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in 1912. In 1914 he was sent by Glenn Curtiss as a relief pilot and representative to the Azores to make preparations for the proposed transoceanic flight of the twin-engine flying boat “America.” The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 caused cancellation of this project. Correspondence, reports, printed matter, and financial papers cover the activities mentioned above. Pioneer aviators with whom he became acquainted during this period include Thomas Baldwin, Lawrence Speery, and John H. Towers. Correspondents within the Curtiss Aeroplane Company include A. K. Ainlay, Glenn Curtiss, H. G. Genung, G. Roy Hall, John McNamara, John Scott, Lyman J. Seely, J. P. Tarbox, and Clarence Webster.
From 1914 to 1916 Callan was the official representative in Italy for the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. Fluent in Italian, he exchanged letters with a diverse group of Italian aviators and government officials. Among the more prominent correspondents in the collection are Enea Bossi, Edgardo Colucci, and Raffaele Perfetti.
Callan's service for the navy in World War I and immediately thereafter is treated extensively in the papers. Included is material on his duty on the Seattle, his service in setting up the first naval air stations in France, and his work on the technical subcommittee for aviation at the Paris Peace Conference. Subsequently he served on other international committees in connection with postwar aviation affairs until he returned to civilian life in 1921.
The records of Callan’s civilian career, between 1921 and 1938, document his business activities and periodic naval reserve duties.
Upon being recalled to active duty in 1940, Callan was assigned to the United States embassy in Rome, where he was interned as a prisoner of war when Italy joined the war on the side of the Axis powers. After being repatriated in May 1942, Callan was active as the naval and air attaché on the staff of the American ambassador to European governments in exile in London and then as the senior American naval staff officer in Italy. Evidence of his wartime duties is interspersed throughout the collection.
In 1946 Callan served as a naval observer in the Bikini atomic bomb tests. The Subject File contains material on the topic under the code name “Operation Crossroads.”
Among Callan’s other prominent correspondents are Nicholas Alexeyef, Richard E. Byrd, Benedict Crowell, James Doolittle, Beckwith havens, J. C. Hunsaker, Rudolph E. Schoenfelt, Clara Studer, Juan Trippe, Peter Paul Vucetic, and Jay White.