Ira Eaker papers, 1917-1989 (bulk 1942-1945).

Open to research.

Classified, in part.

Part I of the collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, diaries (1942-1947), notes of appointments, minutes of meetings, speeches, articles, book drafts, notes, reports, accounts, press releases, scrapbooks, printed material, maps, drawings, and other papers chiefly documenting Eaker's military career in the aeronautical section of the U.S. Army (under several names: U.S. Army Air Service, 1918-1926, U.S. Army Air Corps, 1926-1942, and U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-1947). Includes material pertaining to his early flights; the growth and promotion of military aviation; his World War II command of the U.S. Army Air Forces 8th Bomber Command in England, the Eighth Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces in the United Kingdom, and the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces in Italy; and postwar planning for the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the military.

Correspondents include Henry Harley Arnold, Joseph K. Cannon, Winston Churchill, Jacob L. Devers, James E. Fechet, Barney M. Giles, W. Averell Harriman, Sir Arthur Travers Harris, Robert A. Lovett, Sir John Cotesworth Slessor, Carl Spaatz, and Nathan F. Twining.

Part II consists of correspondence, memoranda, diaries (1958-1974), speeches, writings, scheduling and subject files, drawings, blueprints, and other papers chiefly documenting Eaker's activities after leaving the military in 1947 as an aircraft industry executive, advocate for air power and military readiness, and newspaper columnist. Some earlier activities are represented.

Part II includes material on his association with Hughes Tool Company, Hughes Aircraft Company, Douglas Aircraft Company, U.S. Air Force Logistics Command, U.S. Dept. of Defense, U.S. Air Force Academy, Air War College, Air Force Academy Foundation, Air Force Historical Foundation, and Falcon Foundation. Also documents Eaker's postwar trips to Europe including visits with Allied associates in Great Britain, briefings at NATO headquarters in Paris, and an interview with former Nazi insider Albert Speer. Eaker's newspaper columns (1962-1980) relate to defense budgets, national security, Vietnamese conflict, military strength of the U.S. and the Soviet Union, space program, Middle East, and Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

Includes recollections of military leaders such as James Harold Doolittle, James E. Fechet, Benjamin Delahauf Foulois, Nathan F. Twining, Oscar Westover, and businessmen such as Howard Hughes. Correspondents in Part II include Donald W. Douglas, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Hunter Harris, Houston Harte, Harris B. Hull, Glenn Jackson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Beirne Lay, Curtis E. LeMay, James Parton, Virgil Pinkley, Elwood R. Quesada, Eddie Rickenbacker, Sir John Cotesworth Slessor, Carl Spaatz, and John Hay Whitney.

Audiotapes transferred to Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

Some photographs transferred to Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

U.S. Army officer, U.S. Air Force officer, aviation pioneer, aircraft industry executive, and newspaper columnist.

Collection material in English.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room and at

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms003051