Frederick J. Noonan and Mary Beatrice Noonan papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSP 224

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Frederick J. Noonan and Mary Beatrice Noonan papers (1930-2008; 1.13 cubic feet) document Frederick Noonan’s career as a navigator for Pan American Airways’ China Clipper and as navigator for Amelia Earhart’s 1937 world flight attempt. The papers are primarily comprised of letters and telegrams from Fred Noonan to Mary Beatrice Noonan sent home during his June – July 1937 world flight attempt with Amelia Earhart. The collection features original... photographs taken of Amelia Earhart and Frederick Noonan at stops along their world flight attempt. Printed materials in the collection include newspaper clippings about Mary Beatrice Noonan and George Palmer Putnam waiting for word of their spouses survival in the days and months following their last reported communication with the Itasca vessel. An oversized extensive scrapbook documents the first flight of Pan American Airways China Clipper in 1935, Noonan’s career as a navigator, the 1938 fatal crash of Pan American Airways’ Samoan Clipper, and Mary Beatrice Noonan’s appearance in the press in 1938. Other printed materials include publications about the continued search for the wreckage from Earhart and Noonan’s last flight. Types of materials include: correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, newsclippings, photographs, artwork, and a scrapbook.

Dates

Creation: 1930-2008
Creation: Majority of material found within 1930-1937

Creator

Noonan, Frederick Joseph (1893-1937) (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material is in English.

Access Information

The collection is open for research.

Copyright and Use Information

Copyright held by Purdue University or original creator. Consult with Purdue University Archives and Special Collections prior to reproduction of materials.

Biographical Information

Frederick Joseph Noonan was born April 4, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. He spent his early career as a merchant seaman on a squar-rigged ship called The Crompton. Noonan then attended the Weems School of Navication in Annapolis, Maryland before starting working at Pan American World Airways in 1924. He completed trips across the Pacific Ocean with a flying boat named the China Clipper and worked on mapping air routes to various countries across the Pacific... Ocean.

Mary Beatrice Noonan (born Mary Beatrice Martineli) was born in 1897 and worked as a hairdresser in Oakland, California. Fred and Mary Beatrice were married on March 27, 1937.

In June 1937, Frederick Noonan served as navigator for aviatrix Amelia Earhart as she made her second world flight attempt, taking off from Miami, Florida. After completing 22,000 miles of the flight, Amelia and Fred Noonan departed from Lae, New Guinea en route to tiny Howland Island. They experienced radio and weather difficulties and eventually lost radio contact with the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca on July 2, 1937. Despite a massive search authorized by the U.S. government, no trace of Earhart, Noonan, or the Lockheed Electra was ever found. On July 18, the government abandoned its search, although George Putnam continued to finance his own search until October 1937. In 1939, Frederick Noonan and Amelia Earhart were declared legally dead in Superior Court in Los Angeles. The whereabouts of Earhart and Noonan remains a mystery, and is the subject of much speculation to this day.

Mary Beatrice remarried twice after Noonan's disappearance; her last marriage was to Harold B. Ireland. She passed away in 1978 in Santa Barbara, California.

Source(s):

Lovell, M. (1989). The sound of wings : The life of Amelia Earhart (1st ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press.

Hanes, E. (2024). "Amelia Earhart’s Navigator: The Life and Loss of Fred Noonan" History.com

Material found within Purdue University Archives and Special Collections papers: MSP 9, MSP 224

Extent

1.13 Cubic Feet (One legal manuscript box, one flat box, and one oversized flat folder)

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Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence, photographs, newsclippings, and scrapbook, relating to Frederick Noonan’s career as a navigator for Pan American Airways China Clipper and as navigator for Amelia Earhart’s 1937 world flight attempt.

Arrangement

The collection consists of three series.

Correspondence
Photographs
Publications and Graphic Materials

Custodial History

The collection was puchased by Purdue University Archives and Special Collections from Bonhams Auctions in 2016. Ownership history of the materials before 2016 is unknown.

Acquisition Information

The collection was puchased through Bonhams Auctions in 2016 and arrived to the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections in 2016 and 2019.

Related Materials

MSP 9, George Palmer Putnam collection of Amelia Earhart papers, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University Libraries.

MSF 450, Amelia Earhart at Purdue papers, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University Libraries.

20190315, Paul Rafford Jr. papers on Amelia Earhart, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University Libraries.

20160901, Albert Paul Mantz papers

Processing Information

All materials have been housed in acid-free folders and boxes. Photographs have been placed in mylar sleeves. An oversized piece of artwork has been removed from its original framing due to the frame's acidic backing and general deterioration.