Jimmie Wedell would never enter the MacRobertson Race from England to Australia. The Gypsy Moth in which he was giving a lesson crashed just outside of Patterson on June 24, 1934. Wedell died instantly. The funeral procession led from Patterson to New Orleans and then ended in West Columbia, Texas. The aviation industry had lost a pioneer and promoter; this tragedy was followed by the death of his brother, Walter Wedell, in 1935 under mysterious circumstances.
Harry Williams carried on the business, but he had lost the heart of the company and a dear friend. The company also started to decline in New Orleans because of competition with the newly opened Shushan Airport. This problem prompted the Wedell-Williams to relocate its office to the lakefront airport and to use its Jefferson Parish airport as an emergency landing field.
The company experienced another tragedy when Williams' plane went down outside of Baton Rouge in 1936. Williams’s wife, Marguerite, took over as president and majority stockholder, but the air service was losing money. Within six months, Mrs. Williams sold the air service to Eddie Rickenbacker of Eastern Airlines.
The Patterson Airport came under the State of Louisiana’s jurisdiction in 1947, and it was renamed the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport. The airport experienced many improvements and underwent expansion. Despite fluctuations in business related to the oil industry, the airport remains today to serve St. Mary Parish and the Central Louisiana Gulf Coast.
]]>The Wedell-Williams Air Service pilots entered air races across the country from 1928 through 1935. These races kept the viewers in suspense as the aircraft circled the pylons that marked the race course. The crowds usually only saw a portion of the race due to the immense size of the race course, making for short periods of excitement followed by long periods offering nothing to watch.
By the 1930s, air races learned to incorporate more than just racing in order to attract larger audiences, so race coordinators would include parachute jumps, aerial stunts, and military flight demonstrations.
Though he struck people as shy and reserved, Jimmie Wedell loved to show off to the crowd whenever he flew in air shows. Wedell entered the 1930 races with the We-Will Jr. The National Air Derby put Wedell in contention with the nation’s greatest pilots, but a problem with his plane in Los Angeles as well as a stop to help a downed pilot on the way to Chicago caused Wedell to lose.
Racers often coped with mechanical problems, and Wedell was fortunate never to experience a devastating crash during his races. Other pilots were not so lucky. Merle Nelson died during the Pan-American Air Races in 1934 when his plane caught fire. This crash and others did not help to abate the general public's fear of flying, which was prevalent in the 1930s. Air service and airplane manufacturer advertizing campaigns sought to educate the public about the comfort and speed of air travel to help relieve fears. Such efforts worked for many who realized that flying could be no more dangerous or uncomfortable than riding in a car or taking a train.
Each year, Wedell-designed planes fared better in competition. At the National Air Races held in Chicago in August 1930, Wedell won third in the men’s 25 mile free-for-all. In 1932, Wedell and Jimmy Haizlip, piloting the #92, broke two of Jimmy Doolittle’s speed records. Haizlip accomplished this in the 1932 Bendix race and Wedell did the same in a transcontinental trip from Mexico City to Ottawa. The high point came in 1933, when Wedell, flying his iconic #44, broke the land speed record; later in the year he won the Thompson Trophy at the 1933 National Air Races. Though Wedell had much earlier won the trust of Harry Williams, his financial baker, these 1933 accomplishments proved that Williams made the right choice in backing Wedell’s ideas.
]]>The air service at Patterson performed transportation and maintenance services and built the racing planes which brought fame to Wedell-Williams.
The Air Service’s routes usually started and terminated in New Orleans, but Patterson’s connection to New Orleans brought the town closer to cities like Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria, Dallas, and even Laredo, TX, next to the Mexican border. One air route went from New Orleans directly to Patterson, then Beaumont and on to Houston. Air routes in the 1930s were similar to train routes, with a main route from Point A to Point B, but with several stops on the way for refueling and maintenance. The aviation industry shared similarities with other transport industries in the beginning. As with trains, planes could transport a group of people more quickly than automobiles; like cars, planes could be privately owned.
Jimmy Wedell’s passion for building fast planes distinguished Wedell-Williams from other air service operations. His first planes were the We-Will and its smaller twin, We-Will, Jr. The We-Will was designed to carry mail faster than any other planes, which Williams thought would help him secure an airmail contract. US airmail delivery routes were hotly contested among air transport companies.
Small air service companies, including the Wedell-Williams Air Service, complained of unfair practices in the awarding of government contracts. The “Airmail Scandal” required action, and on February 9, 1934, Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that cancelled all airmail contracts in favor of the military.
Army Air Corps pilots did not know the routes, causing disastrous results. Airmail went back to private companies, but with the stipulation that no previous holder of a government contract would be considered. The air service eventually received an airmail route from New Orleans to Houston.
While the transportation aspect of the air service fluctuated due to the Great Depression, Wedell kept building and racing planes. Wedell would start with small sketches before building the plane from the ground up. Once complete, the plane would undergo numerous test flights to determine its speed capabilities. When Wedell was satisfied with the plane, it would be sold to the person who had commissioned it. Those Wedell built for himself would be flown in many air races across the country.
]]>After the formation of the Wedell-Williams Air Service, Harry Williams established a base of operations on what was once Calumet Plantation by clearing a sugarcane field. This airport offered hangars and a grass landing field, but it also featured the facilities for building Wedell’s famous racing planes. Though none of the original buildings exist today, some of the present buildings occupy, more or less, the same places as the originals.
Building the hangars and planes provided some construction work for the locals, thus strengthening the economy. As seen in Patterson, other towns throughout the United States built airports to attract business and visitors.
The Wedell-Williams Airport in Patterson exemplifies other rural airports built during the Golden Age of Aviation. They typically had few buildings and a turf runway, but little else was necessary for an airport. Though the accommodations may seem paltry, the airport was still equipped to accept chartered, cargo, and passenger flights.
]]>In 1928, Harry Williams, lumberman and former mayor of Patterson, LA, met Menefee Airways pilot James (Jimmy) Wedell. Wedell gave Williams flying lessons. The two instantly became friends despite their highly dissimilar backgrounds.
Wedell came from a working-class family. From an early age, Wedell showed a capacity for building engines, having completed his first one as a teenager. Following a motorcycle accident that threw Wedell face-first into a pile of oyster shells, Wedell was blind in one eye and thus disqualified from flying in World War I. A barnstormer (stunt pilot) taught Wedell how to fly and Wedell soon became a barnstormer himself. When Wedell's brother, Walter, also became a barnstormer after serving in the army during World War I. The Wedell brothers began working for James Menefee, a car salesman in New Orleans, at an airport in St. Bernard Parish.
Harry Williams was born and raised in Patterson, LA. Williams' father, Frank B. Williams, was a wealthy lumberman known as "The Cypress King." After serving in World War I, Harry Williams worked for the cypress company and developed a love for speed that included fast cars and boats. Williams married silent screen star Marguerite Clark. After watching Jimmy Wedell fly, Williams understood the airplane’s potential for speed, igniting a passion for aviation and its promotion. Wedell’s had ideas about how to build faster airplanes. Fascinated, Williams backed Wedell's ideas financially and in May 1929, the Wedell-Williams Air Service came into existence.
]]>The Air Service hit its height in 1933 and 1934, but it experienced a period of decline partially due to the construction of the Shushan Airport in November 1933. The air service took a bigger hit with the death of Jimmy Wedell in June 1934. His plane crashed during a training flight not far from the airport in Patterson, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. The air service lost its vice president and major creative mind. Wedell held the world speed record at the time of his death.
The air service would lose another major creative mind with the death of Jimmy’s brother, Walter Wedell, in a plane crash in July 1935. He and a passenger went down in the Gulf of Mexico. The circumstances of the crash remain mysterious.
The final death-knell of the air service was the death of Harry Williams, the president, majority stockholder, and biggest financial supporter. His plane went down just outside of Baton Rouge, killing both him and John Worthen, a Wedell-Williams pilot. Williams's wife, Marguerite Clark Williams, assumed presidency of the company, but falling revenues and competition with the Shushan Airport (now the New Orleans Lakefront Airport) left an opening for other aviation companies to buy the air service. Eastern Airlines, in particular, was interested in buying the air service to take possession of the airmail route from New Orleans to Houston, which would allow Eastern Airlines to break into the Texas market and take possession of the air service’s fleet of airplanes. By 1937, Mrs. Williams sold the company to Eastern Airlines’s general manager, Eddie Rickenbacker, thus ending the Wedell-Williams Air Service.
]]>The Wedell-Williams Air Service clearly took little time to establish itself in New Orleans. In July 1929, two months after Wedell and Williams founded the company, Wedell inaugurated a route to St. Louis, MO. In the same month, the air service opened a line from New Orleans to Shreveport, establishing an airport there as well.
When the Great Depression began in November 1929, the air service had to downsize, but it managed to expand the New Orleans–Shreveport route to include Dallas and Fort Worth. By July 1, 1930, a line to Houston opened through Patterson and Beaumont, TX. The company could not evade the debilitating effects of the Great Depression for long, though. By the end of 1931, the air service discontinued air transportation altogether in favor of building and racing planes.
One of the problems for the air service besides the bad economic environment was the contention for mail routes. In early 1931, the air service failed to attain a mail route and had to shrink the air service even more. Many small airlines had problems securing airmail contracts, and some of them accused the Postal Service of unfair practices.
President Franklin Roosevelt tried to resolve this issue, which became known as the Air Mail Scandal, on February 9, 1934 by issuing an executive order to cancel all airmail contracts in favor of the military. This move proved disastrous, for the military pilots did not know the routes and often crashed. Ultimately, the airmail routes reverted to civilian hands with the condition that all previous holders of government contracts would not receive consideration. This allowed previously ignored air services to secure airmail contracts. The Wedell-Williams Air Service would eventually obtain a mail route from New Orleans to Houston.
During that brief hiatus from transportation, the air service focused on what had made their reputation: building and racing planes. Jimmie Wedell, Jimmy Haizlip, his wife Mary Haizlip, and Roscoe Turner attained fame flying in Wedell’s designs. Wedell and Turner flew in races before 1932 and won some awards, but in the 1932 racing season, the air service had its dream team.
1933 was the height of Wedell’s aviation career, breaking numerous records and winning numerous races. The year also saw the re-establishment of transportation lines to Texas, which carried people and mail to Houston and connecting flights across the country. The Air Service remained a local business, but it gained a national reach.
]]>The Wedell-Williams Airport saw quite a bit of excitement after it opened in early 1931. The Ford company sponsored a series of annual air tours dubbed “The National Air Tour,” with the 1931 tour being the final one. The National Air Tour, led by referee Major James Doolittle, stopped in New Orleans for the first time at the airport the following July. Such air tours promoted aviation in the United States, and for a few days national eyes rested on New Orleans as the pilots stopped at the Wedell-Williams Airport.
Like many other airports of the time, the Wedell-Williams Airport hosted aerial spectacles. On April 6th, 1932, possibly in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of America's entrance into World War I, flyers performed a mock aerial battle over Canal St. and over the Wedell-Williams Airport. The 1932 New Orleans Carnival of the Air also featured fliers, but instead of seeing aerial battles, spectators saw death-defying stunts and races. They were possibly watching the events from where you are standing right now, which in the 1930s, was flat, grassy, and perfect for watching the planes. Wedell showcased his now-famous #44 in this event, but Edith Fasterling almost overshadowed that bright red racer when she crashed her plane a mile away from the airport.
Crashes and dangerous aerial stunts piqued people’s fascination with airplanes, but it hurt aviation’s viability as a safe mode of transportation. Education in advertising and the constant pursuit of safety and comfortable transportation helped the aviation industry attract apprehensive passengers. The use of planes for tourism and business transactions demonstrated that planes might not be more dangerous than taking a train or riding in a car. Though the pilots of the Wedell-Williams Air Service often showcased their daring at air shows and races, safety remained a top priority.
]]>The Wedell-Williams Air Service sold and distributed planes, taught the next generation of pilots and mechanics, and transported passengers.
To sell planes, the air service received informational pamphlets from aircraft companies on new planes coming out of the factories. The service’s sales representatives gave these pamphlets to potential customers and, if the customer showed interest, the service would arrange to buy the plane for the customer. For the efforts to sell the plane, the air service received a commission (usually ten percent).
If that customer did not know how to fly an aircraft, then he could enroll in the Wedell-Williams Flying School to learn. Depending on the kind of license the customer wanted, lessons would cost $600 (for a private license) to $3500 (for a transport license). Private licenses were best for private planes, but if one wanted to work as a pilot, he would have to get the transport license. Mechanic’s school cost $200 for those who did not want to fly a plane or for those who wanted to work in the aviation industry while studying for a pilot's license. Completing lessons with the air service did not give students a license, but it made them qualified to apply. Once that student had the license, he was able to fly.
Air transportation allowed people to travel from New Orleans to Shreveport, Houston, or St. Louis in only a few hours. These transport routes worked like a train route, with several stops in between the beginning point and the ending point. The Wedell-Williams Air Service operated many routes out of New Orleans and Patterson.
]]>As the Wedell-Williams Air Service expanded their air service, a new airport was under construction near Harahan in Jefferson Parish. Costing $63,000, the airport featured a 100 foot x 120 foot steel arch weld hangar with a concrete floor, complete with light water and compressed air lines, two underground gasoline pits and tanks, flood landing lights, a concrete airplane wash platform, and gravel roadways and parking lot.
In many other parts of the country, air companies constructed new airports to link major American cities together. This link allowed for faster travel, which benefited both tourism and trade; aviation services boosted the economy, even during the Great Depression.
]]>The Wedell-Williams Air Service originated on May 1, 1929, a time in which American aviation was full of potential. As increasing numbers of people attained pilot’s licenses, more air routes came into existence, and airplane exports increased. Originally operating out of the Wedell-Williams Airport in Patterson, Louisiana, the company set up a new location in New Orleans to expand their business.
James Wedell, the President of the air service, had previously worked for James Menefee of Menefee Airways in New Orleans. Harry Williams, Vice President of the Air Service and major financial backer of the company, bought out the company, gaining Menefee's airfield and equipment.
The Wedell-Williams Air Service used the Menefee Airfield in St. Bernard Parish while the new Wedell-Williams Airport was under construction in Jefferson Parish. The air service provided flight education and passenger service from its temporary home until the new airport was ready in 1931.
]]>In the 1930s Shushan Airport was one of the most advanced airports in the country. During the airport's heyday, the Orleans Levee Board extended the airports' runways numerous times to accommodate the newer and increasingly larger passenger planes, but this growth and success soon came to an end.
The success of Shushan Airport were due in large part to the work of a few key individuals, all of whom were incapacitated soon after the airport's opening. Between 1935 and 1936, the founders of Wedell and Williams Air Service died in plane crashes. In 1935, Huey P. Long was assassinated. In 1941, after years of corruption scandals, the Louisiana Supreme Court convicted Abe Shushan of wire fraud.
In order to distance the airport from association with Shushan's political scandals, authorities renamed Shushan Airport the New Orleans Lakefront Airport.
Following World War II, the airport lost commercial flights to Moisant Field (now Louis Armstrong International Airport), but it continues to handle personal and company flights, flight schools, and some military flights.
]]>In 1936, a $250,000 Works Progress Administration beautification project took place at the airport and included extensive landscaping, paving roads and runways, and this fountain. Enrique Alférez sculpted each statue to represent one of the four winds, hence the name “The Fountain of the Four Winds.”
This project signified early federal involvement in the construction of airports. Because of the Great Depression, the federal government helped cash-strapped cities improve their airports. Federal involvement helped the unemployed, but it also kept airports up-to-date in case the military needed them. This need would arise in World War II, when the military commandeered airports, including the Shushan Airport.
Despite the stunningly attractive airport, by 1939 Louisiana and federal government officials could no longer ignore the rampant embezzlement of government money, including WPA funds. Coming to light in “the Scandals” were examples of, Shushan and the Orleans Levee Board inflating the savings collected from the bonds sold for the lakefront project in order to give themselves a significant amount of money. Shushan and other officials were indicted and convicted of tax evasion and fraud. Shushan went to prison, and though President Truman pardoned him, the damage was done. The Shushan Airport was renamed the New Orleans Municipal Airport.
For the final part of the tour, walk toward the hangar across the street and face the administration building.
]]>The art deco administration building epitomized a fine combination of form and function. Not simply a place for travelers to wait for their flights, the airport allowed white New Orleanians to relax and entertain themselves. Observation decks and loggias (porches) on the other side of the building encouraged people to watch the planes land while enjoying a meal in the climate controlled building. Locals could also view Xavier Gonzalez's artwork that graced the second floor or attend parties on the roof or in the banquet hall. The Orleans Levee Board believed that the luxuriously-appointed building showed the taxpayers that the $4 million had gone to good use, and it promoted the airport's image as an international transportation hub.
To learn about the Works Progress Administration’s improvements of the airport, walk across the driveway and through the lawn to the left until you reach the empty fountain.
]]>On February 9, 1934, the first Mardi Gras after Prohibition was repealed, hundreds of people crowded around the airport to see the Pan-American Air Races. Abraham Shushan, the Henderson brothers (air race promoters), and Harry Williams planned these races, which included Central and South American flyers and dignitaries. The pilots represented all cities in Louisiana, including notable pilots Jimmy Haizlip, Roscoe Turner, and Jimmie Wedell. The 20th Attack Squadron from Barksdale Airfield (known today as Barksdale Air Force Base) also performed, demonstrating the importance of air defense while simultaneously entertaining the crowds. The audience included Governor O.K. Allen, Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley, and Richard Leche.
Unfortunately, bad weather forced postponement of the dedication ceremony to February 14, but people enjoyed an exciting show with death-defying stunts when the races resumed. These stunts led to a few accidents, including the death of Captain Merle Nelson. Though he had survived the night flight crash, he burned alive after his plane exploded.
The races helped generate even more excitement for the airport, but it made aviation appear to be an extreme sport rather than a safe way to travel. Some airplane manufacturers thought that marketing airplanes the same way automobile executives advertised cars would help. They did not realize the dream of an “airplane in every garage,” but business executives used planes heavily even in the Great Depression, which helped to show people that passenger planes were safe. After the air races, New Orleanians and many high-powered visitors knew that the city had taken a great leap ahead with their new airport.
]]>You are currently standing in front of the Lindbergh/Williams hangar. This hangar, the administration building behind you, and the Moffett hangar across the driveway were the airport’s original three buildings; space for nine more hangars and other auxiliary buildings remained available. The architectural firm Weiss, Dreyfous, and Seiferth executed the plans of William Arthur, who designed other modern airports in California. Shushan also consulted with aviation experts like Eddie Rickenbacker and Jimmy Doolittle, and he observed other modern airports to make certain that this one would have all the modern amenities. The construction companies hired local unemployed men because this was the Great Depression.
This hangar contains the first pile driven for the airport buildings, which was placed on May 20, 1932. While the buildings were under construction, the runways were active; the first plane landed in June 1932, though the airport would not officially open until November 1, 1933. In recognition of the airport’s modernity, the government installed a radio beacon. This hangar, along with the rest of the airport, filled and exceeded almost all of the government's expectations.
The experts who helped design the airport hailed it as the greatest in the country; though their opinion must have been biased, the airport was modern for the time, combining beauty and function. With a plan to accommodate bigger planes and heavier air traffic over the next five years, the architects and builders had the future in mind. By the time the buildings were completed, there was plenty of buzz about the airport from Arthur Brisbane’s national article and national advertising of the 1934 Pan-American Air Races.
To learn about the 1934 Pan-American Air Races hosted at the airport, walk toward the fence near the runway to your left.
]]>All of the land now occupied by the Lakefront Airport was once marshland home to numerous fishing camps. In 1922, Abraham Shushan, President of the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District, pushed for a lakefront improvement project to 'beautify' and industrialize the shore.
Prior to undertaking this project, Shushan consulted with leaders of other waterfront improvement projects including the coordinator of the Coney Island redevelopment project in New York City. The lakeshore improvement project came with a $15 million price tag. Funds for the project came from the sale of bonds and land on the improved lakeshore. The airport portion of the project cost $4 million.
Shushan's lakefront project had the support of Governor Huey Long; both men saw the need for a modern airport in New Orleans. In the 1920s, a period sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Aviation, having an airport was imperative for the commercial success of a modern city. By erecting an airport, Shushan and Long hoped New Orleans would be able to compete with Chicago as a transportation hub while forming stronger ties between New Orleans and Latin America. Louisiana’s landscape of waterways and difficult land routes made the area a good candidate for air transportation.
The lakefront project was one of many improvement projects that Long supported to modernize the state. With the cost of land inhibiting airport construction, the Orleans Levee Board thought that it was a good idea to put the airport on land “reclaimed” from the lake. Law dictated that lands under bodies of water were under the public domain, which meant that anti-Long political factions in New Orleans could not easily oppose the project. During legal battles with Long's political enemies and the fisherman living on the lakeshore, Shushan showed his dedication to the airport project. After winning these legal battles, Shushan and the Levee Board started letting contracts to build the seawall and airport in 1931.
While the airport certainly brought commercial success to the lakefront area, it also displaced hundreds of individuals who had previously worked on and occupied the marshland. Newspaper coverage of the "beautification" of the lakefront often vilified the previous inhabitants of the marshland, referring to the "camps" erected there as "disreputable" and "dilapidated." [2]
To learn about the buildings and innovations incorporated in the airport, cross the street and head to the door of the Harry Williams Hangar.
]]>In the fall of 1940, the Navy began improving its primary flight training facilities by building up its system of Naval Reserve air bases, including New Orleans. The lakefront base housed a steel hangar, barracks for 100 cadets, a small assembly, repair shop, storage for 50,000 gallons of fuel, and accommodations for 8,100 personnel.
In November 1942, the New Orleans installation was designated a Naval Air Station (NAS) and assumed the role of a primary training base for student naval aviators. By the end of 1943, the primary mission of the base shifted to the training of flight instructors for the duration of the war.
By July of 1946, the air station's mission changed again to training Navy and Marine Corps Air Reservists. In the late 1940s, the lakefront site was deemed inadequate due to urban growth in the area that made future jet operations unfeasible. A new site was located 15 miles south of the business center of New Orleans and across the Mississippi River in Placquemines Parish.
The Orleans Parish Levee Board acquired the site when the United States Navy abandoned the air station in late 1957. A quick renovation of barracks, service clubs, and other existing facilities made it possible to begin classes at Louisiana State University at New Orleans (LSUNO) in September 1958, a year ahead of the original schedule.
In September 1969, enrollment exceeded 10,000, making LSUNO the second-largest university in Louisiana. In February 1974, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a name change, and LSUNO became the University of New Orleans. The new name more accurately defined the institution as the metropolitan campus of the LSU System. UNO joined the University of Louisiana system in 2012.
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