Nordhoff and Dunnam Families Collection

Title

Nordhoff and Dunnam Families Collection

Description

The Nordhoff and Dunnam Families Collection contains papers, photographs, and assorted ephemera spanning 1916-2012 and relating to Arthur Nordhoff (World War I pilot); his wife, Thelma Miller Nordhoff (Signal Corps); their daughter, Nancy Nordhoff Dunnam (WASP); and her husband James Joseph Dunnam (World War II Battalion Commander). The collection is organized by family member.

The Arthur Nordhoff series of the collection consists of three black-and-white photographs of Arthur in uniform and with his military unit. Two of the three photographs have no annotations, but one is labeled "At M.I.T. 1916."

The Thelma Miller Nordhoff series consists of two black-and-white photographs of Thelma in her Signal Corps uniform and one black-and-white photograph of Thelma in uniform with a cousin who was serving in the Navy (also in uniform).

The James Dunnam series consists of a black-and-white photograph of James in uniform at his desk, his flight class yearbook, and diplomas for Army training courses he completed. Also filed in this series are items relating to Bellevue Airfield. There are two business cards citing Dunnam as president, a survey prepared for "A.A. Nordhoff," and one black-and-white aerial photograph.

The Nancy Nordhoff Dunnam series is the largest series in the collection and concerns her work as a WASP during World War II. It includes black-and-white and color photographs of Dunnam in uniform, posing with aircraft, and from the WASP Congressional Medal Ceremony. There are also official military paperwork, newspaper clippings, and a roster of women who served as WASPs. The roster includes Nancy's annotations (such as address changes for friends), and pieces of ephemera found loose in the roster include correspondence, an obituary, and more address changes. There are two short snorters that were removed from a wallet containing Nancy's ID cards. These short snorters belonged to her brother, Arthur E. Nordhoff, but have been left with the other wallet items to preserve context.

Digitized Materials: Selections from all four series have been digitized. Several objects have also been digitized, including items related to Nancy Nordhoff Dunnam's WASP career, an identification bracelet owned by Thelma Miller Nordhoff, and some commemorative items related to the Apollo missions.

Please note that materials on TMOF: Digital Collections are presented as historical objects and are unaltered and uncensored. See our Disclaimers and Policies page for more information.

Date

1916-2012

Language

All materials are in English.

Rights Holder

The Museum of Flight Archives

Rights

Permission to publish material from the Nordhoff and Dunnam Families Collection must be obtained from The Museum of Flight Archives.

Bibliographic Citation

The Nordhoff and Dunnam Families Collection/The Museum of Flight

Identifier

2018-08-13

Collection Organization

Collection Items

Plaque/Apollo 11 moon replica
Apollo 11 replica moon landing plaque. Square bronze plaque. Earth and the Apollo 11 astronauts names written on the plaque along with quote. "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, AD. We came in peace for all…

Patch, Sapce/Apollo 14, flown
Apollo 14 patch. Names of the crewmembers written on the bottom, "Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell." Circular patch with blue background, ring of gold and brown outline. Earth and the Moon in the center with a star shooting from Earth towards the Moon.

Tag, Identification/Dog tag, Signal Corps, A.E.F., Thelma Miller
Round, silver identification dog tag. "Thelma Miller, Signal Corps AEF." Two chains coming off of the sides.

Kit, Sewing/WASP
WASP sewing kit. Cloth tied together with string.

Pin, Military/WASP pilot wings
Silver WASP pilot wings. Pin in the shape of wings with diamond shape in the middle. Two pin backs on the back.

Award/WASP Congressional Medal of Honor
Gold WASP Congressional Medal of Honor in box. Circular gold medal with 4 women pilots, 3 walking and one in profile, and a plane on front. "Women Airforce Service Pilots 1942-1944" around edges. Back side of medal has raised relief image of 3…

Scarf/WASP
Blue and white scarf. "Women Airforce Service Pilots" written over the entire scarf. "WASP WWII" and wings in parts.

Pin, Military/USAAF
Small gold USAAF pin in the shape of wings. Pin back in the shape of a flower on the back.

Link, Cuff/Airplane
Gold cuff link in the shape of an airplane.

Pin. Lapel/Caterpillar Club
Small gold Caterpillar Club pin. Pin in the shape of a caterpillar with the pin back on the back.
View all 54 items