P 395 Edward V. Rickenbacker Photograph Collection

              P 395
Edward V. Rickenbacker Photograph Collection
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Manuscripts/ Audiovisual Collections
P 395
Edward V. Rickenbacker Photograph Collection
Ca. 1900- 1965
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number:
P 395
Title:
Edward V. Rickenbacker Photograph Collection
Creator:
Unknown
Dates:
Ca. 1900- 1965
Media:
Photographs, black and white
Quantity:
0.66 cubic feet
Location:
Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE COLLECTION
Edward V. “ Eddie” Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1890. He began working at the age of eleven, presumably because of the death of his father. He was employed at the Zenker Monument Company and The Columbus Firestone Automobile Manufacturing Company. Between 1909 and 1917 he was one of the top racecar drivers in the country.
In 1917 he enlisted in the United States Army and was offered the post of driver for General John J. Pershing. Eventually he was transferred to the United States Air Service and was sent to Tours, France to learn to fly. There he was assigned to the 94th Aero- Squadron and his combat ability earned him the title of Ace Of Aces. In 1930, he received the Medal of Honor for his service in World War I.
Following the war he returned to the business of manufacturing automobiles, and ran his own company, The Rickenbacker Motor Car Company for five years. In 1927 he raised $ 700,000 and bought the Indianapolis Speedway, which he owned until 1945. In 1935, he became president of Eastern Airlines, a position he held for 30 years.
During World War II he traveled for the United States government as an inspector of the United States Air Forces and in 1942, while returning from a mission in the far east