Hattie Meyers Junkin (1896-1985), was an aviator and observer of a number of historical events in the aviation industry. In 1917 she married George "Buck" Weaver (1895-1924), a civilian flying instructor at the military training center in Waco, Texas. Weaver, along with Clayton Bruckner and Elwood "Sam" Junkin, founded the Advanced Aircraft Company in 1921 (name was changed to Weaver Aircraft Company in 1922, and to Waco Aircraft Company in 1929). In 1924, "Buck" Weaver was killed testing an aircraft. A few months after Weaver's death, Hattie married Elwood "Sam" Junkin (1897-1926), but he died about a year later of a heart aliment. The control of Weaver Aircraft slipped away from Hattie to Bruckner resulting in litigation for control of the company. The result of the litigation was a partnership between Hattie and Bruckner. In 1929, she married Ralph Stanton Barnaby (1893-1986), a glider pilot and aviation pioneer. Always interested in aviation, in 1931 she became one of the first women to earn a glider class C license. She also spent time in academic pursuits studying law at the University of Washington (DC), although she was unable to take the bar exam. In 1940 she moved to Garden City, NJ where she remained until moving to Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1970s. Hattie spent much of her life writing, especially about gliding and about the history of the Weaver Aircraft Company.

This collection contains the personal papers of Hattie Meyers Junkin. The material consists of correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, periodical articles and manuscripts, including material about her three husbands and about the history of the Waco Aircraft Company. This collection could very easily be called the Hattie and George "Buck" Weaver collection since much of the collection material revolves around her life with him and his Weaver/Waco Aircraft Company legacy.

When the collection was donated to the National Air and Space Museum, Hattie attempted to organize the materials, sorting items into envelopes and labeling them or clipping content notes to various materials. Many of these notes did not correspond to the contents found in the folder or envelope at the time we began processing the collection. So a decision was made to reorganize according to accessibility and not necessarily according to these notes unless it was logical to do so. In other words, Hattie's attempts at organization has been respected as much as possible, without compromising the researchers ability to access the materials. All of her notes have either been retained in their original form or photocopied for preservation purposes. These notes have been placed in folders with contents most related to those items listed on the envelopes or in unmarked folders placed before the beginning of the series which contains most of the materials listed. A researcher should be able to easily reconstruct Hattie's original associations if they wish.

Some materials were originally attached to each other by paperclips, staples and photo album sleeves or were part of a contained package, such as a letter with a newspaper articles or photographs. These materials have been filed together and groups identified with acid free markers.

The collection has been divided into nine series. These series are described below.

Series I: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. This series is divided into two sub-series, personal and business correspondence. The personal correspondence materials consists primarily of letters written by George "Buck" Weaver to Hattie between 1917 to 1923. It also includes letters from family members, friends and acquaintances including Charles Meyers (Hattie's brother), Katherine Stinson, and "Matty" Emil Laird. There are also invitations, christmas cards and special occasion announcements. The business sub-series is comprised of mostly letters to publishers, but also includes letters to women's organizations, business associates, news media and other formal correspondence. Materials have been arranged chronologically.

Series II: SOARING AND GLIDING. This series contains primarily newspaper articles and photographs related directly to Ms. Junkin's soaring activities. There is also correspondence related directly to the topic of soaring, contest programs, bulletins and miscellaneous materials.

Series III: GENERAL MATERIALS OF HATTIE MEYERS JUNKIN. This series contains primarily her writings in major periodical publications, but also contains periodical articles about her children and her personal activities, club correspondence, Early Bird Dinner materials and other general materials.

Series IV: WACO COMPANY HISTORY. This series contains materials directly related to the Waco company and the activities of its founders including, early drafts of Hattie's history of the Waco Company-- The Human Investment in Waco Aircraft, Elwood "Sam" Junkin biography, materials related to the Bruckner litigation for control of the Waco Aircraft Company, photographs of early Waco aircraft, and publicity materials including a Waco $0.13 stamp.

Series V: GEORGE "BUCK" WEAVER MATERIALS. This series contains materials related directly to George "Buck" Weaver. Much of the material in this series pertains to Weaver's activities as a civilian aviation instructor, in Waco, Texas during World War I. Most of the materials found in this series were found together when processing began.

Series VI: SCRAPBOOKS. This series contains six scrapbooks dating primarily between the years 1914-1926. Much of the material pertains to George "Buck" Weaver's activities at Waco, Texas, his barnstorming activities, promotional activities for the Weaver Aircraft Company and his marriage to Hattie and their family life. Some of the more recent materials deals with Hattie's soaring activities. PLEASE NOTE: Most of the pages in these scrapbooks are loose and the materials fragile. PLEASE HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE.

Series VII: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS. This series contains materials that were organized by Ms. Junkin in a specific fashion or did not fit logically into any of the series listed. In most cases materials in this series are duplications, but their organization offers a researcher insight into materials she thought most important.

Series VIII: GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHS. This series contains general photographs which did not fit into any of the series above. Many of these photos are publicity shots or photos of family and friends.

Series IX: NEGATIVES. This series contains 72 negatives found in the collection. These have been separated out and rehoused as a preservation measure. Some of the negatives have prints, but most do not. These associations have been noted in the list below. They are described first by item number (i.e. #27), general topic (i.e Soaring and Gliding), subject and date if known, and if a print is available. They have been arranged by general topic groups. Please request assistance from a staff member when handling these negatives. The staff member will also be able to inform you of ordering procedures if you wish to order copies of these negatives and prints.

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives Division holds additional material about people related to Hattie Meyers Junkin, although at present this particular collection is all the information available about Hattie Meyers Junkin. Biographical information about Charles William Meyers and George "Buck" Weaver can be found in the biographical fiche collection at the NASM Archives/Garber Facility. Biographical material about Ralph Stanton Barnaby can be found in the Ralph Stanton Barnaby Collection (1915-1986), Accession number 1987-0048. It is also stored at the NASM Archives/Garber Facility. In the NASM Archives downtown facility, we recommend the biographical files which contains additional materials about George "Buck" Weaver and Charles William Meyers. There is also aircraft information available in the Waco Aircraft Technical Files found also in the NASM Archives downtown facility. For additional material related to aircraft, please see the Waco Aircraft Company Records, Accession number XXXX-0151. This collection contains mostly drawings of Waco aircraft and some company records. It is stored at the NASM Archives/Garber Facility.

For additional photographic materials about Charles William Meyers and Waco Aircraft, please see the NASM videodisc files located at the NASM Archives facility downtown. Images of Charles W. Weaver can be seen on NASM videodisc 2B-19072 to 2B-19078. Images of various types of Waco Aircraft can been seen on NASM videodiscs 1B, 2A, and 3B. In some cases, there are original videodisc prints available in the NASM Archives facility downtown and copy negatives at the Smithsonian Institution, Office of Printing and Photographic Services (OPPS). Please consult a staff member for more details and about ordering procedures.

Please Note: The scrapbooks should be handled with extreme care. It is strongly recommended that these materials be transferred to some type of preservation and ready access media such as microfilm, video disc or CD ROM.

This series is divided into two sub-series, personal and business correspondence. The personal correspondence materials consists primarily of letters written by George "Buck" Weaver to Hattie between 1917 to 1923, but it also includes letters from family members, friends and acquaintances including Charles Meyers (Hattie's brother), Katherine Stinson, and "Matty" Emil Laird. There are also invitations, christmas cards and special occasion announcements. The business sub-series is comprised of mostly letters to publishers, but also includes letters to women's organizations, business associates, news media and other formal correspondence. Materials have been arranged chronologically.

This series contains primarily newspaper articles and photographs related directly to Ms. Junkin's soaring activities. There is also correspondence related directly to the topic of soaring, contest programs and bulletins and miscellaneous materials.

This series contains primarily her writings in major periodical publications, but also contains periodical articles about her children and her personal activities, club correspondence, Early Bird Dinner materials and other general materials.

This series contains materials directly related to the Waco company and the activities of its founders, including early drafts of Hattie's history of the Waco Company--The Human Investment in Waco Aircraft, Elwood "Sam" Junkin biography, materials related to the Bruckner litigation for control of the Waco Aircraft Company, photographs of early Waco aircraft, and publicity materials including a Waco $0.13 stamp.

This series contains materials related directly to George "Buck" Weaver. Much of the material in this series pertains to Weaver's activities as a civilian aviation instructor, in Waco, Texas during World War I. Most of the materials in this series were found together when processing began.

This series contains six scrapbooks dating primarily between the years 1914-1926. Much of the material pertains to George "Buck" Weaver's activities at Waco, Texas, his barnstorming activities, promotional activities for the Weaver Aircraft Company and his marriage to Hattie and their family life. Some of the more recent materials deals with Hattie's soaring activities.

PLEASE NOTE: Most of the pages in these scrapbooks are loose and the materials fragile. PLEASE HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE.

This series contains materials that were organized by Ms. Junkin in a specific fashion or did not fit logically into any of the series listed above. In most cases materials in this series are duplications, but their organization offers a researcher insight into materials she thought most important.

This series contains general photographs which did not fit into any of the series above. Many of these photos are publicity shots or photos of family and friends.

This series contains 72 negatives found in the collection. These have been separated out and rehoused as a preservation measure. Some of the negatives have prints, but most do not. These associations have been noted in the list below. They are described first by item number (i.e. #27), general topic (i.e Soaring and Gliding), subject and date if known, and if a print is available. They have been arranged by general topic groups. Please request assistance from a staff member when handling these negatives. The staff member will also be able to inform you of ordering procedures if you wish to order copies of these negatives and prints.