august61913

Harold "Harry" Kantner was an exhibition pilot, airplane builder, and an instructor at the Moisant Aviation School at Hempstead Plains, near Garden City, Long Island: earlyaviators.com/ekantner.htm "In the winter of 1912-13 he designed and built a new Moisant Military Scout. Known as the Kantner-Moisant Bluebird, the machine could be taken apart in four minutes and reassembled in eight. Superbly constructed, the Bluebird was successful from the start." Here Kantner is demonstrating the military plane for Navy officers. The photo negative is dated August 6, 1913. Kantner wears goggles, a sweater, and gloves. Either he has just landed, or is about to go aloft.

Captain (later Admiral) Albert Gleaves was appointed commander of the Presidential Yacht in 1901. He maintained a friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt that lasted until TR's death on January 6, 1919. Gleaves wrote several books on naval history, and an autobiography.

Wikipedia links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_D._Kantner en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Gleaves

Wystan: Thanks for noticing the date on the neg. and for providing us with the full names for these folks. We'll add these to the description next time we update.

Harold Kantner Aero Club of America Pilot # 65 October 14,1911 Capt Albert Gleaves USN Commandant Brooklyn Navy Yard June 1912 - Oct or Nov 1914 The photo can be dated to July 26, 1913 location : Hempstead Plains Aviation Field Garden City, Long Island , New York ".. before a crowd of two thousand .. Navy Aviation Day.. " " .. the purpose of demonstrating to Naval officials the efficiency of the aircraft for purposes of war." ( New York Herald July 27, 1913) article has photo with Kantner, Gleaves,and aircraft

I *think* this is the future Umberto II, the last King of Italy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_II_of_Italy

captainslack: We have another copy of this photograph (in a different collection) which has not been digitized, and it is identified as the future Umberto II, so we can add that information to this record. Thanks for the heads up!

Some years later:

Daniel Guggenheim (July 9, 1856 – September 28, 1930) was an American industrialist and philanthropist, and a son of Meyer Guggenheim. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Guggenheim

Richard, Thank You for all your input on these photos. It makes them so much more interesting and easy to access for some of us. Have question, There appears to be a date on the lower left edge of this one I can't quite make out. I think it reads __/17/17. Maybe you can make it out . My eyes are to old and tired. Again Thank You.

I think that date may be 1912. LOC could check on the original negative to be sure. His brother, Benjamin Guggenheim, drowned in the sinking of the Titanic, April 20, 1912.

The date is quite hard to read, but I think it's 9/17/1912. Thanks for spotting it, Mona.

No, I thank you. I am honored to participate. However in saying that I have restudied the photo and am convinced the year is 1917. The top of the 7 is too square to be a 2. But the day of the month is rounded, it could be a 12. That 9 is backwards to the other numbers, (it messes with me. ) 9/12/17 looks good to me. Maybe we'll get lucky and find where it was used, and it may remain a mystery. Either way It Is History.. I truly enjoy this stream.