guggenheim

Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim Straus (1895-1980), daughter of Daniel and Florence Guggenheim, wife of Roger Williams Straus Sr. (1891-1957), mother of Roger Williams Straus Jr. (1917-2004), the co-founder of publishing company Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_W._Straus,_Jr.

I added her to Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Guggenheim

pennylrichardsca: Thank you for the information about Gladys Straus. We will add some of it to the record when we update.

A photo of the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" at Curtiss Field (adjacent to Roosevelt Field) on Long Island, after the replacement of the original nose cone. Standing from left to right are, B.F. Mahoney, Harry F. Guggenheim, Lindbergh, and Charles Lawrance. Mahoney was the owner of Ryan Airlines, the builders of the "Spirit of St. Louis." Guggenheim, a wealthy buinessman and philanthropist from the North Shore of Long Island, had just met Lindbergh. After Lindbergh's triumphant return to the US, he and Guggenheim would assist the work of another aviation pioneer, Robert F. Goddard. Lawrance was an aeronautical engineer who was instrumental in the development of the air-cooled radial engine. His own company, the Lawrance Aero Engine Company, was purchased by Wright Aeronautical in 1923. In 1925, Lawrance would become the president of Wright Aeronautical and lead the development of the Wright J-5 Whirlwind that powered the "Spirit of St. Louis."

BF Mahoney had already purchased Ryan Aircraft. BF kept the name of the company as Ryan Aircraft leading to some confusion. see link: www.charleslindbergh.com/plane/mahoney.asp

This appears to be Guggenheim's testimony before the Walsh Commission at New York's City Hall on January 21, 1915. Guggenheim was a copper magnate. Other pictures from the Commission hearings in New York are in the Bain collection: www.flickr.com/search/?w=8623220@N02&q=walsh%20commis... I don't know why the picture is dated 1926. Perhaps it was pulled for another use at that time.

artolog, You're correct - this definitely seems to be a photograph of Guggenheim's testimony before the Walsh Commission. And yes, I think your supposition about the other date on the image reflecting a later usage is correct as well. On January 18, 1926, the date on the photo, Guggenheim was in the news for pledging $2.5 million to then Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover in order to establish the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. We will update the record to reflect more details - as well as make sure the other images from the Walsh Commission hearings are more accurately labeled. Thanks for your help!

Mystery solved.. and you're welcome.. I've learned a lot from dipping into the Walsh Commission history as a result of LOC's sharing of these photos. There was a lot of rage, anarchy and revolution in the air, and the Commission brought the key players, as well as social and economic thinkers and doers together for a public examination of the ills of Capitalism at the end of the Gilded Age. Though it had no power to do anything, it showed people that we were a democracy where controversial issues could be examined publicly.