hmrinehart

"Mrs. D.J. Mahoney" is Helen Harding Cox Mahoney (1896-1921), daughter of former Ohio governor and 1920 Democratic Party presidential nominee, James M. Cox. She is shaking hands with aviator Howard Rinehart, one of the Dayton-Wright RB-1 co-designers. (As mentioned in the note above, he is the "R" in the "RB-1" model designation. The "B" is co-designer Milton C. Baumann.) Helen Cox was married to Daniel J. Mahoney (1889-1963), general manager for one of the newspapers owned by her father. Her father's business would eventually become today's Cox Communications. Sadly, she would pass away the following year at the age of 25, after suffering from a bout of pneumonia. See: www.findagrave.com/memorial/145206723/helen-harding-mahoney www.findagrave.com/memorial/179129316/daniel-j-mahoney

Here is Helen Cox Mahoney earlier in the LoC Bain Flickr photostream:

"Dismantled and shipped to France, the RB-1 was flown by Howard Rinehart in the 28 September 1920 race, but was forced to withdraw after a cable failure prevented full retraction of the gear/flap mechanism,"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton-Wright_Racer
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These appear to be figures in early aviation. A site devoted to that subject says that this photo misidentifies one of the subjects: "Howard Rinehart, J. S. Berger & William Conover "The group photo with Howard, J.S. Beyer (wrong), and William Conover is a gem. This is a group shot, perhaps taken in Mexico with J. S. BERGER in the middle. It seems to me that this should have been corrected at the Library of Congress." Correction by John Edwards Courtesy of Rob Grant, 1-28-08 Library of Congress Collection, 9-25-07" More at; earlyaviators.com/erineha1.htm

1920's tournament in France was the final Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy race, a competition that was held six times, and began in 1909.
"The Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy was an international airplane racing trophy awarded by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the American owner and publisher of the New York Herald newspaper. The trophy is one of three Gordon Bennett awards: Bennett was also the sponsor of an automobile race and a ballooning competition."
The pictured plane competed, but did not finish the race.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bennett_Trophy_(aeroplanes) See also

This is the Dayton-Wright RB-1 Racer, built to compete in the 1920 Gordon Bennett Cup (like the Verville-Packard R-1 Racer also in the most recent posting of Bain photos). It is still extant as an exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton-Wright_Racer

"Dismantled and shipped to France, the RB-1 was flown by Howard Rinehart in the 28 September 1920 race, but was forced to withdraw after a cable failure prevented full retraction of the gear/flap mechanism,"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton-Wright_Racer
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