DOCUMENTS

BACKGROUND Emile Choureé was a U.S. Navy pilot born in 1894. He was designated Naval Aviator #1591 in 1918 and married Catherine Davis in 1920. He was a career Navy officer, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He participated with Navy teams at the National Air Races where he served as the announcer at Naval aerobatic performances. He also flew support aircraft for the team, carrying mechanics and other support personnel, as well as tools and spares. He died in an air crash at Scott Field, East St. Louis, IL in January, 1938. He had two children. They and his wife survived him. A ship, the U.S.S. Choureé (ARV-1), posthumously was named after him. It was launched about a year before the end of WWII, on May 22, 1944, about six years after his passing. He collected and left behind a significant number of photographs, documents and memorabilia related to his naval career and personal life. These items are exhibited in the DOCUMENTS, OBJECTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PILOT LOG BOOKS and SCRAPBOOKS sections of his Collection.

THE DOCUMENTS

This section exhibits 20 documents relevant to Choureé's life in and out of the Navy. They are arranged roughly by date. One feature is a complete color program for the 1936 (16th annual) National Air Races available as a PDF download. We have no birth or baptismal certificate for Emile Choureé. The earliest certificate we have is from his graduation from grammar school at Gilroy, CA (Santa Clara) on June 16, 1908. Below is his diploma for that milestone.

Emile Choureé, Grammar School Diploma, June 16, 1908

Choureé graduated high school at Gilroy, CA June 28, 1912. Below is his diploma from the Gilroy High School.

Emile Choureé, High School Diploma, June 28, 1912

His was a fancy diploma, being covered, below, in soft, white leather, which appeared to be deer skin, with gold, embossed printing.

Emile Choureé, High School Diploma Cover, June 28, 1912

If you reviewed Choureé's biography page, linked above, you saw his draft registration card dated June 5, 1917. As of December 14, 1917, he was enlisted in the Navy. A couple of years later he was commissioned as an Ensign on September 23, 1920. His presidential commission, approved by Woodrow Wilson, is below.

Emile Choureé Ensign Commission, September 23, 1920

Shortly after, on May 15, 1920, he was given the provisional rank of lieutenant Junior Grade. The certification is below.

Emile Choureé Lieutenant Junior Grade Provisional Rank, May 15, 1920

Wedding Announcement, Undated & Unsourced

His marriage to Catherine Davis (1894-1985) in 1920 was announced in the undated and unsourced news article at right. Besides describing the bride's dress, the article summarizes the groom's naval assignments at Key West, Miami, Pensacola and the Canal Zone. These assignments are illustrated in the SCRAPBOOKS exhibited at the link.

A few things to clarify regarding this article and his rank. One of the points is the date of his wedding. The 1920 U.S. Census, taken early in the year, captured him living at the Naval Station at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. He was listed as an "Officer."

One of the photographs in his SCRAPBOOK kept while he was in Coco Solo from 1919-20 was of an amphibious Liberty-powered Flexstowe series F-5-L is dated April 8, 1920. He wore the epaulettes of an ensign in some of the other photos. And he was ranked lieutenant JG on May 15th.

Chances are his wedding was after May 15th, and the newspaper has his rank identified incorrectly. It should have been lieutenant JG.

Being in the Reserves for four years, he was made provisional lieutenant on February 9, 1921. That certification is below.

Emile Choureé Lieutenant Provisional Rank, February 9, 1921

On November 7, 1921 he was awarded the rank of lieutenant Junior Grade by Warren Harding, below.

Emile Choureé Lieutenant Junior Grade Commission, November 7, 1921

Sixteen months later, on February 17, 1923, he was awarded his permanent rank of lieutenant by presidential commission, below.

Emile Choureé Lieutenant Commission, February 17, 1923

As a lieutenant, Choureé attended post-graduate school at the Naval Academy in 1926 and left us a small number of his class notes and exams. Below, from April, 1926, is a grade of "Excellent" on a stress analysis laboratory report.

Emile Choureé Naval Academy Post-Graduate Examination, 1926

He was conferred a master of science degree in aeronatical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on June 7, 1927. His degree is below.

Emile Choureé, Master of Science, MIT, June 7, 1927

Almost contemporaneously, he earned a certificate from the Department of the Navy for completion of the aeronautical engineering course at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. That certification is below.

Emile Choureé, Naval Academy Certificate, September 30, 1927

For six years (maybe longer), from 1929 to 1934 inclusive, Emile Choureé participated with the U.S. Navy performance teams at the National Air Races (NAR). His experiences at the NAR were splendidly recorded and saved in a series of five (1929-1934) SCRAPBOOKS exhibited at the link.

We have pretty good documentation of his travels during his participation in the 1929 event. The following set of six Western Union telegrams document Choureé's flight across the country from San Diego to Cleveland for the 1929 NAR. They are addressed to his wife, who was then staying at the Hotel Stewart in San Francisco, CA. The first telegram documents Choureé's departure from San Diego. "LOVE BOTH" includes his wishes for his young daughter, Jeanne.

Choureé Telegram, August 17, 1929

The second telegram, dated August 18th, confirms that he did make it to El Paso, TX that day. Although not mentioned, his intermediate stop was at Tucson, which is documented at Choureé's biography page at the link.

Choureé Telegram, August 18, 1929

The third telegram, below, cites a delay in El Paso waiting for his squadron. Choureé was flying a support aircraft, the Sikorsky S-38 XPS-2 amphibian with Navy Bureau Number A-8090. He was the support aircraft for the "Nine High Hats," the Navy performance team that year. Choureé carried the mechanics and logistics people for the team, as well as tools and spares.

Choureé Telegram, August 19, 1929

Below, Choureé reports pleasant flying to Kansas City, MO. In addition to his telegrams, he wrote letters to his wife.

Choureé Telegram, August 22, 1929

Related to this last telegram is the following letter written the previous day by Choureé to his wife and daughter ("Dear Kids"). Both mention "Luck with the eyes," suggesting that Mrs. Choureé, or their daughter, was having vision problems. He describes the S-38 as "palatial," but it's wasn't really a large aircraft by today's standards. His letter was signed "Jim," which was a nickname.

Emile Choureé Letter, Wednesday, August 28, 1929

His fifth telegram, of August 24th, finds his wife moved to Mill Valley, CA, and him at Dayton, OH flying VIP tours for Army wives. He was "set for the week."

Choureé Telegram, August 24, 1929

The final telegram is datelined Cleveland, OH on Tuesday, in the midst of the 1929 NAR. That Charles Lindbergh flew with the Navy aerobatic team was a big deal, and one which was further documented in Choureé's 1929 scrapbook that he maintained for the the NAR. His statement, "...same last year" implies that he was at the NAR in 1928. His flight log book that might clear up this question is missing from his Collection. If you know the whereabouts of his flight log book that would document his flying from April, 1928 to September, 1930 please let me KNOW.

Choureé Telegram, August 27, 1929

Notice, on the eve of the 1929 Stock Market crash in October, Choureé mentions a "real" stock dividend, and the possibility of investigating a "new stock." Nothing showed up in his Collection that documents how his portfolio fared in October, the month in 1929 when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Regardless, this exchange of telegrams and letters would be replaced today with a few quick text messages between mobile phones. Good thing, because Western Union terminated its telegram service in 2006.

Choureé was a graphic artist of some skill, and was the designer of a couple of significant logos that identified naval projects or organizations. One example, below, is the winged seal logo that apppeared on the fuselages of the navy's Alaskan Aerial Survey Expedition of April, 1929. This India ink drawing is signed by Choureé in 1929. It was probably drawn with his Dietzgen mechanical drawing set exhibited at the link.

Drawing By Emile Choureé of Flying Seal Logo for Alaska Aerial Survey Expedition, April, 1929

Besides his artistic aptitude, he held the distinction of being Naval Aviator 1591. And Choureé also held a commercial pilot certificate, number 5003. He was authorized by his Department of Commerce certificate only to fly single-engine, land aircraft, even though he was a Navy-trained, multi-engine, seaplane pilot. His certificate was last endorsed on August 31, 1934.

Choureé Commercial Pilot Certificate, August 31, 1931

On March 8, 1935, Choureé earned the rank of lieutenant commander. His presidential commission from president Roosevelt is below. This was his last promotion before his death.

Emile Choureé, Lieutenant Commander Commission, March 8, 1935

Below is the cover of Choureé's personnel jacket, which contains copies, in reverse chronological order, of his official correspondence while in the Navy. Note his neat printing, which can be found on and in other artifacts in his Collection.

Emile Choureé Personnel Jacket Cover

The document, below, the first page in his jacket, is a response to him from Senator William Gibbs McAdoo's office regarding an attempt to place his nephew in one of the 1935 slots for the military academies. Being in reverse chronological order, it was the last communication of record before Choureé was killed in an air crash. All the documents in this jacket were aged, fragile onion skin carbon copies.

Emile Choureé Personnel Jacket

National Air Races Program, 1936

Among Choureé's documents is a complete color magazine that contains the program for the 1936 (16th annual) National Air Races, which were held September 4-7 at Los Angeles. At left is the cover of this handsome , 56-page document. I have scanned this magazine to PDF, which you can download at the link (7.5Mb).

What you'll find inside the book, for example, is a tribute to Will Rogers, who was killed in an airplane crash with Wiley Post in Alaska about a year earlier. Also a very nice group of vintage advertisements, including one for the very desirable 1936 Cord automobile (page 8 of the PDF). You'll also find lists of NAR officers that read like a Who's Who of Register pilots. Some notables include Carl Squier, J.H. Kindleberger, T. Claude Ryan, Donald Douglas, J.L. Maddux, C.C. Moseley, Jimmy Doolittle, Amelia Earhart, and many, many others.

On page 24 of the PDF is an advertisement for the Jacqueline Cochran Beauty Salon. Cochran, a successful race pilot in her own right, began her work career as a hair dresser and parlayed her skills into cosmetics and a group of salons. She was not a Register signer.

On page 29 begins lists of race event competitors. These lists, too, read like a Who's Who of Register pilots. Among notables are Steve Wittman, Laura Ingalls, Tony LeVier, Harold Neumann and Roscoe Turner, and many, many more. The centerfold begins an article that provides a retrospective on sixteen years of the NAR. With just a few exceptions, Register pilots appeared in the winner's circle every year for sixteen years. Each year, the Races attracted about a quarter of a million spectators.

On page 34 of the PDF appears an advertisement for Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, San Diego, CA. Consolidated was building the PBY, which was the subject of the ad. The PBY was a flying boat, which became an armed anti-submarine, cargo, rescue and reconnaisance workhorse during WWII a few years later. The advertisement includes an airborne photograph of the PBY 1. As liason for the Navy and "Inspector Naval Aircraft," Choureé worked with Consolidated about the time of the 1936 NAR. In September, 1936, Choureé published an article about the PBY in Consolidated Aircraft's corporate magazine, the Consolidator.

Emile Choureé Flying Boat Article, the Consolidator, September, 1936

On page 51 of the PDF appears an advertisement for the Taylor Cub. The ad identifies Aircraft Associates of Long Beach (CA) Municipal Airport as the Cub Dealer. The owner of Aircraft Associates was Harvey Martin. Martin can be seen posed with Bill Piper at the link. Piper flew cross-country from Bradford, PA and delivered Martin's first Taylor Cub to him about a year earlier, in May, 1935. The Taylor Cub would soon, within a year or so, change its name and become the famed Piper Cub. Please direct your browser to Bill Piper's link for more details.

The cover artwork for the magazine was crafted by a famous commercial poster artist of the era, William E. McKee. McKee was born in California on August 13, 1901.  He began winning poster prizes while a student at Hollywood High School in 1917.  Upon graduation, he continued his art training at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  Returning to Los Angeles, he operated a studio into the 1930s.  McKee died February 5, 1988.

Choureé died at Scott Field, IL in an airplane accident while on duty, January 26, 1938. His insurances reacted quickly to the needs of his wife and family, as indicated in the two documents below, which activated his death benefits.

Death Benefits Telegram, January 27, 1938

Death Benefits Letter, February 8, 1938

His stenographer, Marie T. Oberlaender, had warm words to speak on his behalf, as recorded in the unsourced and undated news article below (her comments between the red lines).

Testimonial, 1938

The Consolidator of February, 1938 published Ms. Oberlaender's sentiments more formally, below.

Choureé Testimonial, The Consolidator, February, 1938

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