And Earhart is only part of the story

By Craig Westcott/November 9, 2022

The Conception Bay Museum in Harbour Grace is developing a comprehensive digital exhibition that bodes to make the varied and exciting history of early aviation in the town more accessible to a world audience.

While most people are aware famed flying pioneer Amelia Earhart used the Harbour Grace airstrip for her May 1932 flight across the Atlantic as the first woman to pilot over the ocean, much more history was also made at the site and in the town.

Matthew McCarthy, a director with the Conception Bay Museum, walked participants in a public Zoom session last week through the plans for the virtual exhibition.

The Museum is getting $15,000 from Digital Museums Canada to create the online exhibit tentatively titled, ‘Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, 1919-present.’

McCarthy said the museum’s board had been eyeing the fund for some time and is grateful to have been awarded the funding. The money will cover the writing and formatting of a virtual online story and exhibition and its translation into French, which is a requirement of Digital Museums Canada. The title for the exhibition comes from a quote by Earhart, McCarthy noted. Many of the period photographs to be used in the exhibition come from Harbour Grace photographer Reuben T. Parsons, who worked as a stringer in the 20s and 30s for American news organizations. The exhibition will also include artifacts and oral histories.

Among the rich history to be documented is the 1927 arrival of the Pride of Detroit at the airstrip. Local people built the strip in just 20 days ahead of the event so that the community could accommodate the landing.

“And over the coming decade, Harbour Grace would cement its legacy in aviation lore, hosting 20 transatlantic flights,” said McCarthy.

Harbour Grace was at the forefront in the 1920s and early 1930s as aviators from around the world tested the limits of the new technology and tried to set records and capture valuable prizes, many of which were sponsored by some of the United States’ biggest newspapers.

Twice, Earhart’s aviation rival, socialite Mabel Boll, called by some Broadway’s most beautiful blonde, came to Harbour Grace in the airplane Columbia. She too hoped to set the record as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, but Earhart beat her to it, as a passenger on a 1928 flight from Trepassey. Boll later donated $500 to the Harbour Grace airstrip to go towards its development.

Harbour Grace was also the launching point for the first two Canadian pilots to cross the Atlantic, Errol Boyd and Harry Connor, in 1930.

Early aviation disasters that occurred in the town or nearby will also be chronicled. The story of one crash, involving the plane City of New York, was told around the world in part because of the heartrending episode of Tailwind, the plane’s mascot, who rushed off into the woods in fright when the plane came down. Tailwind had been given as a gift by the famous actress Mary Pickford to adventurer John Henry Mears, who was already famous for setting the record for the fastest trip around the world in 1913. Luckily, the dog was found and returned to its owner.

Among some of the surprising items is the revelation that the airstrip near Lady Lake is not actually the original airstrip in the community. The first was a farmer’s field located behind Immaculate Conception Church for an early launch attempt. The current airstrip was built in 1927-28.

During World War II, the airstrip was used as a secret Canadian navy listening post for German U-boat transmissions.

There is also a chapter on Lamont Parsons, perhaps the town’s most celebrated wartime aviator, who fought in the Battle of Britain and came home to crane necks when he infamously flew a plane between the spires of Immaculate Conception Cathedral.

And that’s only some of the history, which will be available to the world once the project is finished, by the end of next year.

Patrick Collins, who perhaps more than anyone, helped develop the Conception Bay Museum over much of the 50 years of its existence so far, sat in on the Zoom presentation as a spectator and liked what he heard.

“Something like this is really good for Harbour Grace and this area, and the museum,” Collins said. “Certainly, the museum is a jewel in our town and is underutilized as a tourism site. It always has been. I’m not laying blame here, it just happened that way. So, something like this could really, really spark interest in the airfield and museum in combination and maybe sometime, please God, an interpretation centre on transportation between the airfield and the Kyle…I think it is a great opportunity here. I was really excited when I saw those pictures. Put in this context, it excites people who have been around this whole heritage business. So, congratulations. I wish you well.”