{"id":10,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:46:42","latitude":38.9788369999999986248440109193325042724609375,"longitude":-76.9222548999999986563125276006758213043212890625,"title":"College Park Aviation Museum  and Library","subtitle":"Aviation History, Collections, and Representation","fullsize":"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/2f3b4c6af56034aeb9251031b9799acb.jpg","address":"1985 Corporal Frank Scott Dr., College Park, MD 20740","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Asha Isable"],"description":"“Women, women everywhere and mostly in the air,” announced a 1934 newspaper article about an all-women’s air meet at College Park, complete with races, acrobatics, and parachute jumps. Another account drew attention to the handful of women from the University of Maryland who were learning to fly at the airfield. Yet despite this early interest in women, such stories later sat in the collection with little attention or assessment.<br /><br />Traditionally, the museum’s focus has centered on the airplanes, their uses, and who flew them, including the early story of Wilbur Wright training two Army officers at College Park in 1909. In the 1990s, the museum introduced more inclusive programs, such as talks about the Tuskegee Airmen, yet it continued to spotlight aviation “firsts,” military history, and airmail. This emphasis shaped how the collection was handled: a few select stories and key figures determined what was cataloged, valued, or displayed. As a result, certain materials and the stories tied to them were left in the background, although they were part of the museum’s holdings.<br /><br />The museum holds a non-circulating library and a collection of documents, photographs, artifacts, and personal materials that support its exhibits and research. For years, gaps in how certain items were prioritized and managed affected which stories could be told. In recent years, the museum curator has begun reassessing the collection, surveying its contents, and updating the catalog to address what had been overlooked. This work has expanded the catalog to bring forward underrepresented people in aviation, including women, Latino and African American aviators, and those with disabilities. For example, the museum now features exhibits on Latina women in aviation and on the Columbia Air Center, once a Black-operated airport in Prince George’s County.<br /><br />Although the museum is best known for its displays, current work on the collection aims to support research by students, historians, and other visitors. As the museum continues to reassess its collection, staff are creating a new searchable database that gathers images, documents, books, and artifacts in one place. This effort will allow users to explore the material by many topics, including people and stories that were less represented in the past.<br /><br />The museum’s collection reminds us that exhibits often provide the first glimpse of what a museum holds. It also shows why fully assessing and cataloging the collection is essential. These steps help support more inclusive representation and give researchers and students the context they need to study the materials more deeply.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"General Museum Hours, Tue-Sun : 10 am-4 pm\r\nLibrary is by appointment only.","lede":"The College Park Aviation Museum stands on the site of the College Park Airport, founded in 1909 and recognized as the oldest airport still in operation. Opened in 1981 and expanded in 1988, the museum showcases more than a century of flight in Prince George’s County. While known for its display of reproduction aircraft, the museum also maintains a small research library and a collection of photographs, books, documents, and artifacts related to aviation at the airport and beyond.","website":"<a href=\"https://www.pgparks.com/facilities/college-park-aviation-museum\" title=\"College Park Aviation Museum\">College Park Aviation Museum Website</a>","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://www.fieldoffirsts.com/\" title=\"Field of Firsts Foundation\">Field of Firsts Foundation </a>– a support organization for College Park Aviation Museum.","“Aviation Museum Spreading Its Wings.” <em>The Star-Democrat</em>, April 26, 1999.","Ball, Bob. “Women Pilots Stage Meet Tomorrow at College Park.” <em>The Washington Daily News</em>, October 13, 1934.","“Maryland Eaglets Preclude to Flight.” <em>The Baltimore Sun</em>, November 19, 1939.","“Museum Planned at College Park.” <em>The Baltimore Sun</em>, September 3, 1967."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/2f3b4c6af56034aeb9251031b9799acb.jpg":{"id":50,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Rediscovered Collection of Daisy Marie Recker on display","description":"Photographs and personal items from the rediscovered collection of Daisy Marie Recker, an airmail employee and wife to the manager, were identified and put on display during a recent reassessment of the College Park Aviation Museum&#039;s holdings | College Park Aviation Museum, Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation | October 23, 2025 | Asha Isable","thumbnail":"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/2f3b4c6af56034aeb9251031b9799acb.jpg"},"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/e0c48354f3dc059266ff2e84a337f75d.jpg":{"id":51,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Books and Reference Materials in the Museum’s Library","description":"A selection of aviation books from the museum’s research library, including titles on military aviation, air forces, and combat aircraft. | College Park Aviation Museum, Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation | October 23, 2025 | Asha Isable","alt":"A shelf of aviation books in the museum’s research library, including titles such as Wings of War and Air Command.","thumbnail":"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/e0c48354f3dc059266ff2e84a337f75d.jpg"},"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/d8417c7e0627b41949697f4884f0cf82.jpg":{"id":52,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Black Civil Air Patrol Cadets at Columbia Air Center","description":"Five young Civil Air Patrol Cadets at Columbia Air Center. Columbia Air Center was an airfield in Prince George&#039;s County, Maryland, and the first Black-owned and operated airport to be licensed. Items donated by the families of former Black aviators Herbert H. Jones Jr. and John W. Greene Sr. of the Columbia Air Center are now part of the museum’s collection. | Herbert H. Jones Jr. Columbia Air Center Collection, College Park Aviation Museum.","alt":"Black teenagers Civil Air Patrol cadets posing in front of a small airplane at Columbia Air Center","thumbnail":"https://www.map.curatescape6.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/d8417c7e0627b41949697f4884f0cf82.jpg"}}}