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Conflict & Compromise in History
Postal Connections > Stories > Airmail Pilot Strike of 1919
 
Airmail Pilot Strike of 1919
NHD Categories:

Economic Conflict & Compromise
  Time frame: 1919
 

The Postal Service pioneered the commercial use of airplanes; however, flying the mail was dangerous business. Expert aviator Eddie Rickenbacker referred to the Airmail Service as “legalized murder.” Learn the story of the Pilot’s Strike of 1919 and the conflict between getting the mail delivered and the personal safety of the deliverers. Discover the compromises which led to safer working conditions for the airmail pilots.

Getting Started:
 

Online resources:
“Airmail Creates an Industry: The Strike”, National Postal Museum.

“America by Air”, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

“The Post Office Flies the Mail, 1918-1924” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.

“Scare Mail” PBS Kids Go!

  Books:
On Top of the Clouds: The Story of an Airmail Pilot by C. H. Jamieson: Xilibris Corporation: Philadelphia, PA, 2001.
 
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