The Dave Abrams and Gene Banning Pan Am Research Grant

Jay Sylvestre Announcement
Location
Florida, United States
Subject Fields
American History / Studies, Diplomacy and International Relations, History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Popular Culture Studies, Women's & Gender History / Studies

The Pan Am Historical Foundation announces the twelfth annual Dave Abrams and Gene Banning Pan Am Research Grant competition. Up to $1,500 will be awarded to support scholarly research using the Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records held by the University of Miami Libraries’ Special Collections. The grant honors two of Pan Am’s most avid historians, Dave Abrams and Gene Banning.

Since its first international flight in 1927, Pan Am positioned itself as a world leader in American commercial aviation. The Pan Am records date from 1927 to the 1990s and include administrative and financial files; technical and research reports; public relations and promotional materials; internal publications including newsletters, journals and press releases; and thousands of photographs.

The grant is open to advanced graduate students, independent scholars, and faculty. Priority will be given to research proposals that will result in publication in any media.

Now Accepting Applications

Application Procedures

Applicants must submit a proposal of no more than two pages describing their research project and include a curriculum vitae or résumé.

Application deadline is January 3, 2020.

Please send inquiries and applications to:

The Dave Abrams & Gene Banning Pan Am Research Grant
c/o Jay Sylvestre
University of Miami Libraries
1300 Memorial Drive
Coral Gables, FL 33146-0320
j.sylvestre@miami.edu

About Dave Abrams and Gene Banning

After graduating from the University of Miami, Dave Abrams (1919-2005) joined Pan American Airways and worked for 42 years as a meteorologist, navigator and Director of Flight Operations for Latin America. Abrams was instrumental in the formation of The Pan Am Historical Foundation after the company shut its doors in 1991, and in finding a home for the Pan Am’s archives and memorabilia.

Gene Banning (1918-2006) was one of the longest serving pilots for Pan Am. His aviation days started with the infamous flying boats in 1941 and ended with Boeing 747s in 1978. An avid researcher, Banning was a guiding member of The Pan Am Historical Foundation from its inception and the author of Airlines of Pan American since 1927 (McLean, Va.: Paladwr, 2001).

About the Pan Am Historical Foundation and the University of Miami Libraries

The Pan Am Historical Foundation is a group dedicated to preserving the heritage of Pan American World Airways. For more information about the Foundation, visit http://www.panam.org/. The Special Collections of the University of Miami Libraries preserves and provides access to research materials focusing on the history and culture of Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America. The Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records consists of hundreds of boxes of materials and reigns as the most avidly consulted single resource in Special Collections. For more information about the Special Collections of the University of Miami Libraries, visit https://www.library.miami.edu/specialcollections/index.html.

Past Winners

  • 2018: Henry Knight Lozano, “The Flights That Bind: Pan Am’s California-to-Hawai’i Route & Hawaiian Promotion and Statehood, 1936-1966”
  • 2017: Bryce Evans, “Pan Am: A Gastronomic History”
  • 2016: Sean Seyer, “Independent Internationalism in the Air: Pan American Airlines, the Pan American Union, and the 1928 Havana Convention”
  • 2015: Josue Sakata, Boston Public School Primary Source Sets
  • 2014: Hadassah St. Hubert, “Visions of a Modern Nation: Haiti at the World’s Fairs”
  • 2013: Ken Fortenberry & Gregg Herken, “Point of No Return: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Clipper”
  • 2012: Felipe F. Cruz, “Flight of the Toucans: Technology and Culture in the Brazilian Airspace”
  • 2012: Gordon H Pirie examined Pan Am’s role in civil aviation to, and from, in post-colonial Africa
  • 2011: Jonathan Ruano, “Pan American Airways, the South Atlantic Route and Rise of the American Empire”
  • 2010: Houston Johnson, “Taking Off: The Politics and Culture of American Aviation, 1927-1929”
  • 2009: Augustine Meaher “Pan Am Arrives Down Under: A Diplomatic and Aeronautical Accomplishment”
  • 2009: Roger Turner, “Pan-Am’s Contribution to the Development of Aeronautical Meteorology”
  • 2007: Jennifer Van Vleck “No Distant Places: Aviation and American Globalism, 1924-1968”
Contact Information

Jay Sylvestre

Special Collections Librarian

Public Services Coordinator, Kislak Center

Otto G. Richter Library

University of Miami

1300 Memorial Drive

Coral Gables, Florida 33146

(305) 284-3580

j.sylvestre@miami.edu

Contact Email
j.sylvestre@miami.edu