1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart Medford Boy Scouts Uncle Sam Glass Negative OOAK

Original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) institutional-grade camera-original antique gelatin silver press field glass negative captured on July 10, 1928: a historic celebration of early American aviation and community pageantry: aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (1897–1937), pilot Wilmer Stultz, and mechanic Lou Gordon celebrated at their Medford, Massachusetts homecoming, surrounded by a Boy Scout color guard, ceremonial American flags, and costumed youth featuring Uncle Sam.

Preserved in its original dual-layer newsroom morgue housing: the vintage outer tan kraft morgue filing sleeve with red wax grease-pencil reinforcement, paired with its matching original heavy textured linen inner envelope bearing detailed contemporary newsroom pencil manuscript:

• The Sleeve Inscription:

  Outer Kraft Sleeve: Friendship Fliers

  Textured Linen Inner Envelope: The Friendship Fliers at Medford Celebration July 10, 1928

Historical & Archival Significance:

Following their transatlantic crossing on June 17–18, 1928 aboard the Fokker trimotor seaplane Friendship—establishing Earhart as the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air—the crew received a monumental public reception across Greater Boston. Having lived in Medford while working as a social worker at Denison House, Earhart was honored by the city with an elaborate civic festival.

Captured directly in-camera from field level, this exposure unites early aviation history with 1920s Americana:

• Amelia Earhart & The Fliers: Pictured on the elevated grandstand behind round spring-suspended carbon broadcast microphones, Earhart looks out over the crowd wearing her cloche hat, flanked by flight commander Wilmer Stultz and Lou Gordon.

• The Boy Scout Color Guard: A full troop of period Boy Scouts kneeling and standing across the front row in authentic 1920s uniforms—broad-brimmed campaign hats, neckerchiefs, button-flap pockets, and lace-up boots—holding flagstaffs draped with 48-star American flags.

• Uncle Sam & Youth Pageantry: Centered in the foreground stands a child outfitted in a full Uncle Sam ensemble (stovepipe hat, faux goatee beard, star-decorated cutaway jacket, and red-and-white striped trousers) alongside a second youth wearing an athletic uniform bearing an applied American flag chest insignia.

• Tonal Fidelity: Exceptional continuous-tone silver gelatin tonal range rendering fine cloth weave on the flags, wood grain on the pavilion timbers, deep blacks in the shadow recesses, and needle-sharp facial clarity across both the youth in the foreground and the fliers above.

Specifications:

• Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin press glass negative, exposed directly in-camera on July 10, 1928.

• Archive Ephemera: Accompanied by the original period tan kraft outer morgue filing sleeve and matching original textured linen inner envelope.

Please Note: This listing is for the physical antique glass negative, its original period kraft sleeve, and linen inner envelope only. Positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual reference to illustrate image detail. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or paper product is included.

Condition:

Very Good to Excellent antique condition. The heavy glass plate is structurally sound, stable, and completely intact with no cracks, fractures, breaks, or chips through the glass body. The silver gelatin emulsion is remarkably clean, sharp, and firmly adhered across the composition, retaining crisp focus across the children, flags, uniforms, and flight crew. Authentic unexposed handling borders remain preserved along the outer glass rebate margins. Complete with its original period kraft morgue filing sleeve and matching linen inner envelope.