Guide to the Frank A. Spencer (1913-2001) Papers
| Collection Title: | Frank A. Spencer (1913-2001) Papers |
| Dates: | 1941-1998 |
| Identification: | 24/5 |
| Creator: | Spencer, Francis A. (Francis Auten), 1913- |
| Extent: | 12 Boxes |
| Language of Materials: | English |
| Abstract: | The Frank A. Spencer papers fill eleven and one-half boxes and span the years 1941 to 1998. They are divided into biographical files, correspondence, course files, Airline Pilots Association and American Pilots Association files, publications files, research files, speech files, and transportation conference materials. |
| Acquisition Information: | Transferred to the University Archives from the Transportation Center on September 5, 2003 (Accession #03-186). |
| Processing Information: | Meghan Courtney; August 14, 2006. |
| Separated Materials: | Approximately four linear feet of duplicates and extraneous materials were discarded during accessioning. |
| Conditions Governing Access: | None. |
| Repository: | Northwestern University Archives Deering Library, Room 110 1970 Campus Dr. Evanston, IL, 60208-2300 URL: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives Email: archives@northwestern.edu Phone: 847-491-3354 |
Biographical/Historical Information
Frank A. (Francis Auten) Spencer was born July 7, 1913, in Evanston, Illinois, to Frank E. and Mildred Auten Spencer. Following in his father's footsteps, Spencer attended Northwestern University. He was an involved student and a cheerleader at Northwestern sporting events. Spencer took his bachelor of science degree in economics in 1936. An aviation enthusiast, he earned his pilot's license while a student at Northwestern. Spencer joined NU's faculty in 1973 and retired in 1983.
Spencer continued his formal education at Princeton University where he earned his M.A. degree in 1938 in economics. Princeton awarded him a doctoral degree, also in economics, in 1941. While a graduate student, Spencer served on the staff of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. There he assisted in the production of the publication, Air Mail Payment and the Government. In 1942, he worked as an economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board.
Spencer was a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Transport Command during World War II. He flew military transports to Europe and North Africa and DC-10s to Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. He was honorably discharged from the military on July 27, 1944.
Spencer's career as an aviator continued after the war. After a brief stint with Trans World Airlines, Spencer worked as a commercial pilot for American Airlines from 1944 to 1973. While at American he involved himself in the work of pilots' unions. He served as a negotiator for the Air Line Pilots Association for fourteen years. Thereafter, he was National Secretary of the same union for eight years. Later, he was appointed Chief Air Line Pilots Association Economic Witness before the Presidential Emergency Board. He was also chairman of the Allied Pilots Association's Grievance Committee from 1963 to 1973.
In 1973, after his sixtieth birthday, Spencer was forced into retirement from his work as a pilot. He had attempted to train for a flight officer's position, as those occupying that job often were allowed to work until age sixty-five. American ignored his requests for training, claiming that the Federal Aviation Administration required all flight crew to retire at age sixty. Spencer charged the company with age discrimination. In 1976, three years after filing his initial grievance, Spencer lost his case. He became a consultant for the Allied Pilots Association in 1974.
Spencer joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1973 with a joint appointment as a lecturer in transportation policy and management in the Graduate School of Management and the Transportation Center. He became an assistant to the director of the Transportation Center in 1974 and an associate professor of policy and environment in 1975. Northwestern named Spencer emeritus professor upon his retirement in 1983.
Spencer's experience with academia, the military, and commercial aviation qualified him to work as a consultant for a wide range of groups including the National Mediation Board, NASA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Designs Concepts, McKinsey and Company, Trans Systems Corporation, Transtar Pilots Association, Ansett Airlines, United Airlines, the J. L. Ritchie Company, and Forecast Consulting Group.
Spencer published one book and over thirty articles and research reports on airline labor relations and airline deregulation. Spencer co-wrote many of these articles with Frank Cassell, his friend and colleague at the Transportation Center.
Spencer was active in efforts to upgrade Transportation Center facilities, worked to raise funds, and made significant personal gifts toward the construction of a new building, Chambers Hall, completed in 1999. In recognition of his contributions, the Frank A. Spencer conference room bears his name. Spencer's generous financial gifts also helped to establish an endowed professorship, the William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation.
Spencer also lobbied to have the Northwestern Transportation Library moved from its basement location when the University Library was restructured in the mid-1990's. His arguments that the library was the largest of its kind in the United States helped win it the fifth-floor location it now occupies.
In recognition of his generosity to Northwestern, the University named Spencer and his wife members of its Henry Wade Rogers Society in 1987. The Northwestern Alumni Association presented Spencer with its Service Award in 1997.
In 1996 the Northwestern University Transportation Center published Spencer's history, The Way it Was: Flight Crews.
Frank A. Spencer died of heart failure on May 8, 2001, leaving behind his second wife Catherine. Spencer's first wife, Geraldine Whitrock Spencer, died February 2, 1984.
Scope and Content
The Frank A. Spencer papers fill eleven and one-half boxes and span the years 1941 to 1998. They are divided into biographical files, correspondence, course files, Airline Pilots Association and American Pilots Association files, publications files, research files, speech files, and transportation conference materials.
The biographical files fill one box. They contain Spencer's flight logs, clippings and press releases, tributes from Northwestern University, resumes, and other items.
The correspondence files fill half a box and are divided into four subcategories: airline industry, personal, transportation building, and Northwestern University business. The airline industry file contains correspondence to and from airline executives and typically conveying Spencer's opinions for airline improvement. Included is a 1957 letter from United States Vice President Richard M. Nixon. The personal file contains letters and notes to and from Spencer's contacts outside of work, such as family and home improvement professionals. The transportation building file represents Spencer's attempts to fund and expedite the construction of what became Chambers Hall. University business correspondence reflects Spencer's dealings with Northwestern University and its bureaucracy.
The course files fill approximately one and one-half boxes and contain materials on courses that Spencer appears to have audited within the Transportation Center as well as on those he taught. These files mainly include lecture notes but often include syllabi and other handouts.
Files relating to the Airline Pilots Association and the American Pilots Association fill most of box four and pertain to the cases of pilots brought before Spencer and union colleagues. With the American Pilots Association and the Air Line Pilots Association Spencer negotiated many cases that are unrepresented here because of a 1990s purging of files in preparation for a move. Thus, the files found here represent only a small sample of Spencer's participation in the unions' affairs. Notable in this category are the three folders on Spencer's own age discrimination case.
Publication files fill approximately two boxes and contain many of Spencer's articles and research reports. The files contain drafts and notes as well as the occasional transportation journal or magazine in which the work appeared.
Research files fill approximately half a box and include both handwritten and typed notes Spencer made in preparation for writing an article. One large file contains selected airline statistics for the majority of the 1970's.
The speech files fill just under one box and consist of notes and outlines for presentations Spencer delivered, often at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management or at transportation conventions.
The transportation conference notes fill approximately three and one half boxes. They represent Spencer's participation in many transportation-related symposia and conventions during the period of his service at Northwestern. These files consist of stenographic pads filled with notes and reflections on the content and effect of the programs presented at these industry related gatherings.
Subjects
Corporate Name
Air Line Pilots Association--History
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Transportation Center
Personal Name
Spencer, Francis A. (Francis Auten), 1913-
Subjects
Transportation and state--United States--Study and teaching
