Frank Maxwell Andrews series, 1908-c. 1950 (bulk 1929-1943)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Organized into two subseries: A. Manuscripts 1921-c. 1950 (folders 60-71, 77-78); and B. News clippings, 1908-1946 (bulk 1930-1943) (folders 71-74, 79, 82-84);,no arrangement scheme.

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Nine photographs related to Frank Maxwell Andrews are housed in the Nashville Room Historic Photographs Collection, identified as: P-1810 to P-1816 and P-95, P-1961.

Researchers are advised to consult Series I: James D. Andrews Series of this collection, which documents in more detail Frank Maxwell Andrews's efforts on behalf of his father's actions to obtain a new airport for Nashville. The younger Andrews often provided advice, specifications, and opinions about sites under consideration for a new airfield. He also assisted by providing information about the affect of airplanes on patients in insane asylums, an issue which threatened to stall or kill plans to develop the Harris farm site, near the Central State Hospital in Nashville. Series I also contains some personal correspondence between father and son, in which Frank Maxwell Andrews occasionally discusses places where he is stationed, his family, or other subjects. Researchers should check the finding aid to Series I for more details.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives holds the Frank Maxwell Andrews Papers and the William Valery Andrews Papers.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Abstract: Manuscripts, including some correspondence, periodicals, newspaper clippings, and related materials about the military career of Army Air Corps general and Nashville, Tenn. native, Frank Maxwell Andrews.

Scope and content: Manuscripts, including some correspondence, periodicals, newspaper clippings, and related materials about the military career of Army Air Corps general and Nashville, Tenn. native, Frank Maxwell Andrews, most dating from 1929-1943, although some items are as early as 1908 or as late as circa 1950. The manuscripts subseries primarily consists of periodicals featuring articles about Andrews and his military career. A few other items, such as tickets and invitations are also included in this subseries. There is a small amount of correspondence, although most items of this nature have been pasted-over with newspaper clippings. Nevertheless, some of the original letters can still be read, at least in part.

Clippings document Andrews's career in great detail, provide numerous anecdotes, and include information about his wife, Jeannette, and her father, Gen. Henry T. Allen. Information on other Andrews family members, such as Frank Maxwell Andrews's parents, James D. and Lula Andrews, and his siblings, James D. Andrews, Jr., William Valery Andrews, and Josephine Sykes, is also included. Clippings are especially strong about Andrews's actions and influence during his assignments in the Panama Canal Zone and Caribbean, with GHQ Air Force, and the uproar caused by his statements before a House Committee in which he recommended taking over airbases in French and British possessions if America was threatened by enemy troops holding those bases. There are also numerous accounts about his death in a plane crash in Iceland in 1943, along with Methodist Bishop Adna W. Leonard, Brig. Gen. Charles Barth, and Col. Morrow Krum who also died A few clippings provide information about Andrews's involvement, with his father, in the push to get a new airport for Nashville, Tenn.; a visit to Sky Harbor airport near Murfreesboro, Tenn. in 1936; and a grand celebration in his honor hosted by Col. Henry Dickinson of Nashville in 1936, where he was awarded a trophy. Some clippings also discuss Army Air Corps training, war games, planes, strategy, and reorganization, as they relate to Andrews's career and influence.

In addition to the biographical information on Frank Maxwell Andrews, there are a number of articles or anecdotes which relate to his two brothers, James D. Andrews Jr. who served in the engineers, and William Valery Andrews, who was also in Army aviation. Especially noteworthy is a clipping from Nov. 1941 (Folder 79) in which William Valery Andrews states that the Japanese population of Hawaii would be loyal to the United States in the event of war between the U.S. and Japan.

Cite as: [description of item], [folder number], Frank Maxwell Andrews Series, James D. Andrews Papers, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials.

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Many items are very fragile, and must be handled with care.

Source of acquisition unknown, but donated probably before 1980;,Acc. RT-100.

Frank Maxwell Andrews was born on Feb. 3, 1884, the first child of James D. and Lula Maxwell Andrews of Nashville, Tenn. All three of James D. Andrews's sons, Frank (or "Maxwell" as he was called in the family), James D. Andrews, Jr. (probably known as "David") and William Valery Andrews would go on to have military careers. He had one sister, Josephine, who later married Nashvillian Gillespie Sykes. Frank Maxwell Andrews attended public schools until the age of 13, when he entered Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, graduating in 1901. The following year, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he graduated in 1906 with the rank of second lieutenant. He was sent to serve with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines. He returned to the United States about a year later, serving briefly in Wyoming, Arizona, and Virginia. In 1911, he became an aide to Brigadier General Macomb at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, and returned to the United States mainland in the summer of 1913. He married Jeanette Allen on Mar. 18, 1914. Both Frank and Jeanette, who went by the nickname, "Johnnie," were avid polo players. She was the daughter of General Henry T. Allen. Allen, sensing Andrews's growing interest in aviation, declared no aviator would ever marry his daughter. Andrews remained in the cavalry for a time, but after several years of married life, in 1917, he joined the Signal Corps serving in the Aviation Division.

Although considered old for an aviator, he nevertheless rapidly advanced in rank and responsibility. In 1918, he became supervisor of the Southeastern Air Service District. After World War I, he served in Germany as part of the Occupation, and commanded air forces under his father-in-law, Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen. He returned to the United States sometime in the early 1920s, and he continued to advance in his career. On Mar. 1, 1935, he became the first Commanding General of GHQ Air Force, with the temporary rank of Brigadier General. His work in this capacity established the modern Air Force. Key innovations were the consolidation of all Army Air Forces under one overall command, the development of regional air commands, and improved training and strategic planning, especially in the strategic and tactical uses of bombers. In 1935, he set three new world records for speed in a seaplane, breaking the records held by Charles Lindbergh. Also in 1935, he caused an uproar when he stated before a House of Representatives secret session that it might be necessary for American forces to seize airbases of other countries if they were in danger of becoming a threat to the United States. The statement was leaked to the press, the Army denied such a policy, and President Roosevelt censured him. This difficulty did not, however, ultimately affect his career. He returned to Nashville numerous times, and was honored in June 1936 by Col. Henry Dickinson, who hosted a large community barbeque for him. He also spoke as a visiting dignitary at the dedication of the new Nashville Municipal Airport in 1936. In March 1939, his duties at GHQ ceased and he was returned to the rank of colonel, though four months later he was given the permanent rank of brigadier general by Gen. George C. Marshall, serving on the War Department General Staff in Washington, DC. In 1940, he was given command of the Panama Canal Air Force, and in 1941 became the first air commander to head a joint forces operation. As World War II got underway, Andrews was promoted to even higher positions of authority. In November of 1942, he became commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East; and in early 1943, he was sent to Europe with similar authority. On May 3, 1943, he died in a plane crash in Iceland, along with Methodist Bishop Adna W. Leonard, Brig. Gen. Charles Barth, Col. Morrow Krum, and others; only one man survived. Andrews received many posthumous honors, including the addition of an oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal; the renaming of an airfield in Maryland in his honor (which was subsequently renamed Andrews Air Force Base in 1947); the naming of an airfield in the Dominican Republic in 1944; and the dedication of a street in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn. He was survived by his wife, Jeanette, and three children: Allen, Josephine (Mrs. Hiette S. Williams Jr.); and Jean, who was unmarried at the time of his death, but later married Martin F. Peterson. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In English. One item in Spanish.

Finding aid available in repository;,item level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_AndrewsSeries2.pdf.

Unknown provenance. Most materials believed to have been collected by James D. Andrews, although some items are dated after his death.

Forms part of the James D. Andrews Papers.

Process;,2008-2009;,Linda Barnickel;,collection consolidated from three different locations.

No further accruals are expected.