How an Airplane Came to Land in Calvert County in 1920
Calvert Historian Michael Kent recently discovered this story published in the Calvert Gazette on June 19, 1920. Based on a Letter to the Editor by Calvert resident John Thomas Bond, the story is about an event near Wallville in Calvert County in 1920. It describes the project of an African American man, John Locks, who arranged to have an airplane fly from Washington, DC, and land in a field near his home. He invited all in the county to see the plane and offered them dinner. Both White and Black attended and it was a remarkable science and cultural event just 17 years after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and during the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Mr. Editor:,
On the 12th of June (last Saturday) I witnessed what I never expected to see in Calvert County – a flying machine land in Calvert County. Not long since Mr. John H. Locks, an unusually intelligent and enterprising colored man, who lives on the road from Wallville to Mutual, put himself in communication with the Washington Air Line Co. Soon their representatives came to his home in an automobile, and after looking over the field adjacent to his house and store, they entered into an agreement to come here noon of the 12th of June. John Locks advertised in the county papers and put up notices through the county. He prepared to serve dinners and ice cream, etc., and when the time came Mr. Thomas Parran and myself, with a good gathering of white and colored people, were on the grounds.
The impression with most our the people was that John Locks would dispose of his food and no air ship would come. To the disappointment of those who did not come and the gratification of those present, at the exact time the familiar noise of a flying machine was heard and a rush made for the landing place. Soon she came in sight, on and on and lower and lower, like a great monster of a bird she came over the field, and round and round it circled over that field; sometimes going up and down, and then like a whirley-gig, it would revolve over and over like a windmill. One man was seated in the chair, Lieutenant E. Hamilton Lee, the pilot, who in forty minutes had come from Washington down the Patuxent River, and a map before him when he reached Battle Creek. He came over to the center of the county and was soon in sight of a large white sheet spread on the place of landing. After an exhibition of his power to guide and govern this great air machine, he gave warning to all the spectators to clear the field, and in the twinkling of an eye he was on the ground, and for a short distance it reminded me of a crippled bird with wings fluttering, but soon it was as quiet as an old horse, and the audience examined it to their heart’s content. The wonderful similarity to a large bird, its great and complicated machinery, the resting places for pilot and passengers with strong straps to hold you in, head up or down, as was often the case when she revolved in full sight of us.
If the most intelligent and wealthiest man of this county had shown enterprise enough to risk such a venture and put up his money to give the people of Calvert such an opportunity, they would have been glad to see what a huge majority would never have seen. But to think that a colored man, only one generation from the day of emancipation, should be the pioneer, the most go-ahead and wide-awake individual among all our people, is a great wonder to me as the landing of the airship on that day. I have always been a warm sympathizer and well-wisher of the colored race, particularly of Calvert county. I am glad that I am the first man that proposed and framed the first state appropriation for the colored schools of this state when I was elected as a Democrat in the election of 1871. The first time the right to vote was used by the colored race at a general election. The great strides that the colored people have made since then is as wonderful as the great change from the old stage coach to the flying machine.
May they continue to make for themselves comfortable homes, have contented families and be what they are today, useful citizens of our country, is a revelation of more than man could believe.
Soon, very soon, from the teaching of the bible, from the experiences of most men, I realize that my eyes will be closed, my ears will be deaf to such marvelous changes, and such unusual sights and sounds as I saw and heard last Saturday. Let the credit be to John Locks, and I congratulate him.
Yours truly,
John Thomas Bond
St. Leonards, June 14, 1920
Additional Resources
Maryland Aviation History – Maryland Aviation Administration for what aviation was like in Maryland in 1920.
Preservation Maryland – Maryland’s Aviation History and Achievements
Maryland was home to the first helicopter flight, the flight of the first government-owned airplane, and the first airmail route, to name a few. Information on Patuxent Naval Base.
Columbia Air Center | Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 The first African American-owned and operated airfield in Mary
Welcome to College Park Airport! – College Park Airport was established in 1909 as the military demonstration site for the Wright Brothers. College Park Airport is the world’s oldest continually operating airport and is the home to many aviation “firsts”.
