Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing notes and correspondence created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0027: Edward M. Ward, 2001 November
[identification of item], Edward M. Ward Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0102, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 December; Finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2021 September
Commander Edward M. Ward (1918-2004) was the first Commanding Officer of the VXE-6 (a United States Navy aviation group) in Antarctica. He earned a bachelor’s degree from LaSalle College in 1940, and graduated from the United States Marine Corps flight school in May 1941. From May-August 1946, Ward flew a plane for the Special Alaskan Magnetic Survey (SPAM) in Point Barrow, Alaska. He was a part of Operation Ski Jump I (1951) and Operation Ski Jump II (1952), where he helped survey oil sites and set up ice stations across the Arctic Ice Caps. Ward was promoted to Commander of Air Operations in 1955. He then took part in Operation Deep Freeze II (1956-1957) with Admiral Richard Byrd’s crew. He made long-range flights over the South Pole for Trimetrogon Photography and was the pilot for the second landing on the South Pole on November 30, 1956. Ward was named an Honorary Member of the American Polar Society for his polar achievements.
The Edward M. Ward Oral History, dated 2000-2002, contains notes, correspondence, and transcripts of the interview between Edward M. Ward and Brain Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on November 6, 2001. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics of the interview include the aerial survey of oil sites in Alaska through Operations Ski Jump I and II (1951-1952), construction of research stations on the Arctic Ice Caps, Ward's long-range flights in polar regions, and his experiences with Operation Deep Freeze (1956-1958).
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