Walter P. Innes Jr. Collection

Title:	Walter P. Innes Jr. Collection
Call Number:	MS 96-01
Size:	3.0 linear feet
Acquisition:	Purchased from Rock Castle Antiques, Wichita
Processed by:	APB, 5-11-1998; SMC, 11-18-1998; MN, 9-2014
Restrictions:	None

Literary rights were not granted to Wichita State University. When permission is granted to examine the manuscripts, it is not an authorization to publish them. Manuscripts cannot be used for publication without regard for common law literary rights, copyright laws and the laws of libel. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her publisher, to obtain permission to publish. Scholars and students who eventually plan to have their work published are urged to make inquiry regarding overall restrictions on publication before initial research.

The Walter P. Innes Jr. collection contains material concerning two important Wichita businesses, the Innes Department Store and the Stearman Aircraft Company. It includes correspondence, photographs, blueprints, technical reports, financial documents, engineering diagrams, business agreements, pamphlets, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and personal notes and letters dating from the late 1920s. These documents are primarily concerned with his role as a manager in the George Innes Dry Goods Company, his position as Secretary of the Stearman Aircraft Company, and his involvement with a spark plug and rotary engine invention and Wichita real estate developments.

Walter Pease Innes Jr. was born on December 9, 1902. He was the son of Walter Innes, a well-known Wichita merchant and owner of the Innes Department Store located in downtown Wichita. Innes Jr. was involved in retail merchandising, the aviation industry, and was a Wichita civic leader. He was vice president and secretary of the George Innes Company and a manager at the Innes Department Store until it was sold in 1951. Walter Jr. became president of the new Travel Air Company in 1925 and would later help organize and serve as secretary of the Stearman Aircraft Company. In 1930, Innes Jr. became president and treasurer of Stearman and directed the business management of the firm. He also served on the board of directors of several Wichita businesses during the 1950s including the Fourth National Bank, Wheeler-Kelly-Hagny Investment Company, and the KFH Company. As a civic leader, Walter Jr. was president of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce in 1951 and vice president of the Wichita Community Chest in 1952. Walter Innes Jr. died in Wichita on May 1, 1977.

Series 1	Box 1 FF 1-6	Innes Department Store, 1927-1929. Arranged chronologically by subject matter, this series contains correspondence from Walter Innes Jr. concerning the relocation and operation of the Innes Department Store. Also included are proposals from various vendors, financial statements, and descriptions of the department store layout.
Series 2	Box 1 FF 7-17	Stearman Aircraft Company, 1928-1929. Arranged chronologically by subject matter, this series contains correspondence, photographs, financial statements, pamphlets, sales guides, oversized engineering diagrams, and the personal notes of Walter Innes Jr. relating to his position as Secretary of the Stearman Aircraft Company.
Series 3	Box 1 FF 18-26	Spark Plug Invention, 1927-1929. Arranged chronologically by subject matter, this series contains correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and various manufacturers, attorneys, and his partner Earl Bidwell concerning the development and promotion of their spark plug invention. Also included are numerous notes, business contracts, and blueprints.
Series 4	Box 1 FF 27-28	Rotary Internal Combustion Engine Invention. Arranged chronologically by subject matter, this series contains correspondence, business contracts, blueprints, engineering diagrams, and personal notes concerning the rotary engine invention of Earl Bidwell and Walter Innes Jr.
Series 5	Box 1 FF 29	Marsh Manor Housing Addition. This series contains a list of owners from a housing development representing Walter Innes Jr.'s involvement in Wichita real estate.
Series 6	Box 1 FF 30	Walter Innes Jr. Personal Correspondence, 1928-1929. Arranged chronologically, this series contains personal correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and his parents, Margaret and Walter Innes Sr.
Series 7	Box 2, Map Case	Oversized. This series contains oversized blueprints of the spark plug invention, plat maps of Wichita and the surrounding counties, graphs of engineering test results, and structural diagrams of Stearman and Travel Air aircraft.

Series 1 ‒ Innes Department Store, 1927-1929

Box 1	FF 1	Innes Department Store correspondence, 1929. Contains correspondence from Walter Innes Jr. concerning the relocation and operation of the Innes Department Store along with a photograph of store utilities and a menu from the Innes Tea Room.
Box 1	FF 2	Light fixtures for the new Innes Department Store, 1927. This file contains correspondence, photographs, drawings, and price lists concerning the purchase of light fixtures for the new location of the Innes Department Store.
Box 1	FF 3	Fur storage vaults for the new Innes Department Store, 1927. Includes correspondence and drawings from several vendors concerning the purchase of fur coat storage accessories for the new Innes Department Store.
Box 1	FF 4	The Innes Company Controller’s Report for 1928. Contains consolidated balance sheets and profit and loss statements.
Box 1	FF 5	Description and location of showcases in the new Innes Department Store. Contains a detailed description of every showcase in the store by floor and department. Provides the layout for the Innes Department Store.
Box 1	FF 6	Location of cash registers and phones in the new Innes Department Store. Contains hand written notes by Walter Innes Jr. which provide the location of every cash register, pay phone, and store phone throughout the Innes Department Store. This illustrates the floor plan of the entire store.

Series 2 ‒ Stearman Aircraft Company, 1928-1929

Box 1	FF 7	Stearman stock correspondence, 1927-1929. This file contains letters and telegrams arranged chronologically to and from Walter Innes Jr., Secretary of the Stearman Aircraft Company, concerning shares of Stearman stock. Also included are letters of congratulations when Innes decided to devote his full time to the Stearman Aircraft Company in July, 1929.
Box 1	FF 8	Stearman Aircraft Company notes of Walter Innes Jr.. This file contains a collection of handwritten notes concerning the Stearman Aircraft Company and its shareholders. The notes are contained on a variety of media including address books, cardboard, and scrap paper. Also included are proxy voting statements for the June 15, 1929 shareholders’ meeting that select Walter Innes Jr. as the shareholder’s representative.
Box 1	FF 9	Stearman photographs. This file contains photographs of Stearman aircraft and employees. Of particular interest are photographs of Charles Lindbergh with company officials in 1928.
Box 1	FF 10	Stearman photographs. This file contains Stearman aircraft photographs that were part of a distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 11	Stearman photographs. This file contains photographs of Stearman aircraft that were part of a distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 12	Stearman photographs. This file contains photographs of Stearman aircraft during their production phase at the factory. These photographs were part of a distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 13	Stearman photographs. This file contains Stearman aircraft photographs that were part of a distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 14	Stearman photographs. This file contains photographs of Stearman aircraft in various stages of development along with several photographs of the factory production line. These pictures were part of a distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 15	Stearman distributor sales guide information, 1928. This file contains Stearman special features lists, optional equipment lists, price lists, and confidential company bulletins which were part of a Stearman distributor sales guide.
Box 1	FF 16	Stearman Aircraft Company literature and financial statements, 1928-1929. This file contains a Stearman Aircraft Company informational pamphlet, the company's monthly magazine Contact (March, 1929), a 1928 financial report, a 1928 report to stock-holders, a Stearman stock prospectus, an aircraft price list, and newspaper clippings of Stearman Aircraft Company stock prices and business news.
Box 1	FF 17	Aviation industry newsletters and pamphlets, 1928-1929. This file contains various newsletters, government reports, promotional pamphlets, and newspaper clippings concerning the civilian aircraft industry in general and the Kansas aviation industry in particular.

Series 3 ‒ Spark Plug Invention, 1927-1929

Box 1	FF 18	Photographs - Unidentified individuals, n.d.
Box 1	FF 19	Correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and Earl Bidwell, 1927-1929. This file contains letters, telegrams, and contractual agreements between Walter Innes Jr. and Earl Bidwell concerning their partnership in the development, promotion, and patenting of a new type of spark plug.
Box 1	FF 18	Correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and the firm of Vermilion, Evans, Carey, and Lilleston, 1927-1930. This file contains correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and his Wichita attorneys concerning various business matters.
Box 1	FF 18	Correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and the firm of Dyrenforth, Lee, Chritton, and Wiles, 1928-1929. This file contains correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and his patent attorneys concerning his attempts to successfully patent the spark plug that he had developed in partnership with Earl Bidwell.
Box 1	FF 18	Correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and the Universal Milking Machine Company, 1927-1928. This file contains correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and B.F. Beaty of the Universal Milking Machine Company concerning the manufacture and distribution of his new spark plug invention.
Box 1	FF 18	Correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and various vendors, 1927-1929. This file contains correspondence between Walter Innes Jr. and various manufacturers and vendors concerning his new spark plug invention.
Box 1	FF 18	Correspondence between Earl Bidwell and various vendors, 1927-1928. This file contains correspondence between various manufacturers, vendors, and attorneys concerning the development and patenting of the spark plug invention that he was in partnership with Walter Innes Jr..
Box 1	FF 18	I-B Foul Proof Spark Plug, 1927. This file includes reports to investors, blueprints, diagrams, and descriptions of the Innes-Bidwell spark plug invention for internal combustion engines.
Box 1	FF 18	Spark plug notes of Walter Innes Jr.. This file contains the handwritten notes of Walter Innes Jr. concerning the development of his new spark plug. These notes are written on pieces of cardboard and scrap paper.
Box 1	FF 26	Spark plug manufacturers. This file contains the sales brochures of various spark plug manufacturers and a pamphlet explaining how inventors can obtain a patent.

Series 4 ‒ Rotary Internal Combustion Engine Invention

Box 1	FF 27	Rotary internal combustion engine. This file contains descriptions of the rotary internal combustion engine invention, a product of the Innes-Bidwell partnership. The file also includes a copy of a development agreement for this invention and a letter from Walter Innes Jr. promoting the benefits of this engine to a potential customer.
Box 1	FF 28	Rotary engine notes and diagrams. This file contains the handwritten notes of Walter Innes Jr. concerning the rotary internal combustion engine invention. It also includes several photographs, blueprints, and diagrams of the engine and its components.

Series 5 ‒ Marsh Manor Housing Addition

Box 1

FF 29

Marsh Manor Addition. This files contains a list of property owners in the Marsh Manor housing addition of Wichita, a real-estate development project that Walter Innes Jr. was involved in. This development was bordered by Douglas Avenue, East Street, 2nd Street, and Marsh Avenue.

Series 6 ‒ Personal Correspondence, 1928-1929

Box 1

FF 30

Personal correspondence of Walter Innes Jr., 1928-1929. This file contains the personal correspondence, arranged chronologically, between Walter Innes Jr. and his parents, Margaret and Walter Innes Sr., as they traveled around the United States and the world. The topics of the majority of the letters concerns the welfare of family members and the operation of the Innes Company.

Series 7 ‒ Oversized

Box 2	FF 1	Structural diagrams of Stearman aircraft. This folder contains oversized structural diagrams of various components of Stearman and Travel Air aircraft including the engine, wings, and fuselage.
Box 2	FF 2	Engineering graphs. This folder contains oversized graphs of engineering test results that were performed on various aircraft components.
Box 2	FF 3	Spark plug blueprints. This file contains oversized blueprints of the Innes-Bidwell foul-proof spark plug invention.
Box 2	FF 4	Real-estate plat maps. This file contains oversized plat maps of downtown Wichita and a map of several counties in south-central Kansas. Also included are the plat maps of two residential subdivisions, Marsh Manor and the Innes Addition, that had connections to Walter Innes Jr.
Map Case		Real estate plat map. Elbing-Peabody District.

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