Arthur Ronnie (born 1930)--former Los Angeles Herald Examiner reporter and studio publicist--initially collected and identified the material in this collection. Ronnie held a lifelong passion for aviation, beginning with his first job at the age of 14 washing aircrafts at a local flying school and continuing throughout his life as a major collector of books and historic aviation imagery. The Altadena resident wrote in a 1971 letter to a magazine editor, which accompanies this archive, that he acquired the photographs 15 years prior at a local junk shop.

"I do not believe any of these pictures have ever been published before," Ronnie wrote to the editor of American Heritage magazine, who rejected one of Ronnie's proposals for an article that would feature some of the images. Ronnie also described the extent of his personal collection in the letter: "A portion of my library comprises some 4,000 books on aviation which includes almost every book on air racing published in the last 30 years, as well as every book by or about Lindbergh and Miss Earhart. None of these pictures appear in the books."

The National Air Races, which were established in 1920 by publisher Joseph Pulitzer, came to Los Angeles for eight days in September of 1928. The event was organized by a group of Los Angeles business and community leaders, including Los Angeles Mayor George Cryer, Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, aircraft pioneer Donald Douglas, and Hollywood impresario Sid Grauman. The Races featured daily special themes, such as "World Flight Day" and "Navy Day" as well as events with cash prizes and trophies for such goals as setting new distance or endurance records. Notably, some seventy entrants competed for $40,000 in prizes in a transcontinental air race from New York to Los Angeles. Band concerts, fireworks, parachute jumps, formation flying, and air extravaganzas that included film and theater stars, dancers, and others were held throughout the Races' eight days. The host airport was Mines Field, which was specially built on a former barley field in only 58 days for the event. The California Air Race Association oversaw the establishment of three runways of 7,000 feet length and an exposition building of 20,000 square feet. Following the event, Mines Field was turned over to the City of Los Angeles for operation as a municipal airport, which now operates as the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).