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University of Southern California Library of Aeronautical History George T. Cussen collection on aviation

 Collection
Identifier: 0053

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Scope and Contents

The collection consists of Cussen's personal scrapbook pages, books and photographs pertaining to the commercial aeronautic industry from the 1930s to the 1950s, and a collection of World War I and World War II war effort posters and maps.

Dates

  • Creation: 1918 - 1963

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Biographical / Historical

After leaving law school in the 1920s, George Cussen worked in the transportation industry for the next several decades. He worked for the Santa Fe Railway for eight years before a brief stint at Maddux Air Lines in 1929. From 1932 to 1940, he worked for Transcontinental & Western Airlines as a traffic manager, alternating between Los Angeles and San Francisco operations. During the 1940s, he worked for American Airlines, was the operations officer for the 302nd Transportation wing during WWII, and was appointed the Director of Traffic for TACA Airways' American and Caribbean region in 1946. Throughout the 1950s, he was the vice president and head sales executive for the Flying Tiger Line.

Starting in 1963, Cussen was among the aeronautic industry personnel who supported USC Library's campaign to established a library of aeronautical history. His donation was one among the large collections of air transport papers the library obtained through this effort.

Extent

7.54 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The collection consists of Cussen's personal scrapbook pages, books and photographs pertaining to the commercial aeronautic industry from the 1930s to the 1950s, and a collection of World War I and World War II war effort posters and maps. George Cussen worked the Santa Fe Railway for eight years before a brief stint at Maddux Air Lines in 1929. From 1932 to 1940, he worked for Transcontinental and Western Airlines as a traffic manager, alternating between Los Angeles and San Francisco operations. During the 1940s, he worked for American Airlines, was the operations officer for the 302nd Transportation wing during WWII, and was appointed the Director of Traffic for TACA Airways' American and Carribbean region in 1946. Throughout the 1950s, he was the vice president and head sales executive for the Flying Tiger Line.

Processing Information

This collection is not fully processed.

Title
Finding aid for the University of Southern California Library of Aeronautical History George T. Cussen collection on aviation
Status
Minimally Processed
Author
Mariah Sander
Date
2018
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2021 March: Finding aid updated by Sue Luftschein to include accruals and corrections to controlled access headings.
  • 2023 February: Finding aid updated by Marissa Chavez for History Associates Incorporated

Repository Details

Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States