Clara Adams

Clara Adams is little remembered today but she was well known as a pioneer of commercial aviation during the 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s — and always as a paying passenger.

Known as a “First Flighter,” Clara Adams was aboard the maiden flights of the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg airships, Pan Am Clipper flying boats, and other early airliners, and she became acquainted with many of the famous aviators of the day including Amelia Earhart (picture).

Clara Adams with LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin

Clara Adams with LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin

Wealthy Widow
adams-united-f5

Mrs. Adams was married to George L. Adams, president of the American Leather Tanning company, who owned a series of tanneries in Pennsylvania.  George Adams was 40 years older than his young wife and died in 1929, leaving Clara a wealthy widow with the time and money to indulge her passion for air travel.

First Time in the Air

Clara Adams made her first flight in March, 1914, in a Thomas flying boat piloted by Army Captain Walter E. Johnson:  “I was a mere youngster but it was an experience that marked the beginning of years of flying. I have never handled the controls and have no desire to become a pilot.”

Clara Adams and the Zeppelins

Adams began her long association with zeppelins in 1924 with a letter of introduction to Hugo Eckener from Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, to whom she was related.  (Clara Adams was born Clara Grabau, on December 3, 1884, to a German family living in Cincinnati, Ohio; her grandmother was Augusta von Hindenburg, a cousin of the German general and future president.)

Clara Adams with Dr. and Mrs. Hugo Eckener in Friedrichshafen, November 3, 1928, after arriving from North America aboard Graf Zeppelin.

Clara Adams with Dr. and Mrs. Hugo Eckener in Friedrichshafen, November 3, 1928, after arriving from North America aboard Graf Zeppelin.

Her letter of introduction to Eckener “opened the magic doors of the Zeppelin realm,” as she described it, and Eckener invited her to fly on one of the test flights of the LZ-126/ZR-III, which had been built for the Americans as war reparations and would become the United States Navy airship USS Los Angeles.

In 1928, Adams purchased the first transatlantic air ticket ever sold to a female passenger and was on the first flight of the airship Graf Zeppelin from North America to Europe in October, 1928.

When the zeppelin Hindenburg made its maiden flight from Germany to the United States in May, 1936, Adams was again one of the passengers, along with her friend Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay.

The loss of the airship Hindenburg in May, 1937 apparently did not shake Adam’s enthusiasm for zeppelin travel; she later recounted that “on the day after the destruction of the Hindenburg, I wrote out my check for $100 to be held as a deposit for the first ticket for the new dirigible, LZ-130… This I did to prove that I had not lost confidence in dirigible travel.”

Across the Oceans by Flying Boat

Adams was also a pioneering passenger in the other leading aviation technology of the day, the flying boat.  In 1931, she was the only paying woman passenger on the flight of Germany’s massive, twelve-engined Dornier DO-X flying boat from Rio de Janeiro to New York.

Dornier DO-X

Dornier DO-X

Clara Adams on Pan American's Hawaii Clipper

Clara Adams with Pan American’s Hawaii Clipper

Clara Adams was also aboard many Pan Am Clippers for their inaugural flights, including the first passenger flight across the Pacific on Pan American’s “Hawaii Clipper.”  The Martin M-130 left San Francisco on October 21, 1936 and flew to Manila in the Philippines, with stops at Hawaii, Midway, Wake, and Guam. And the following year Mrs. Adams was on the first flight of Pan Am’s Bermuda Clipper from New York to Bermuda in 1937.

Around the World by Air

Clara Adams made one of her most famous trips in 1939, when she set a world record for an around-the-world flight solely on scheduled passenger airlines.  She left New York on June 28, 1939 aboard Pan American’s “Dixie Clipper” (a Boeing 314 flying boat which in 1943 would carry President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Casablanca Conference).  Traveling on Pan American, Deutsche Lufthansa, KLM, and United Airlines, she circled the globe in 16 days and 19 hours, with stops in Horta, Lisbon, Marseille, Leipzig, Athens, Basra, Jodphur, Rangoon, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Guam, Wake Island, Midway Island, Honolulu, and San Francisco, returning to New York on July 15, 1939.

Clara Adams Around-the-World itinerary, 1939.

Clara Adams’ Around-the-World itinerary, 1939.

Clara Adams made another first flight in September, 1940, when she flew on Pan Am’s Boeing B-314 “American Clipper” as it made the first passenger flight from the United States to New Zealand.

Clara Adams, Eccentric?

Her flights brought her great publicity, but Clara Adams was also viewed as something of an eccentric.  Time Magazine compared her to the “fire buffs” who chase fire engines in an August 3, 1931 article, and told readers that in her home town in Pennsylvania, “Mrs. Adams is considered something of a character… She owns several automobiles, yet is frequently seen walking the nine miles between Tannersville and Stroudsburg, or hailing motorists for a lift. Tall and lean, she dresses plainly, wears cotton stockings. She plays the piano with exceptional skill, is locally famed as a china-painter.”

Her Legacy to Commercial Aviation

While Adams may have been “a character” (she was infamous among Pan Am flight crews for pestering pilots for dozens of autographs), and while she did not contribute anything to the technological development of aviation, she did play an important role in the promotion of commercial aviation in its early days.  Through her relentless self-promotion (she went on lecture tours describing her aerial adventures, made sure that she received as much newspaper coverage as she could generate, and autographed mountains of postcards, menus, and other memorabilia), Clara Adams brought passenger flight to the attention of the masses, and helped change the public perception of aviation from a dangerous enterprise for daredevils in leather helmets to something that could be enjoyed by a little old widow from Pennsylvania.  Her round-the-world flight in 1939 was a very public demonstration of just how far aviation had come in so short a time; Charles Lindbergh had crossed the Atlantic in May, 1927, and just twelve years later it was possible for a woman to buy a ticket to fly around the world on scheduled airlines.

And Clara Adams made sure the world knew it.

Clara Adams with Pan Am's Honolulu Clipper

Clara Adams with Pan Am’s Honolulu Clipper

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Jeffrey MiddlemanJeffrey MiddlemanDavid HelmsCynthia KriegerDr. Bodenstein, Albrecht Recent comment authors
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Jeffrey Middleman
Jeffrey Middleman

Terrific article!
Well ahead of her time. She helped promote Commercial Aviation . Her eccentricity only high
Lighted her enthusiastic approach to life.

I sauté her bravery and ferocity for the rights of women.

Did she write a memoir?

Jeffrey Middleman
Jeffrey Middleman

Interesting figure in the growth of Commercial Airline Travel. Her eccentricity enabled her to pioneer a woman’s right to fly the Globe.

Did she write a memoir ? She was a very accomplished traveler.

Cynthia Krieger

I posted an comment that seems to have been removed. It was about an Evelope with a South Seas Perl that I have of Clara Adams. She carried around the World!

Cynthia Krieger

I have a small, Decorated Envelope that has a note about a South Sea Island Pearl, carried on record flight in 1939…signed by Clara Adams
Does this mean anything to anyone…just looking for info etc.

David Helms
David Helms

Would love to have a photocopy! Thank you
David 704-254-0859

Dr. Bodenstein, Albrecht
Dr. Bodenstein, Albrecht

Wilhelm ALBERT Grabau hat 1929 ein zweibändiges Werk über die Geschichte der Familie Grabau geschrieben. Vom ersten Band gibt es nur noch 4 Exemplare vom 2. Band nur 1 Exemplar. Die Anna Amalia- Bibliothek in Weimar hat Band 1 und Band 2 Im Band 2 sind die Stammbäume der Familienzweige… Read more »

M.C. ROSIE ROSENSTEIN
M.C. ROSIE ROSENSTEIN

ALL GREAT INFORMATION PASSED ON, THANK YOU CLARA ADAMS.
M. . ROSIE ROSENSTEIN PAN AM 1958-1991

Carol Zanetti
Carol Zanetti

I have a personal family photo with this written on the back: “This picture was taken by Clara Grabau Adams Grand niece of Gen. v Hindenburg near Pocono Stroudsburg Pennsylvania.” I believe my grandmother’s brother was a German officer who knew him or his family. I’m thrilled to learn all… Read more »

David Helms
David Helms

Very interesting. What a life of adventure she lived. Do you have anything you could share regarding Clara Adams. I would be most grateful. Hope to hear from you.
David cell 704-254-0859

Steve Becker
Steve Becker

My great uncle, Bill Schneider, was friends with Clara Adams and had her over our house a couple times around 1970. She showed us how she could play the piano with her hands behind her back.

Dagmara Lizlovs
Dagmara Lizlovs

Here is an example of playing the piano with one’s hands behind one’s back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSUOECXC0aM

And playing the piano upside down was a trick of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. While we can’t get a video of Mozart himself playing this will have to suffice:

http://www.maniacworld.com/playing-the-piano-upside-down.html

David Helms
David Helms

What a story. Would love to hear more. Feel free to call. Hope j hear from you
David cell:704-254-0859

Linda
Linda

Greetings, I have come into possession an antique painting of two Catholic Cardinals that I have always loved and was fortunate enough to have inherited from my parents who would buy beautiful antiques on their annual trip to New York city every year. This small painting has a sticker on… Read more »

Emy Andrew
Emy Andrew

Yes, that’s Clara! She was often a guest in my parents’ home when I was a child! Clara and Amelia Earhart were speakers at Chautauqua, New York promoting air travel.

David Helms
David Helms

Can you share a copy of the photo with Clara adams and Amelia. Would be eternally grateful

Nancy
Nancy

Was just reading about Clara Adam to find out why she was in a photo with Amila Earhart, which was given to my grandmother. She had signed it on 1929 with best wishes. Then going through more old photos there was a portrait of her to my grandparents signed “around… Read more »

Elton
Elton

Would love to see the pics..

David Helms
David Helms

Would love to have a copy. That would be really special. Could you share? I would be indebted. I have things I can share with you as well.
David cell 704-254-0859