Guide to the Civilian Pilot Training Program Records, 1940-1943
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Civilian Pilot Training Program: Records, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was initiated in 1939 by the Roosevelt administration, ostensibly to train pilots at colleges and universities for the benefit of general aviation. However, the military value of the CPTP was clear. With the advent of World War II, the demand for trained pilots was such that many CPTP graduates proceeded immediately into military pilot training.
Bowdoin College sponsored a pilot training program from 1940-1942 under the direction of physics professor Boyd Bartlett. This program took place at Bowdoin and nearby airfields and included both Bowdoin and non-Bowdoin students. Fifteen students enrolled in the first course in the summer of 1940 (ten from Bowdoin); Ann Wood (D'Youville College) was the only woman to be accepted into the program at Bowdoin. In 1942 Ann Wood was one of two dozen American female pilots recruited by the British Air Transport Auxiliary to move military aircraft from factories to military bases.
The Civilian Pilot Training Program records include correspondence of the program administrator at Bowdoin, physics professor Boyd W. Bartlett; expenditure reports; student applications and related records; the program curriculum and other course materials; and photographs.
Arranged alphabetically.
Applications, 1940 Fall Semester
Applications, Class of 1940
Applications, Class of 1941
Applications, Class of 1942
Applications, Class of 1943
Applications, Miscellaneous
Course Syllabus and Outline
Examinations and Problem Sets
Grades
Miscellaneous
Program Correspondence, 1941 Jan-Apr
Program Correspondence, 1941 Sep-Dec
Program Correspondence, 1942 Jan-Mar
Program Correspondence, 1942 Apr
Program Correspondence, 1942 May
Program Correspondence, 1942 Jun-Oct
Records
Trainee Records
Photos