Tulsa Air & Space Museum Hopes Public Can Help Tell Story of Exhibit

The Tulsa Air and Space Museum is closed right now, but they're hoping while folks are at home, they can hunt down some history to help enhance the story of an exhibit there.

The museum is full of local aviation history, and one piece, in particular, has a great story that you can help tell.

You could spend all day looking at everything the museum has to offer, but a blue Jeep will definitely catch your eye. It was a staple at the Douglas Aircraft Company for decades in Tulsa.

"They used vehicles like this, the Douglas Jeep, to get to and fro certain areas in the factory," said Museum Curator Alex London.

London said the Jeep helped transport senators, CEOs of major companies, and other special guests around the plant. The building stretched nearly a mile long and made planes during WWII like the B-24 Bomber. The building is now occupied by a school bus manufacturer and Spirit AeroSystems.  

"This Jeep a lot of times was used as a centerpiece for more of a handshake agreement, kind of those photo ops. This was one of the big pieces they liked to use in that," said London.

Daniel Williams owns the Jeep now and said it always strikes up a conversation.

"Every time we take it out on display at some event, some people, three or four people, will come up and say ‘oh I remember this’," said Williams. 

Alex London hopes to unearth more of those memories in the form of photographs. With so many people at home right now because of COVID-19, he said it's a good time to open up that old shoebox of pictures and perhaps find something useful to the museum.

"A great shot of maybe your relative with a president or anyone, in general, would be incredibly beneficial to the museum itself," said London.

And who knows, you could find a photo laying around that could help enhance the story of this piece of Tulsa history.

If you find any of those old photos, give the Tulsa Air and Space Museum a call at (918) 834-9900.