Title	1912-01-26: Aeroplane for Guardsmen
Full Title	Aeroplane for Guardsmen. Mrs. Sage and Miss Todd Offer it with $650 Equipment
Creator	New York Sun
Date Created	1912-01-26
Index Terms	Sage, Margaret Olivia Slocum Todd, E. Lilian Women inventors
Commentary	The early history of aviation is often told as a narrative of 'pioneers' and 'firsts.' E. Lilian Todd (1865-1937) was such a pioneer. A self-taught inventor and mechanic and a patent expert from a modest background, Todd designed a bi-plane and by 1908 attracted the attention of newly widowed multimillionaire Margaret Olivia Sage. Sage sponsored her with a $7,000 grant and the plane was flown successfully in 1910. But, by January 1911, Todd had become Olivia Sage's private secretary, working out of the philanthropist's home on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. From 1911 until her patron and employer's death in November 1918, Todd helped Olivia respond to the hundreds of appeals for money that came in each day's mail. Of all the thousands of charitable donations that Sage made, this one of a plane for the New York National Guard is one of the most surprising. Were other equipment needs of the National Guard donated from private funds, as this one was? Was the plane that E. Lilian Todd built successful? And if so, why did she not take advantage of her success, instead of becoming personal secretary to Sage and ending her life in obscurity? These questions await another researcher. [Crocker, Mrs. Russell Sage, pp. 1-2, 262-63]. [Commentary written by Dr. Ruth Crocker]
Item Description	This image is a newspaper clipping describing the offer by E. Lilian Todd and Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage of an airplane and $650 cash to the New York National Guard. [Item Description created by Auburn University Libraries]
Publisher	New York Sun
Language	eng
File Name	167.jpg
Collection	New York Sun Morgue Collection
Repository	New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York, New York
Rights	This image is not the property of the Auburn University Libraries. Anyone wishing to use this image must contact the repository listed above for permission.
Digital Publisher	Auburn University Libraries
Cluster	E. Lilian Todd Aviation Philanthropy, civic and patriotic