Elmo N. Pickerill Collection (1968.01)

Biographical note

Elmo Neale Pickerill was born May 24, 1885 in Greenridge, Missouri. Pickerill was an early wireless radio operator and enthusiast. He used his talents as a radio instructor in the United States Army Signal Corps during World War One, before joining the Army Air Service in 1918. Pickerill later claimed to have been an "Early Bird" (a pilot who flew planes prior to 1916) who made the first wireless radio transmission from a plane to the ground, but these assertions have been contested.

After the war, Pickerill joined the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and in 1923 was assigned to work on United States Lines' ocean liner the S.S. Leviathan as the Chief Radio Operator. He held this position until the late 20s, when he continued his work for RCA on shore. Pickerill returned to his position aboard the S.S. Leviathan briefly in 1923, but by 1934, he was back on land until his retirement from the radio industry in 1950. Pickerill died in New York in 1968.