Howard "Skippy" Smith was a stunt skydiver who founded the Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego with financial backing from Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. They were subcontractors of Standard Parachute Company. He employed a large, mixed-race workforce until 1944. Mack "Skip" Gravelle and Howard "Skippy" Smith came to Los Angeles in the late 1930s, learned parachuting, and joined a group of barnstormers, calling themselves "Skip and Skippy." The team came to an end when Gravelle's parachute failed to open and he was killed. Photograph of parachutists Howard "Skippy" Smith and "Skip" Gravelle. The two African American men are in full pilot uniform, and are standing in front of an airplane. Caption: Skippy (left) and his partner Mack "skip" Gravelle, who was killed in 1939 When his parachute failed to open. Written on back of photo: Skippy Smith and his partner, Mack "skip" Gravelle. Survey Graphic Sept. 1942.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b19_f21_001a.tif ark:/21198/z10c6cxm
Subject
Skydivers African American businesspeople Gravelle, Skip Smith, Skippy
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