Pilot Club of Columbus Records (MC 344)

Organizational Note

The Pilot International website says, in part: Pilot International was chartered on October 18, 1921 in Macon, Georgia, by Elizabeth Leonard and forty local businesswomen. The name "Pilot" was inspired by the mighty riverboat pilots of that day who represented leadership and guidance. The first Pilot President was Lucy B. Allen, elected at the organization's first convention in 1922.

In 1929, Pilot organized its first club west of the Mississippi, the Pilot Club of El Paso, Texas. In 1932 the 22nd Pilot Club was organized in Juarez, Mexico, making Pilot a true "international" organization.

By 1954 the number of Pilot members had increased to 9,900. Membership hit an all-time high of 20,877 in 1985.

Pilot International Foundation (now the Pilot International Founders Fund) was established in 1975 to further Pilot's humanitarian efforts. Since the Pilot International Founders Fund grant program began in 1977, nearly 1,500 grants totaling more than $1.5 million have been disbursed to Pilot Clubs.

Major Pilot International projects have included: donating an ambulance to the Red Cross for use in England during WW II (1940); adopting a five-year project to rebuild the war-torn French village of Vimoutiers, Orne, France, which was accidentally bombed by allied troops (1949); feeding 80,000 hungry Alaskan and Japanese citizens through the "Meals for Millions" program (1959); establishing elementary schools in Guatemala (1968); founding Project: WOMANPOWER, a joint CARE/Pilot project which provided financial aid to cottage industries owned by women in Peru (1987-1992); contributing nearly $240,000 within a two-year period to pediatric AIDS research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee (1988-1990) and other worthwhile endeavors.

The Columbus chapter was founded in 1921.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a scrapbook of the activities of the Columbus, Georgia chapter of Pilot for the club year 1978/1979.

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the Pilot Club of Columbus must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives at Columbus State University. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:

Pilot Club of Columbus (MC 344) Columbus State University Archives Columbus, Georgia

Provenance

This scrapbook was donated to the Columbus State University Archives by Linda Rayburn Wahler in 2011.

Box and Item List

Box 1

• Item 1 - Scrapbook, 1978/1979This scrapbook contains mostly photographs of club members at various local, state and national meetings, as well as a few meeting agendas and other printed items.