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The Eastern Airlines Collection, 1927-2008 (bulk 1965-2008), consists of news clippings, press releases, newsletters, annual reports, monthly reports, correspondence, memoranda, photographs, slides, an early scrapbook (or day book), artifacts (promotional items) and audiovisual materials. This collection mainly provides insight into publicity and outreach efforts at Eastern Airlines, but also its history, charitable work, and day-to-day operations. The materials were accumulated by Carolyn Lee Wills, who worked in the Public Relations Department of Eastern's Southern Regional Office from 1965 until 1987. ; Carolyn Lee Wills graduated from Georgia State University, where she studied journalism, history and speech. She also participated in many extra-curricular activities including Panhellenic Council, Delta Zeta Sorority, and yearbook. Before she began her work at Eastern Airlines, she traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Bermuda.; In 1965, Wills joined Eastern Airlines as a Representative of Women's Activities. In this role, she interpreted the company's program to women by working in the fields of fashion, radio, television, public relations, and promotions. In 1971, Wills became made Regional Manager of Public Relations. Eastern Airlines closed its Atlanta offices in November 1973, but found it difficult to cover their public relations needs in Atlanta from their headquarters in Miami. Four months after closing, Wills was re-hired by Eastern to manage the Southern Division covering Atlanta to Tokyo. While employed by Eastern Airlines, Wills served on many boards including American Women in Radio and Television, Georgia State University Alumni Association, and was a national representative of Delta Zeta Sorority. In 1966, she married attorney Charles H. Wills. The earliest incarnation of Eastern Airlines was Pitcairn Aviation, founded in 1927, which was the U.S. Postal Service contractor flying from New York to Atlanta. In 1930, the carrier was sold to North American Aviation owner Clement Keys and was renamed Eastern Air Transport. It soon added passenger routes and adopted the name Eastern Air Lines. Throughout the pre-World War II era, Eastern dominated passenger travel and air transport along the Atlantic coast, including the introduction of one-day service from New York to Miami in 1932. Famed pilot Eddie Rickenbacker bought the company in 1938 and was closely identified with it until his 1963 retirement. During the air travel boom of the 1950s and 1960s, Eastern Airlines grew into one of the ""Big Four"" United States carriers, enhancing its status as the lead air travel carrier on domestic east coast flights with the introduction of air shuttle service in 1961. Shuttle service was created as an alternative to bus routes and included hourly flights from Atlanta to Washington D.C., New York, and Boston. During this time, Eastern Airlines also expanded international service to Mexico, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Under the leadership of former astronaut Frank Borman (hired as an advisor in 1969, he became Chief Executive Officer in 1975), Eastern Airlines enjoyed continued successes in the industry until the enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.; Beginning with Eastern's early U.S. Postal Service government contract, the company had relied upon the regulated and protective policies governing the airline industry. Without government protection, Eastern's profits began to make a downward turn that eventually culminated in the selling of the company to Texas Air International, headed by Frank Lorenzo. Following deregulation, Lorenzo was able to purchase multiple airlines including Continental, Frontier, New York Air, and Eastern. To cut costs in the midst of declining profits, Lorenzo asked Eastern's union employees to take massive pay cuts in wages and benefits. Union workers refused to accept Lorenzo's demands and opted to go on strike. By claiming bankruptcy in 1989, Lorenzo was able to hire non-union workers to fill the jobs of striking employees. Lorenzo took his demands a step further when he asked the machinists' union to take a pay cut, which resulted in another strike that dealt the final blow to any hope that Eastern Airlines would recover lost profits. In 1991, Eastern Airlines was permanently grounded. Eastern's main hubs in Atlanta and Miami were taken over by various competitors and its concourses in New York and Newark were demolished.

The history of the world is not that of individuals, but of groups. And yet it is not the history of socioeconomic classes, but of races. Races are not biological realities, but social & historical realities, each of which has a special message for humanity. But the Negro race, in contrast to the others, has yet to deliver its message. In order to do so it needs to work on two fronts: that of the good moral health of the Black people on the one hand, & that of their education on the other. At once American & Negro, the Black American must not forget to which race he belongs & must ensure that the condition of American Blacks can be improved in order to guarantee the delivery of the message of the Negro race. The object of the American Negro Academy is to guarantee the education of Blacks by Blacks for the conservation of their race. Adapted from the source document.

This thesis provides a guide for the creation of plans to preserve historic properties impacted by tornadoes. Major historic preservation groups, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have yet to provide guidance on this subject. However, NOAA states that roughly 1,000 cities are impacted by these storms every year.1 Each storm leaves chaos in its wake, and more often than not, the demolition of damaged buildings begins within a day. Because damaged historic buildings are usually more difficult and expensive to repair, individuals often demolish them in order to speed the recovery effort along. However, an organized plan which the community and its leaders have agreed upon can outline the importance of retaining the area's-built heritage. When a community loses these buildings, it loses its sense of self and history. By creating criteria for the preservation of historic buildings damaged by tornadoes, communities can retain these senses. To understand the process of recovery planning, a study of the laws, ordinances, guidance, and grants surrounding tornado disasters is illustrated in the first chapter. Once these measures have been understood, two case studies of tornado-impacted communities detail the different recovery efforts of two communities: one which prioritizes preservation and one which does not. These studies are of the April 2006 tornado in Iowa City, Iowa and the June 2011 tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts. Based on these findings, a series of recommendations are provided in chapter three. These include properly insuring historic properties, the inclusion of tornado recovery plans within historic preservation plans; the creation of action committees within historic preservation societies and committees; and the assistance of the AIA's pro bono program Communities by Design. Also included is a study of retrofitting sustainability considerations into a historic building's recovery effort in Greensburg, Kansas after their catastrophic 2007 tornado.