Dorothy Kaucher Publications Collection
Content Description
The Dorothy Kaucher Publications Collection consists primarily of published materials written by Kaucher during the early days of commercial aviation. It also includes a few mementos from air travel, and a plaque for the Aviation Writers Competition in 1939.
Dates
- Creation: 1931-1966
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not been assigned to San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Biographical / Historical
Dorothy Kaucher was born on October 27, 1892, in St. Joseph, Missouri. She obtained a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri in 1915 and began her teaching career in her home town, at Central High School. She went back to MU as a graduate student in 1919, received a master’s degree in English in 1920, and began her collegiate teaching career there the same year. While she was teaching at MU, she earned a second bachelor’s degree in journalism. Kaucher went on to pursue her Ph.D. in English and speech from Cornell University. She graduated from Cornell in 1928, briefly taught at Wells College in New York, and then moved to the West Coast in 1930 to teach speech and theatre arts at San José State Teacher’s College. During the 1934-1935 academic year she took a leave of absence when she was offered a visiting professor position at UC Berkeley. She retired from San José State College in 1957.
During her time at San José State, Dr. Kaucher hosted and participated in many events outside the classroom. She was the director of the SJSC verse choir, gave poetry readings and performed in theatrical events, and frequently gave talks on one of her personal passions: air travel. Her love of commercial air travel, which was unusual in the 1930s, and her lively, humorous tales from those adventures, inspired the affectionate nickname “The Flying Professor.” By 1940 she had flown over 100,000 miles; many of her journeys were recounted in articles she wrote for travel magazines. Dr. Kaucher also authored several books: Wings Over Wake (1947), On Your Left the Milky Way (1952), Armchair in the Sky: Ocean Flights with Air Pioneers (1954), What You Need Is Art, Yes? (1958), We Go A-Travelling (1960), James Duval Phelan: A Portrait (1965), They Built A City (1970), and The Suwannee (1972). She also wrote several plays, including Bos’n, which was purchased by NBC in 1932 for radio broadcast. In 1951, Dr. Kaucher founded the Dorothy Kaucher Award for Excellence in Oral Interpretation contest, which is still held annually on the SJSU campus.
After her retirement, Dr. Kaucher focused on painting. She and her sister, Mildred, a former research chemist, were both active in the Santa Cruz Art League and participated in many exhibitions. The Kaucher sisters moved to Lake Wells, Florida, in the mid-1960s, where Dr. Kaucher died in 1972.
Extent
1 Box (1 linear foot)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Dorothy Kaucher Publications Collection consists primarily of published materials written by Kaucher during the early days of commercial aviation.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Fiona DuBrock, Spring 2020.
- Title
- Guide to the Dorothy Kaucher Publications Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Fiona DuBrock
- Date
- February 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives Repository
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
(408) 808-2062
(408) 808-2063 (Fax)
special.collections@sjsu.edu