Date
2-28-2025
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)
Chair
Kenneth Bridges
Keywords
Park Field, Army Signal Corps, World War I, Army Aviation, Military Aviation, Millington
Disciplines
History
Recommended Citation
Smitherman, Ben, "Park Field: The Impact of the Army Signal Corps Aviation School in the Greater Memphis Area" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6531.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6531
Abstract
This research aims to place Park Field near Millington, TN in its greater historical context for West Tennessee. Mining the existing records archived after the closure of Park Field, Tennessee Council of Defense President Rutledge Smith’s papers, and numerous contemporary West Tennessee newspapers helped create this narrative of transition. On a macro level, World War I and the US Army shaped the region. Job creation and population shifts redefined Memphis, as it did many other southern cities in the era. On a micro level, individual stories bring this narrative into stark relief. Soldiers and civilians worked side by side during the War and in the years immediately following as the Park shut down. This includes romantic relationships, families created and broken apart, soldiers finding their way into and out of the Park, and the development of air power in a region seen as technologically behind. By 1922, there were as few as four military personnel on the entire base; however, its impact continued to shape Millington and Memphis economically and socially. The public’s relationship with the federal government became increasingly patriotic and nationalist during the WWI era. Air power continued to develop, playing a key role in WWII. Park Field eventually became a naval base and still contains a civilian air field. West Tennessee became a regional air hub. All of this was a result of the development of Park Field as an Army Air Corps training facility during WWI.
