U. S. Army Air Corps pilot Stuart Wellington Torney (1899-1923) was born in Chicago and raised in Seattle. After graduating high school in Medford, Oregon, he enlisted in the United States Air Service. He married Edna Hutton (1902-1977) in 1920 and their daughter, Jacqueline Stuart Torney (1922-2001), was born in Illinois. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in 1921, Torney participated in airplane exhibitions designed to increase sales of War Saving Stamps and Liberty Bonds. Torney died of pneumonia in 1923, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virgina. Shortly before his death Torney was selected for a team of aviators who later made the first round-the-world trip in a flight which originated at Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle.
In this image of Torney (left) and an unidentified man, both are wearing typical aviator uniforms for the day. The open air cockpits in the planes they flew could reach extremely low temperatures, at time 20 degrees below zero. Torney's aviator's helmet is part of MOHAI's permanent collection.
Caption information source: Stuart Lee Renfeldt, October 16, 1968
ID Number: 1968.4514.2
Date: Circa 1921
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 8 x 10 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
