{"exhibit":{"title":"Greetings from Chanute!","description":"
Credit: Tom Kuipers, Leslie Straus, Rosemary Froeliger, Kevin Adams, and Ani Karagianis<\/em><\/h5>\n

On May 21, 1917, Rantoul banker and farmer, W.H. Wheat, sent a telegram from Rantoul to Washington, D.C. that read: \u201cLanded aviation site for Rantoul. Contract signed today.\u201d And so began the 76-year relationship between the United States military and Rantoul, Illinois. The newly minted aviation field was named in honor of the French-American engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute (1832-1910).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chanute Field was one of the 32 Air Service training camps established after the United States\u00a0entered\u00a0World War I on April 6, 1917.\u00a0Its primary mission during the Great War was offering an eight week\u00a0flying\u00a0course to new aviation cadets. Chanute Field and its successor Chanute Air Force Base\u00a0would become\u00a0one of the premier technical training schools for the United States Air Force, offering instruction\u00a0in airplane mechanics, automotive mechanics, aerial photography, communications,\u00a0parachute rigging, firefighting, jet engines, meteorology, and missiles.\u00a0\u00a0The maximum student capacity in 1917\u00a0was\u00a0300 students.\u00a0At the peak of mobilization\u00a0for World War II, Chanute\u2019s student load topped 25,000 military personnel. In\u00a0total, over\u00a02\u00a0million men and women from all military branches and allied nations\u00a0received training at Chanute\u00a0Air Force Base\u00a0during its 76 years of operation.<\/p>\n

Greetings from Chanute!\u00a0<\/em>offers glimpses into numerous aspects of the Chanute Air Force Base throughout its illustrious history.\u00a0 The Champaign County Historical Archives obtained the records of the former base in 2015 following the closure of the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul.\u00a0 This exhibit will be regularly updated with new stories from the base as our archivists continue to process this large and fascinating collection.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/h5>","credits":"","featured":0,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"greetings-from-chanute-","added":"2020-01-05 16:27:20","modified":"2022-06-07 14:59:57","owner_id":56286,"use_summary_page":0,"cover_image_file_id":104,"id":5},"item":{"item_type_id":6,"collection_id":7,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2020-04-24 12:15:32","modified":"2020-09-26 12:18:32","owner_id":56286,"id":206}}