Reuben L. Wagner papers, 1927-1985

Reuben L. Wagner was a pilot for the U.S. Postal Service and United Airlines. Wagner was born in Fairbury, Nebraska on July 7, 1897 and attended the University of Nebraska. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army, where he received flight training at its School of Aeronautics. After the war, he was active as a barnstorming pilot and served in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1923, Wagner became a U.S. Air Mail pilot, flying out of New York City and Omaha, Nebraska. He became a mail pilot for Boeing Air Transport (BAT) in 1927, for whom he flew the first air mail plane to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1928. In 1934, he became a passenger pilot for Boeing Air Transport's successor United Airlines. During World War II, Wagner served as a civilian pilot for United Airlines in the Pacific, doing contract work for the U.S. Air Transport Command. After the war, he was an airline pilot on United Airlines' San Francisco to Honolulu route until his retirement in 1957.