University of Wyoming
Merrill Keith Riddick (1895-1988) was an early aviator. He was also three times a United States Presidential candidate for the Puritan Ethic and Epic, Magnetohydrodynamics and Prohibition Party. At the age of 11, he moved with his family to eastern Montana. At 16, Riddick became interested in the emerging field of aviation. In 1917, Riddick was a member of the first graduating class from the Army Air Force Aeronautics School in San Diego, California. He was sent to Europe during World War I to serve as an instructor and to fly reconnaissance. After the war, Riddick was among the first airmail pilots. Riddick and Charles Lindbergh barnstormed together in the Harry Perkins Air Circus. In 1928, Riddick was an instructor at the first aviation preparatory school in Rochester, New York. He re-joined the Air Force during World War II and served as a technical instructor. He was also a prospector who was involved in many different mining claims prior to and after the war. Riddick moved back to Montana after the war and became interested in magnetohydrodynamics (the conversion of coal to electricity in a superheated chamber through the use of magnets). He carried this interest into politics with political campaigns centered on natural resource management as well as campaign finance reform. He wrote and published the
The collection contains biographical information including a manuscript of a biography; photographs; press releases; and memorabilia regarding his aviation and political careers. There is also correspondence (1939-1973), including letters to and from Dorothy “Dot” Lemon, a female aviator who was the first woman president of the Institute of Navigation, a non-profit professional organization founded in 1945 for the advancement of the art and science of positioning, navigation, and timing on land, air, sea, and space. Lemon learned to be an aviator from Riddick in the early 1920s.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
Merrill K. Riddick papers are also at the University of Montana.
This material was received from Merrill K. Riddick in 1973 and 1975.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
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