Col. Theodore C. Macaulay USAF (Ret.) (September 30, 1897 – April 20, 1965) was born in Minnesota and educated in New York

At the Curtiss Aviation School at North Island, Macaulay leaned to fly in the latter part of 1912, making him an Early Bird (an airman who flew before 1916). In 1913, he was named manager and chief instructor of the Curtis Aviation School at North Island.

In 1916 Macaulay was named a senior instructor of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Aviation Section. His achievements included organizing air fields in Chicago and Rantoul, Illinois and in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Macaulay was an original member of the aviation committee created in 1924 by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce to facilitate the creation of an airport for the city. From 1929 to 1942, he would serve as manager for the Chamber.

From 1942 to 1944, Macaulay would return to the U.S. Army Air Corps as a part of the Army Air Transport Command and as liaison officer with the British and French air forces in North Africa for which he received the Legion of Merit Medal.

Post war, Macaulay stayed active in the community serving as a member of the National City and Chula Vista Chambers of Commerce and the Coronado Civic Club. He was manager of the Coronado branch of the National Trust & Savings Bank. Macaulay wrote many manuscripts, some of which were published in technical magazines and at least one in The Saturday Evening Post in 1919.  

For more about Theodore Macaulay and the collection, see our Finding Guide.

See the photo collection on Flickr.