Air and Space: The Museum That Fell From the Sky

By Jerry Copas

    In 1923, the USS Shenandoah was christened as the Navy's first rigid airship. It was intended to provide airborne surveillance and was sent on test flights across the nation. On September 3, 1925, during a flyover in Ohio, a morning squall destroyed the ship, killing 14 crewmembers. The wreckage was scattered for miles, and before officials could arrive, thousands looted the scene. It took officers four truckloads to recover everything, and even then, pieces were displayed on parlors and windows.

    Theresa Rayner and her late-husband Bryan run a museum-on-wheels commemorating the USS Shenandoah.

"Rayner’s late husband Bryan grew up near Neiswonger Farm, where the bulk of the wreckage fell. As a boy, Bryan collected anything he could find relating to the wreck of the Shenandoah. His family has a connection to the event: The Rayners, along with other local residents, sold soda pop and water to the thousands who traveled to view the site. News clippings, photographs, and pieces of the ship continued to accumulate in Rayner’s Garage in Ava, Ohio, the family’s towing business."

    One day, someone came up with an idea for a portable museum, and the couple put all their artifacts in a trailer, showing them at schools, passersby, and meetings.

"Treasures displayed inside the museum include various pieces of the ship’s duralumin framework, sections of the silver outer cover, fragments of the airtight gas cells, plus assorted ropes and rigging. Items from the ship’s galley include cups and plates used by the crew, plus a sugar bowl with the sugar still inside. There’s an impressive scale-model of the ship, and original sheet music of the mournful song 'The Wreck of the Shenandoah' by Maggie Andrews."

    During the Great Depression, many pieces were repurposed as household objects and thrown away. Other pieces can still be found at auctions. A marker now marks the place where the ship's captain and several crew members died.

"In 1991, the Rayners met Peggy Lansdowne Hunt, the daughter of the Shenandoah’s captain, who was visiting Noble County to dedicate a memorial. During Hunt’s visit, the Rayners were able to share their collection with her. 'That was a turning point for me,' says Rayner, 'meeting someone who was directly affected by this tragedy. It’s one thing to know names, dates, and places. Peggy Lansdowne was just three years old when her father died. That changed her life forever. That’s something you have to factor into history.' Rayner still hopes for mementos from an event that occurred almost 100 years ago. There may be prizes still packed in an attic, awaiting discovery."