Roscoe Turner came from humble beginnings in a log cabin in Mississippi. Turner served in World War I, where his first experience in the air was in a military balloon. During the 1920s, he was a barnstorming pilot and owner of the Roscoe Turner Flying Circus. Later, Turner took up air racing and won the Thompson Trophy for air speed three times. See the Roscoe Turner papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.