Merewether, Arthur F., 1991-07-30

Oral history interview with Arthur Merewether, 1991. Interviewed by Earl Droessler. 1 sound cassette (ca. 1 hr.) : analog, mono + transcript (16 pgs.). AMS 76; two physical versions (one master, one copy). Forms part of American Meteorological Society - Tape Recorded Interview Project, 1983-2009. After an introduction from Droessler, Merewether begins by addressing Droessler’s questions regarding Ken Spengler, discussing how he met Spengler when he was a student. Droessler asks Merewether how he became a meteorologist and Merewether talks about his career in the Army Air Corps, how he was trained as a meteorologist, and how he rose to become the chief of the Weather Service. Merewether talks about flying in extreme cold in Canada and then moves on to his career after the military with American Airlines. Droessler asks about the people Merewether worked with during his career with American Airlines and Merewether talks about how he and other heads of airline weather services improved the speed of weather report transmission and then dictates his recollections of Dr. Francis W. Reichelderfer, Dr. Carl Rossby, Harry Wexler, and Captain Harold T. Orville (Shorty). Droessler asks Merewether to choose who he felt was the most outstanding leader of the Air Weather Service and Merewether talks about Commander Tommy Moorman and Commander Don Yates. Droessler then prompts Merewether to comment on Irving Krick, and from there they move on to discussing the American Meterological Society and Charles Brooks. Prompted by Droessler, Merewether then talks about aviation in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and how the Air Corps took over flying the mail in 1934 and lost many pilots due to bad weather. Droessler asks about Merewether’s presidency of the American Meteorological Society from 1954-1955 and Merewether talks about the first national meeting of weather prediction and his accomplishments. Droessler then comes back to Ken Spengler and they both comment on their recollections of him. Finally, Merewether discusses his childhood, college career, family, and his short stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates.