Howard "Skippy" Smith and Mack "Skip" Gravelle, circa 1939

Title: Howard "Skippy" Smith and Mack "Skip" Gravelle, circa 1939
Alternative title: Skippy Smith, headed a company making pilot chutes during World War II
Date Created: [circa 1939]
Date: 1939
Collection: Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Description: Howard "Skippy" Smith was a stunt skydiver who founded the Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego with financial backing from Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. They were subcontractors of Standard Parachute Company. He employed a large, mixed-race workforce until 1944.
Mack "Skip" Gravelle and Howard "Skippy" Smith came to Los Angeles in the late 1930s, learned parachuting, and joined a group of barnstormers, calling themselves "Skip and Skippy." The team came to an end when Gravelle's parachute failed to open and he was killed.
Photograph of parachutists Howard "Skippy" Smith and "Skip" Gravelle. The two African American men are in full pilot uniform, and are standing in front of an airplane.
Caption: Caption: Skippy (left) and his partner Mack "skip" Gravelle, who was killed in 1939 When his parachute failed to open. Written on back of photo: Skippy Smith and his partner, Mack "skip" Gravelle. Survey Graphic Sept. 1942.