Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Join Education Director Aimee Bachari for a chat with Curator Jordan Berson about the fascinating Elmo N. Pickerill Collection at the Steamship Historical Society of America. Elmo Neale Pickerill served as Chief Radio Operator aboard the SS Leviathan for most of the ship’s career. Pickerill made a name for himself in the fields of aviation and wireless radiotelegraphy, being taught by the Wright brothers AND Guglielmo Marconi!
He was credited with making the first ever airplane-to-ground radio communication, while solo-piloting a biplane in August 1910. During the flight, Pickerill was said to have tapped out Morse code that was received by two stations on the beach, three different steamships, and a radio station on a New York City rooftop. This event did not receive publicity and due to this absence of period news reports, some historians have suggested that Pickerill fabricated the story.
In 1968, when Pickerill passed away, a large volume of the papers and mementos that he saved from his time working on the Leviathan were donated to SSHSA. These include but are not limited to: signage from Leviathan’s radio room, Pickerill’s badge, epaulettes, certification cards, 137 crew passes, 168 log abstract cards, photographs, souvenir-type objects, silver, correspondence, clippings, memoranda, books, and a very large 48-star American flag that purportedly was flown aboard Leviathan.
Two groupings of materials within that donation stand out as exceptional records of what it was like to work in the radio department of an early twentieth century ocean liner. The first grouping is Pickerill’s photographs that he kept in a large bound album. The second grouping are documents stored inside of two file-boxes stamped “SS LEVIATHAN” on their spines. These boxes were apparently saved from the radio room by Pickerill when the ship went out of service for the last time in 1934. Work has been going on at SSHSA to more thoroughly document and understand the contents of these boxes.
This film features historic video and images from the SSHSA Archives, including many from the Pickerill Collection. You will also see colorized images by Richard Rabbett. Get an in-depth look at the LEVIATHAN in the historical context of its time by watching his presentation that was originally given at the Ship History Center at youtu.be/zLBto7ivH_E?si=ndMMTlTUhKRZlQ87. Follow his channel @rikkma . He also runs a very active Facebook group. Check it out at facebook.com/groups/ssleviathan.
Join Education Director Aimee Bachari for a chat with Curator Jordan Berson about the fascinating Elmo N. Pickerill Collection at the Steamship Historical Society of America. Elmo Neale Pickerill served as Chief Radio Operator aboard the SS Leviathan for most of the ship’s career. Pickerill made a name for himself in the fields of aviation and wireless radiotelegraphy, being taught by the Wright brothers AND Guglielmo Marconi!
He was credited with making the first ever airplane-to-ground radio communication, while solo-piloting a biplane in August 1910. During the flight, Pickerill was said to have tapped out Morse code that was received by two stations on the beach, three different steamships, and a radio station on a New York City rooftop. This event did not receive publicity and due to this absence of period news reports, some historians have suggested that Pickerill fabricated the story.
In 1968, when Pickerill passed away, a large volume of the papers and mementos that he saved from his time working on the Leviathan were donated to SSHSA. These include but are not limited to: signage from Leviathan’s radio room, Pickerill’s badge, epaulettes, certification cards, 137 crew passes, 168 log abstract cards, photographs, souvenir-type objects, silver, correspondence, clippings, memoranda, books, and a very large 48-star American flag that purportedly was flown aboard Leviathan.
Two groupings of materials within that donation stand out as exceptional records of what it was like to work in the radio department of an early twentieth century ocean liner. The first grouping is Pickerill’s photographs that he kept in a large bound album. The second grouping are documents stored inside of two file-boxes stamped “SS LEVIATHAN” on their spines. These boxes were apparently saved from the radio room by Pickerill when the ship went out of service for the last time in 1934. Work has been going on at SSHSA to more thoroughly document and understand the contents of these boxes.
This film features historic video and images from the SSHSA Archives, including many from the Pickerill Collection. You will also see colorized images by Richard Rabbett. Get an in-depth look at the LEVIATHAN in the historical context of its time by watching his presentation that was originally given at the Ship History Center at youtu.be/zLBto7ivH_E?si=ndMMTlTUhKRZlQ87. Follow his channel @rikkma . He also runs a very active Facebook group. Check it out at facebook.com/groups/ssleviathan.
