Skippy Smith

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Howard "Skippy" Smith (1913 – 2003) was an American stunt skydiver, pilot, and entrepreneur. During World War II he founded and managed the Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego, California, the first national Black–owned and managed defense production plant.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and family

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Howard "Skippy" Smith was born in 1913, in Birmingham, Alabama.[2][5] His father had been a professor at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama.[5] Smith play professional baseball in Birmingham and New Orleans.[5][6] During the Great Depression, Smith moved to Los Angeles with the hopes of becoming a pilot.[2]

Career

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Smith became a known skydiver by 1939, working with his partner Mac "Skip" Gravelly.[2] The two would do stunt jumps which were free falls followed by delayed parachute openings, and spot landings in which they would land in precisely in a predesignated location.[7] Smith made some 150 jumps during his short career as a stunt skydiver.[8] Gravelly was killed in 1939 during an air show, when he borrowed a parachute and it was missing a pilot chute.[5][7] His death impacted Smith's life and career, as a result, Smith was hired by defense contractor Standard Parachute in San Diego to test, pack, and inspect parachutes around the beginning of World War II.[2]

In March 1942, Smith was able to open the Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego, California, with financial backing from actor and comedian Eddie "Rochester" Anderson.[2][9] During its first year in business the Pacific Parachute Company produced nearly 50,000 parachutes, working as a contractor for Standard Parachute.[5] Smith's company hired a diverse workforce, and was one of the few integrated workforces in San Diego at that time period.[2][10] They were awarded in 1943 the National Negro Business League's Spaulding Award.[5] The Office of the Coordinator of Information–Foreign Information Service (COI–FIS) hired photographer Russell Lee to photo-document Smith and the Pacific Parachute Company.[10] At the end of World War II, the Pacific Parachute Company closed.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "The Pacific Parachute Company". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Coronado Historical Association (September 12, 2024). "Skydiving Entrepreneur H. "Skippy" Smith and San Diego's Pacific Parachute Company". Coronado Times. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  3. ^ "'Skippy' Smith made history here in 1942". San Diego Union-Tribune. March 29, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  4. ^ "Wine & Lecture: Skydiving Entrepreneur H. "Skippy" Smith and the Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego". KPBS Public Media. 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Carrico, Richard L.; Jordan, Stacey (December 2004). "Centre City Development Corporation Downtown San Diego African-American Heritage Study" (PDF). Mooney & Associates. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2018.
  6. ^ "Former Birmingham Boy Heads Parachute Manufacturing Company in California". The Weekly Review. July 24, 1943. p. 1. Retrieved September 11, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Black History Month - Howard "Skippy" Smith". San Diego Public Employee Benefit Association (San Diego PEBA). Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  8. ^ "'Skippy' Smith, Parachute Maker, Is A Regular Guy". The Chicago Defender. September 11, 1943. p. 15. Retrieved September 10, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Kramer, Ken (September 1, 2024). "Skippy Smith: Breaking Barriers in 1940s San Diego". GB Magazine. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Appel, Mary Jane (November 17, 2020). Russell Lee: A Photographer's Life and Legacy. Liveright Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63149-617-2.