By Angela Satterlee
For this month’s Speaker Series, the EAA Aviation Museum is proud to host John Dorcey, EAA 68060, and Dan Silvers, EAA 1085115. They will be presenting on the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (WAHF) and its contributions to the digitization of the collection of Leo J. Kohn’s photographs. A big step in creating access to the collection was recently taken, as the full collection has officially been digitalized as of May 5.
Both aviation historians have strong connections with WAHF as John is on the board of directors, along with being an inductee himself; he is also a dedicated flight instructor. Dan is responsible for the categorization and database creation for these images as he is the organization’s historical image preservation chairman, and he does this on top of running the Waunakee airport as its operations manager.
Alongside Dan and John, John’s wife, WAHF’s membership chair, former president and fellow inductee, Rose Dorcey, EAA 380012, is also responsible for this groundbreaking success of preserving so much of Wisconsin’s aviation history.
Since its founding in 1985, WAHF has always had the same mission: “To collect and preserve the aviation history of Wisconsin, recognize those who made it, inform others of it, and promote aviation education.” It has inducted more than 150 men and women with all the plaques hanging in the EAA Aviation Museum. The first inaugural group of inductees consisted of three people, including EAA founder Paul Poberezny. The organization is now celebrating its 40th anniversary.
As part of its mission to preserve Wisconsin aviation history, WAHF has been working on its largest project yet — digitizing Leo’s extensive photograph collection, which consists of more than 34,000 images that he took throughout the 1940s and into the 1970s with his Kodak 616 camera, which was later donated by his children.
Leo is known for being a pivotal figure in Wisconsin aviation history, with his unique passion for photographing and documenting aircraft. He even played a key role in the formation of EAA and became its fourth official member and the organization’s first employee. While in the Wisconsin Air National Guard after WWII, Leo met Paul Poberezny, and their mutual obsession with aviation led to a great friendship. However, it was his work as a photographer that truly distinguished him.
After working for EAA for many years Leo decided to eventually branch out on his own to begin documenting Wisconsin’s aviation history. He captured more than just images — he told stories. But when he passed in 2014 his collection fell into storage.
Leo’s last wish was for this collection to be shown, not hidden. It was important to him that people learned this big part of aviation history.
“As our benefactor his goal was to get the photos seen,” John explained. “The worst thing to happen to a photo is that they would sit in a drawer someplace until somebody decided that they should just be tossed out and thrown away.”
So, with the help of Leo’s son and daughter — William Kohn, EAA 782240, and Mary Kohn, EAA 9013364 — the collection was brought back to life, and left in the hands of John, Dan, and Rose.
This was no easy task. John said that he asked a Beloit College student studying museum history for help but their collection was too large, even for them. The fact that the collection was so large that it was daunting even to someone in the museum business truly underscores the massive scope of the project.
Dan was tasked with most of the organizing and database building of the project.
“We were digging around in the archives and we found a box, and inside the box was this [tall] stack of papers,” he said.
That large stack of paper consisted of more than 2,300 pages of information to enter. Leo’s attention to detail was one thing that made this monumental task a little bit easier. Each photograph was individually stored in envelopes with meticulous and descriptive details typed on the outside, ranging from the color of the aircraft to its owner to its serial number and/or registration.
Sharing this treasure is one thing, but these images are going to be open to the public for free on a searchable domain. WAHF wanted to do Leo and his photos justice, because of the importance of preserving history.
“When I say [we’re] bringing history to life, that’s what it feels like,” Rose explained, feeling a bit emotional. “When you are able to find out the stories that go along with the airplane, who owned them and who flew them and what they did, whether they won an air race or a grand champion at AirVenture… or did it eventually crash? It kind of gets me all tingly inside when you’re able to find out those kinds of stories. So that means a lot to all of us. It’s just very heartwarming, knowing that we’re able to do this and carry it out the way Leo [and his family] wanted it.”
Since studying these photographs, the group has already made some discoveries of stories that otherwise would go unheard of. For instance, the Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor that is now hanging in the National Air and Space Museum was photographed by Leo many years ago. Many other stories will be shared in their presentation — which sheds additional light on the importance of this collection.
The date for the release of the finalized searchable website is unknown, but Rose said that it won’t be much longer before they’re able to provide access to at least some of the images, as they plan to release them in sections.
This collection is a true treasure to aviation enthusiasts.
“This is a monumental collection,” Rose said. “And I don’t know if people realize how important it is because the photos are one thing, but because of all the information that Leo collected and preserved about each airplane and the engines or the type of floats that they had, or what were the awards that were given to each airplane and the pilot, that’s what makes this super special.”
The event takes place on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at 7 p.m. The presentation is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers. If you’re unable to attend, all Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.