Prior to
World War II, the award was administered by the
International League of Aviators (
Ligue Internationale des Aviateurs), an organization founded by Harmon to serve as "an agent for Peace and National security." The League became defunct during the war and Harmon's death on June 25, 1945 in Cannes, France put the awards in turmoil. Harmon left $55,000 of his estate to continue funding the award in "perpetuity," but Harmon's relatives challenged the bequest. Ultimately, a trust fund of $48,431 was created in
1948. During the period the awards were in litigation (1945–1948), the American Section of the League awarded the International Aviator Trophy to three U.S. leaders in aviation. However, since the awards were not approved by other League Sections, the awards are technically invalid. Also, these three awards were given without consideration to the "art of flying" and the awards did not recognize a superlative aviation achievement, rather recognized American aviation industry leaders. President Truman's staff questioned the award to Alexander de Seversky, Secretary of the Air Force
Stuart Symington stating, "he [de Seversky] did absolutely nothing to deserve it." Truman also did not make time to present the 1948 award to
Trans World Airlines CEO Ralph Damon or Brazilian aviation pioneer
Francisco Pignatari The award to
Pan American World Airways President Juan Trippe in 1946 was the only one presented without debate. Since 1997 or 1998, the
National Aeronautic Association has been responsible for awarding the trophies. With the exception of the Aeronaut trophy, all are inactive. The trustees wrestled with how to treat
space flight. Bound by the court to offer only three trophies, the trustees first agreed that "feats of piloting in both earth orbiting or outer space vehicles will be considered for the Harmon Awards provided the vehicles are controlled by their pilots rather than from the ground." The advisory committee directed the trustees to alternate awarding the aeronaut trophy between balloonists and astronauts, but the trustees decided to offer the aviator award to aviation and astronaut recipients. A fifth trophy was created in
1969 to honor achievements in space flight. Some aviatrix awards from 1980–1990 were awarded by the
Ninety-Nines based on research performed by
Fay Gillis Wells. This work was not coordinated with the NAA or Smithsonian. The original awards were 24-inch-tall bronze statues. The aviator trophy depicts
World War I flying ace Raoul Lufbery launching a
biplane set next to an
eagle about to take wing. The statuette was created by sculptor
Roussadana M'divani. The
Smithsonian Institution acquired the aviator's trophy in
1950 from the Clifford B. Harmon Trust. The aviatrix trophy depicts a winged goddess cradling a falcon with outstretched wings. The aeronaut trophy was lost in Germany between May 1940 and October 1953 and was believed to have been sold as scrap. The three-foot-tall, 150-pound statue of five aviators holding the globe on their shoulders was found in a junk store and subsequently given to the Smithsonian after the presentation of the 1952 awards. ==List of award winners==