ADMIRAL JOHN GINGRICH - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: MARTHA TILTON, VANETTA GINGRICH - HFSID 24177

ADMIRAL JOHN GINGRICH, CO-SIGNED BY: MARTHA TILTON, VANETTA GINGRICH
Guest page for entertainer and hostess Hildegarde, signed by Admiral John Gingrich, the first chief of security for the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and his second wife Vanetta; and by Martha Tilton, who sang for the Benny Goodman Orchestra
Signatures: "Vanetta Gingrich" and "Rear Adm. John Gingrich U.S.navy - Comdg- U.S.S.Pittsburgh" and, on verso "To a lovely lady -/Martha Tilton" in green and black inks. Two unknown signatures in green ink on verso. Lead pencil notation at top edge and on verso and green ink notation on verso, all in unknown hand. 9¼x5. HILDEGARDE (1906-2005, born Hildegarde Loretta Sell in Adell, Wisconsin), popularly known by her last name only or simply as "the incomparable Hildegarde", was thought by many to be European, although she was born in Wisconsin. A classically trained pianist who played in vaudeville from 1926, she emerged as a popular singer in the 1930s and 1940s with hits like Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup (written by her manager, Anna Sosenko), The Last Time I Saw Paris and I'll Be Seeing You. She had a popular radio program, Hildegarde's Raleigh Room. She continued to perform to great acclaim in nightclubs until age 89, when she decided it wasn't fun anymore. Hildegarde was a third order Carmelite nun. American naval officer JOHN GINGRICH (1897-1960) was the first chief of security for the United States Atomic Energy Commission (1947-1949) and Chief of Naval Material (1953-1954). He served in the U. S. Navy from 1919, when he graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy, to 1954, when he retired as a four star general. Gingrich served as an aide to Undersecretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal (1940-1944) before serving as the first commanding officer of the heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh (1944-1945). As skipper of the Pittsburgh, Gingrich earned a Silver Star for towing the carrier USS Frankin, which was crippled by a kamikaze attack, and protecting her with the Pittsburgh's anti-aircraft guns until she could make it to Pearl Harbor under her own power. He also gained fame for sailing the Pittsburgh back to port after a June 5, 1945 typhoon ripped off over about 15 percent of her length. Gingrich was also Commander of the United Nations Blockade and Escort Force during the Korean War (1952-1953). After retiring from the Navy, he was a vice-president of International Telephone and Telegraph company from 1957 until his death. VANETTA GINGRICH neé Oliphant was John Gingrich's second wife. They married in 1939. MARTHA TILTON (1915-2006) was a talented big band singer with the Benny Goodman orchestra. Goodman (and later radio co-host Curt Massey) called her "the Liltin' Miss Tilton". She had singing roles in several films of the 1940s and The Benny Goodman Story (1955). "And the Angels Sing", recorded with Goodman's orchstra, was her best known song, but she had several charting hits in the 1940s. Lightly toned and creased.Show-through touches signatures of both Gingriches and unknown signatures. Ink transference. Neatly torn from binding at left edge. One unknown signature cut off at top edge.