With the assistance of people interested in the history of exploration and aviation, Karen Angel founded the Jimmie Angel Historical Project (JAHP) in 1996. The JAHP is incorporated in the State of California as a not-for-profit public benefit corporation. Contributions are tax-deductible under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS Code, Federal Tax EIN 68-0372407. JAHP is staffed by volunteers with every dollar donated to the JAHP supporting the projects and activities of the organization.

The JAHP fosters aviation and exploration research  to provide accurate information about aviator-explorer James “Jimmie” Crawford Angel (1899-1956), his family, friends, and associates, and their era of aviation and exploration with an emphasis on exploration in Venezuela 1920s − 1950s.

Its archive of photographs, documents, and published materials are shared with journalists, filmmakers, museum curators, teachers, and students.

The JAHP  also cooperates with organizations dedicated to preserving the culture, flora, and fauna of the Indigenous people of the Angel Falls region, and  with individuals, organizations, and governmental agencies that are interested in the preservation of Jimmie Angel’s Flamingo airplane El Rio Caroni − a national monument in Venezuela.

Karen Angel, founder of the JAHP and the President of the JAHP Board of Directors, is the daughter of Jimmie Angel’s youngest brother Clyde Marshall Angel (1917-1997).

Karen writes, “When I was about eight years old, my father presented me with a beautifully wrapped gift. I was disappointed to find that the wrappings contained an empty album. He told me that my task was to collect and keep the Angel Family History, especially the history of his oldest brother Jimmie Angel. It troubled him that there were many stories about his brother that were not true and other stories that did not seem plausible to him. I must have disappointed my father by not taking up the task when he gave me the album.”

“Some forty years later I was struck with the desire to travel to Venezuela to see Angel Falls. While there in 1994, I met many Venezuelans who were familiar with Jimmie Angel. What was astonishing to me was that almost everyone I met in Venezuela had heard of him. In the United States, I had met very few people who knew his name or about Angel Falls.

Some Venezuelans had learned about his explorations in school, others had heard the stories about him from family and friends. Some thought he was still living in the jungles of Venezuela. The enthusiasm I encountered from Venezuelans about Jimmie Angel, the support of aviation and exploration historians,  and my desire to fulfill my father’s request were the catalysts for my effort to gather accurate information about Jimmie Angel.”