Women in Aviation by National Women's History Museum

FALL 2014 | VOLUME XVII

INSIDE THIS ISSUE President’s Letter.............................. 2 Museum Happenings................... 3-6 Making History Today: Amelia Rose Earhart......................... 6 Feature: American Women in Flight........7-13 Biographies................................ 14-17 Spotlight: Ellen Ochoa................... 18

LETTER FROM JOAN WAGES NWHM President

SAVE T HE D ATE

Dear Friends,

Paying Tribute to Legends from the Past Honoring Women Creating a Legacy Today

THE MEAD CENTER FOR AMERICAN THEATER HOME OF ARENA STAGE 1101 SIXTH STREET, SW WASHINGTON, DC 20024

MONDAY • NOVEMBER 17, 2014 7PM (PROGRAM)

HONORING CEO OF GENERAL MOTORS MARY BARRA AND CEO & FOUNDER OF GOLDIEBLOX DEBBIE STERLING AND NASA MATHMETICIAN KATHERINE JOHNSON AND UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR SALLY JEWELL

A survey conducted by Ernst & Young just a few years ago found the lack of role models to be a significant barrier between women and success. In fact, 75% of the women interviewed for the survey reported having few or no role models. Similar research into why there are so few women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) also points to the lack of role models as a key factor. One of the STEM studies identifies professors as role models, but also notes there are few women professors in STEM. That gave me pause. You see, I was a math major in college and in reflecting back, realized that in fact, not a single one of my professors was a woman. Upon graduation, I like so many other women was discouraged from pursuing a career along this path and didn’t have any role models to look toward. As far as I knew (and society affirmed) there were few options outside of teaching for a woman with a math degree. I became a flight attendant. Why did it seem women hadn’t accomplished anything in math or science or engineering or for that matter, in any of the traditionally male-dominated professions? The truth is women had achieved and contributed much to these fields, but their stories had been largely left out of history and for all intents and purposes, lost. Women have played a critical and indispensible role in shaping our nation. That’s something we try to communicate in each issue of A Different Point of View and in everything we do. With this issue, we’re pleased to introduce you to some of the magnificent women who blazed a trail in aviation and aerospace and in doing so, inspired more girls and women to believe in their own possibilities and pursue their dreams. I’m delighted to acknowledge and thank the International Women’s Air & Space Museum’s Board President, Connie Luhta, and Executive Director, Barbara Williams for generously sharing many of the images used in this issue and IWASM Board Member and women’s historian, Barbara Ganson, Ph.D. for contributing the fascinating feature article about women and flight. History is empowering. Thanks to you, our charter members and supporters for helping us empower the next generation of women by sharing stories of the remarkable role models on whose shoulders we stand. Gratefully,

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE EVENTS PLEASE CONTACT KATE CLINTON AT KCLINTON@NWHM.ORG OR 703-461-1920.

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ran in the July 25 edition, highlighted Dr. Kinkead’s interest in women’s history and encouraged Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to support the legislation. Finally, though it would be simply impossible to list, there are the hundreds— even thousands—of supporters who advocate for NWHM by sharing our messages on their social networks. These shares extend our reach exponentially, and we are tremendously grateful!

NWHM Volunteers Make Such a Difference! Like so many non-profits, the National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) relies on the support of volunteers to help champion its cause. We are incredibly fortunate to have so many wonderful men and women throughout the country helping spread the message about the importance of women’s history and the need for a national women’s history museum at the National Mall. Here are just a few recent examples of how some have stepped up to assist in advancing our mission. On Sunday, July 20, NWHM member Mary Ann Richardson hosted a dozen friends in her Falls Church, Virginia, home to promote NWHM and discuss ideas for increasing women’s history visibility in her community. “The event was fun and a wonderful chance to sit down together with friends to talk about an important issue,” said Richardson. One of the attendees, a local school teacher, expressed interest in working with NWHM and has offered to schedule a forum to discuss the use of NWHM’s educational materials as a classroom resource. NWHM Program Director Liz Maurer will meet with school administrators and teachers this fall to speak about utilizing our classroom resources. Ms. Richardson’s event produced additional potential networking events, including opportunities to meet with local chapters of women’s clubs. Thank you, Mary Ann! Nearly 2,000 miles away, University of Utah English Professor and NWHM member Dr. Joyce Kinkead submitted an op-ed to The Salt Lake Tribune in support of our legislation. The op-ed, which

Whether through Facebook, Twitter, emails, “Host Your Own Events” receptions at your local women’s organization, or any of the countless other ways you lend your support by raising awareness about our mission, you are helping make a difference. Again, we are truly grateful! If you are interested in volunteering in any of the above-referenced ways, or if you have an idea for another way to help champion the Museum, please email Joan Moser (NWHM Volunteer Coordinator) at jmoser@nwhm.org or call 703-461-1920.

NYC Event On September 4, 2014 NWHM President & CEO, Joan Wages, Development Director, Kate Clinton, and Communications Director, Susan Murphy joined Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) at The Peninsula New York for a press conference and strategy session to raise awareness about the Museum and encourage passage of the Senate bill. The events were attended by approximately 40 of NYC’s most influential and powerful women including actress Kathleen Turner, Metropolitan Museum of Art President Emily Rafferty, TV Personality Rita Cosby, Weill Cornell Medical College Dean Laurie Glimcher, New York Yankees Assistant General Manager Jean Afterman, Esq., More Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Lesley Jane Seymour, Forbes Woman Vice President & Publisher Moira Forbes, Executive Director, Association of Junior League’s International and NWHM Board Treasurer Susan Danish, Nielsen former Vice Chair Susan Whiting, and many others. As always, we are forever grateful to our tireless champion, Representative Maloney and her first-rate staff for generously arranging and hosting this remarkable event. NWHM HAPPENINGS continues on page 5

(L to R): Me Maloney, tropolitan Muse um Kathleen Turner; D CEO & Presiden t ean, Weil l Cornell Emily Rafferty, Jo Medical College an Wages, Caroly Laurie G n limcher.

Just a few days later, on September 8, the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (who also attended the September 4th event) passed Resolution 354 calling for the Senate to end delays and pass our legislation (S. 398). Council Members Ben Kallos and Laurie Cumbo, Chair of the Women’s Issues Committee, co-sponsored the resolution. We’re truly appreciative of Speaker Mark-Viverito, Council Members Ben Kallos, Laurie Cumbo, Elizabeth Crowley (co-chair of the Women’s Caucus), Karen Koslowitz and the entire Council for (in the words of former Congresswoman, Comptroller and DA, Elizabeth Holtzman), “adding the official voice of New York City to the call for the Museum.”

NWHM Hosts its 3rd Annual Women Making History Event The National Women’s History Museum’s Los Angeles Regional Council and Glamour magazine hosted the 3rd annual Women Making History event on Saturday, August 23, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Actresses and NWHM ambassadors Brianna Brown and Ana Ortiz served as the afternoon’s emcees, and honors were presented to philanthropist and actress Sophia Bush, CEO of International Speedway Corporation and Vice Chair and EVP of NASCAR Lesa France Kennedy, and Academy Award–winning writer Callie Khouri. The sold-out event included 300 supporters, guests, and friends of NWHM who came out to support the Museum and this year’s honorees. Among the attendees were legendary TV writer and producer Norman Lear; singer and former American Idol judge Paula Abdul; and actresses Geena Davis, Maria Bello, Anna Chlumsky, Moran Atias, Kerris Dorsey, Sharon Lawrence, Dawn Olivieri, Addison Timlin, Kate Walsh, and Tichina Arnold. One of the program’s most memorable moments was Geena Davis’ reflection on the absence of female figures in history textbooks. “History books have the same problem that media made for kids has, which is a profound lack of female presence,” she said. “In fact,

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through the entertainment they see and the history books they read, we are teaching kids that women do not take up half the space in the world or do half of all the interesting things.” NWHM President & CEO Joan Wages spoke to the audience about the importance of women’s history and why we need a national women’s history museum. She closed by calling for the audience’s support in the form of membership, sponsorship, and advocating for NWHM by sharing our messages with their networks and constituents.

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We are profoundly grateful to the Los Angeles Regional Council and to our generous sponsors, including Glamour magazine, Mari Snyder Johnson, Lyn and Norman Lear, Dr. Gretchen Green, Morgan Stanley, Longo Toyota, LA Car Guy, Earth Friendly Products, Crest 3D-White Strips, Mount St. Mary’s College, Dermalogica, and O’Melveny & Myers.

On June 26, 2014, Amelia Rose Earhart set off to fulfill her lifelong dream of piloting an around-the-world flight. The 24,300-nautical-mile flight began at Oakland International Airport and included 17 stops. Earhart flew with a picture of her namesake and inspiration, Amelia Mary Earhart, who attempted the same flight in 1937 but disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. After safely completing the flight on July 11, Earhart posted the following on her website: “By recreating and symbolically completing Amelia Mary Earhart’s flight around the world, I hope to develop an even deeper connection to my namesake and also encourage the world to pursue their own adventures.” The National Women’s History Museum applauds Earhart for her wonderful achievement and, like Amelia Rose, we hope it inspires others to follow their dreams. You can learn more about Amelia Mary Earhart on our website: http:// www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/ amelia-earhart/

AMERICAN WOMEN IN FLIGHT SINCE 1903

By Barbara Ganson, Ph.D.

Aida de Acosta. Photo Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Dirigible

merican women have been active participants in aviation since the early days of powered flight. On June 26, 1903, Miss Aida de Acosta, a Cuban American socialite, became the first American woman to solo a powered aircraft. She flew a dirigible (airship), designed by Brazilian aeronaut Alberto Santos-Dumont, who had provided instruction to Aida. This was six months before the Wright brothers completed their first flight in an airplane on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although today only about 6 percent of all pilots are female, American women have persevered in the aviation industry far beyond the role of Rosie the Riveter, who worked in the defense plants throughout America during World War II. Women have been test pilots, aerial advertisers, flight instructors, owners and managers of small airports and fixed-based operations, aircraft salespersons, demonstration pilots, commercial and military aviators, and air traffic controllers, as well as air racers, record setters, air explorers, and astronauts.

On September 6, 1910, with no reporters present, Blanche Stuart Scott of Rochester, New York, made the first solo flight in a heavier-than-air powered aircraft as America’s first female solo flyer. While taxiing a Glenn Curtiss Pusher aircraft at Hammondsport, New York, Scott left the ground unexpectedly, apparently due to a sudden gust of wind.1 Glenn Curtiss’s first and only female flight student was not supposed to be soloing that day. On September 25, 1910, Dr. Bessica Faith Medlar Raiche (1875-1932) of Rockford, Illinois, became the first American woman to perform a flight demonstration before a public audience. Dr. Raiche, a physician, had first soloed on September 16, 1910, in her own biplane made with bamboo and silk instead of a heavier canvas covering. She built the aircraft with the help of her husband. Scott and Raiche shared characteristics of many early aviators. They were both

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daring, independent, career-minded, outgoing, and athletic. Both women drove automobiles at a time when no driver’s license was required, and when few women drove. Scott became a professional aerial performer, earning as much as $5,000 a week; and on October 24, 1910, she flew exhibition flights as a member of the Glenn Curtiss Exhibition Team. In 1912, Scott became the first woman test pilot in the United States by flying airplane prototypes for aircraft designer Glenn Martin, even before actual blueprints had been made.

Matilde’s lessons consisted of only 32 minutes of ground instruction from her brother John, who had learned to fly in France. In October 1911, Moisant made her debut by winning the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy for high altitude flight. She set a new record flying a Bleriot to an altitude of 1,200 feet at Garden City. Both Quimby and Moisant then traveled to Mexico City to perform as part of the celebration of the presidential inauguration WOMEN IN FLIGHT continues on page 9 Harriet Quimby and Matilde Moisant. Photo Courtesy of the International Women’s Air & Space Museum

By 1911, other women aviators had joined the aviation ranks: Harriet Quimby became the first woman to earn a pilot’s license in the United States on August 1, 1911; she was soon followed by Matilde Moisant on August 13, 1911. Matilde Moisant came from an aviation-minded family that engaged in aerial exhibitions in the United States and Mexico.

1903

1911

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1928

Aida de Acosta becomes first woman to fly solo in a dirigible

Harriet Quimby becomes first American woman to receive U.S. pilot’s license.

Harriet Quimby becomes first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel.

U.S. Post Office commissions Majorie Stinson as first female air mail pilot.

Ruth Law becomes first woman to carry air mail in the Philippines.

Bessie Coleman becomes first AfricanAmerican to attain international pilot’s license.

Amelia Earhart becomes first woman passenger on a TransAtlantic flight.

of President Francisco Madero in December 1911.2 On April 16, 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman pilot to fly solo across the English Channel. She was positive about the future of women in flight. She claimed that she had learned [to fly] so that any other woman could do the same. 3 In late June 1912, she was sworn in to carry the mail by air on the final day of the Boston air meet from Harvard Aviation Field to New York.4 Sadly, on July 1, 1912, Quimby and her passenger perished, having fallen more than a thousand feet during a flight near Boston over Dorchester Bay. Matilde Moisant retired within six months of that tragedy. She had already lost her brother John, aircraft designer and performer, in an airplane crash.5 During her final performance on April 14, at Wichita Falls, Texas, Moisant flew for about ten minutes. As she descended closer to the ground, she witnessed people running toward the location where she had intended to land. The spectators were unaware that those early aircraft had no brakes. She nosed the airplane downward Matilde Moisant. The picture is public domain

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Ruth Bancroft Law. Photo Courtesy of the International Women’s Air & Space Museum

and let the wheels touch, but fearing that the public would run straight into her propeller, she bounced up and nosed over, intentionally striking the propeller into the ground. Almost instantly the plane burst into flames. Moisant was pulled from the wreckage with her clothes afire, but fortunately, her heavy wool flying costume saved her from serious injury. Matilde Moisant, like Aida de Acosta, Blanche Stuart Scott, and Dr. Bessica Raiche, had the good sense to quit flying at a time when fatalities were common and aircrafts so unstable. Despite witnessing the fatal accident of Harriet Quimby in 1912, Ruth Bancroft Law of Lynn, Massachusetts, nevertheless decided to learn to fly, thinking she could avoid negative consequences if she were careful. In 1916, Law established a national cross-country record by flying from Chicago to Binghamton, New York, in the second longest flight in the world regardless of gender. As a national figure, she earned an average of $50,000 per year while flying under contract at state fairs and racetracks. Ruth Law rivaled Katherine Stinson of San Antonio as

America’s most accomplished stunt performer. Both were among the most daring, accomplished, and financially successful aerial performers of the twentieth century. In 1915, Katherine Stinson became the first American woman to perform an inside loop and the first woman to fly in Asia. Ruth Law later performed in Japan, China, and the Philippines before volunteering to fly for the U.S. Army during World War I. Allowed to wear a military uniform, Law performed Liberty Bond campaigns in 32 American cities. Katherine Stinson asked to fly for the military too, but these women flyers were not allowed to enlist. Following World War I, Katherine Stinson stopped flying. She became an accomplished architect in Santa Fe, New Mexico, helping to preserve its unique pueblo style. Law established a flying circus, and in 1922, she retired

to Beverly Hills, and later resided in San Francisco until her death in 1970. The first licensed woman pilot of color in the world, Bessie Coleman Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, had to learn French and travel to France to learn to fly because in the United States, no one would instruct her due to her gender and skin color. She earned her Federation Internationale Aeronautique flying certificate in 1921, two years before Amelia Earhart earned her license. WOMEN IN FLIGHT continues on page 11 Amelia

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Katherine Stinson. Photo Courtesy of the International Women’s Air & Space Museum

1929

1932

1935

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1953

Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes becomes first woman stunt pilot in motion pictures.

Amelia Earhart becomes first president of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots.

Katherine Cheung becomes first AsianAmerican woman to earn U.S. Pilot’s license.

Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

Helen Richey becomes the first woman to pilot a commercial U.S. airline.

The Women Airforce Service Pilots is created.

Jacqueline Cochran becomes first woman to break the sound barrier.

Under conditions of segregation, Coleman flew as a parachutist and pilot at airshows until 1926, when she perished in a maintenance flight test in Jacksonville, Florida. That day she unfortunately was not wearing her parachute. In 1928, Earhart achieved overnight fame by becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger, and then in 1932 as a solo pilot. Sadly, Earhart disappeared while attempting a world flight in 1937. By 1933, there were 588 licensed women pilots in the United States, representing 3.16 percent of 18,594 licensed pilots. Several women of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds were among those who learned to fly during the interwar period. In 1933, Mary Riddle of the Quinault tribe in the Northwest became the first Native American woman to earn a pilot’s license. She did some WASP Trainees. Photo Courtesy of the International Women’s Air & Space Museum

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Jacqueline Cochran. Photo Courtesy of the International Women’s Air & Space Museum

forty exhibition parachute jumps with a flying troupe out of Seattle, Washington, while dressed in native costume before serving as an aircraft inspector for the government during World War II. Katherine Cheung became the first female ChineseAmerican aviator in California. If determined to fly, aviators overcame gender and racial discrimination and financial restraints. As Bessie Coleman asserted: “I refused to take no for an answer.”

throughout the U.S. Several towed targets and served as flight instructors. They flew every type of aircraft men flew, including the B-29. Others flew countless maintenance check flights as test pilots for male cadets in flight training. Their safety record proved equal to that of male pilots. Jacqueline Cochran had selected twenty-five American women aviators to fly for the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in England. Helen Richey, America’s first woman commercial airline pilot to fly a regularly scheduled air transport, and air racer Edith Foltz Stearns were among the ATA pilots who flew aircraft from the factory to the air bases in England under combat conditions. In 1935, Richey had resigned as a commercial airline pilot, having faced discrimination because she was a woman. Richey later joined the WASP, while Foltz became a flight instructor Ruth Shafer Fleish er. Photo Courtesy of the International Wome n’s Air & Space Mu seum

By the outbreak of World War II, approximately 2,500 American women earned their wings through the Civilian Pilots Training Program, or at their own expense, before considering joining the ranks of the Women Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). Some 1,074 women pilots became WASP members under the command of Bendix air racer Jacqueline Cochran (see biography). The WAFS and WASP flew military aircraft from factories to bases

at Corpus Christi Naval Station.

When the WASP disbanded on December 20, 1944, women aviators had to eke out a career in aviation as best as they could. WASP Ruth Shafer Fleisher of Rochester, New York, for example, turned to one of the few areas where women could still be employed in aviation. She tried to work as a flight instructor, but could not earn enough money to make a living. She then studied and earned an air traffic controller certificate in 1945. However, when she applied for a federal civil service air traffic controller position in Philadelphia, the response she received was, “Thank you very much, but we already have one,” meaning there already was a token female air traffic controller in that region. Her father, who was an airport manager, informed her of a new position. Shafer applied and became an air traffic controller at North Philadelphia Airport and Philadelphia International between 1948 and 1952. She later worked as an air traffic controller at various y of ourtes & C military bases in to o . Ph ’s Air omen Richey Helen rnational W England and Texas, te the In useum M e c where her air force a Sp husband was assigned. Only in the 1970s, when attitudes towards women WOMEN IN FLIGHT continues on page 13

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Jerrie Cobb selected to test for Mercury astronaut training program.

Geraldine Mock becomes first woman to fly solo around the world

U.S. Navy chooses first four women for Flight Training.

Mary Barr becomes first female pilot with Forest Service.

Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space.

Kathryn Sullivan becomes first American woman to walk in space.

Mae Jemison becomes first African American woman in space.

began to change in American society, were more doors opened to women in military and commercial aviation, as well as the space program. In 1983, Sally Ride became America’s first woman astronaut to go to space. Since then, more than fifty American women astronauts have achieved their dreams of space flight. In 1999, Eileen Collins became the first woman commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia. In April 2008, astronaut Peggy Whitson completed a sixmonth tour on the International Space Station as the ISS Commander for Expedition 16. Whitson logged 377 days in space, over two long-duration spaceflights in 2002 and 2008, setting the record for total cumulative time in space for any American astronaut regardless of gender. Women now fly every type of aircraft that men fly, even in military combat.

1 Dunlop, George M. 20 May 1963. [Notarized letter]. http://Blanchestuartscott.com/aboutus. html. Glenn Curtiss’s aircraft mechanic, George M. Dunlop, observed her first flight and verified it in writing many years later in a notarized letter dated May 20, 1963. 2 “Politics Affect Attendance in Mexico,” December 2, 1911. In The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook: The Life of America’s First Birdwoman, 1875-1912, edited by Giacinta Bradley Koontz, 112. Flagstaff: Running Iron Publications, 2003. 3 “First Woman to Fly the Channel.” In The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook, edited by Koontz, 129. Originally published in The Daily Mirror (April 17, 1912). 4 “Woman to Fly with Mail.” In The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook, edited by Koontz, 168. Originally published special to the New York Times (June 20, 1912). 5 Lebow, Before Amelia, 166. Harriet Quimby Photo Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Sally Ride

BIOGRAPHIES Harriet Quimby (1875 - 1912)

Women in air and space have truly excelled in this industry. Having reached the stars, these accomplished women pilots continue to capture our imagination and serve as a source of inspiration.

Eileen Collins

—Barbara Ganson, Ph.D. is a Trustee at the International Women’s Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and Director of Caribbean and Latin American Studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. The feature article is based on a manuscript in progress entitled “Because I Want To:

Peggy Whitson

Quimby felt at home on the West Coast and embraced the nontraditional opportunities that were opening up for women. For the first time, women were attending college, becoming doctors, and joining the theatre. After a brief stint in theatre, Quimby found her

American Women Aviators at Home and Abroad, 1910 to 1940” and is under review by Cambridge University Press.

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Journalist, pilot, and adventurist, Harriet Quimby was a thoroughly modern woman who spent much of her life undertaking daring feats that were unheard of for ladies of the era. Born in Michigan on May 11, 1875, Quimby was described as “a tomboy full of verve and spunk who was prepared to try anything” as a young girl. When Quimby was just a teenager, she left her family and journeyed to California in pursuit of better opportunities.1

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Ellen Ochoa becomes first Hispanic‑American woman in space.

Eileen Collins becomes first woman to pilot U.S. space shuttle.

Eileen Collins becomes first woman to command American space shuttle mission.

Biochemist Peggy Whitson becomes first resident scientist of the International Space Station.

niche as a staff writer for the San Francisco Dramatic Review. In the early 20th century, San Francisco was a diverse and vibrant community with people from all walks of life including bohemians, innovators, and performers. Quimby flourished in this environment and established herself as one of California’s most prestigious newspaperwomen. But by 1902, Quimby had begun to feel the urge to pursue something more adventurous and exciting that would allow her to travel. She moved to New York City and landed a job as a regular contributor with Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. The publication hired her as a full-time dramatic critic in 1905. As an established journalist, Quimby now had the financial means to travel, explore other cultures, and find adventure, as she’d wanted to do for so long. In 1906, she daringly drove in a 100 mph road race that instilled in her a lasting love for speed and cars, but it was flight that would ultimately capture Quimby’s heart. A writing assignment about a Japanese aeronaut piqued Quimby’s interest in aviation. Soon after, she could be seen at airfields all over New York. In October 1910, she accepted a writing assignment to cover New York’s Belmont Air Meet, and it was there that her passion for aviation ignited. After she watched American pilot John Moisant fly across the finish line, beating the popular Count de Lesseps of France, Quimby declared to her friends that flying “was quite easy.” “I believe I can do it myself, and I will,” BIOGRAPHIES continues on page 15

she said. By December of 1910, Quimby had developed a friendship with Moisant and persuaded him to teach her aviation skills at his flying school. The following May, she persuaded her editor to fund her flying lessons in exchange for magazine articles chronicling her experiences. Her editor agreed and Quimby embarked on a journey that no American woman had undertaken before—on August 1, 1911, she became the first American woman to earn a pilot’s license. Quimby hadn’t held her pilot’s license for a full month before she won her first cross-country race. She broke another record on September 4, 1911, when she became the first woman to fly an airplane at night. On April 16, 1912, Quimby achieved another first when she became the first woman to pilot an airplane across the English Channel. Sadly, tragedy struck on July 1, 1912, as Quimby and a passenger were practicing flying near a lighthouse on Dorchester Bay. Her plane became unbalanced, and both Quimby and her passenger (who were not strapped in) fell out of the plane into the water, killing them both. Quimby’s life and accomplishments in aviation inspired many female aviators for years to come. Following her death, she was honored in the Ninety-Nine’s library and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Jacqueline Cochran (1906? - 1980) Jacqueline Cochran was a decorated military pilot and founder of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS). Cochran is believed to have been born around 1906 near the cotton fields of DeFuniak Springs, Florida. She lived in poverty for most of her childhood, and didn’t own a pair of shoes until she was nine years old. She began working in a textile mill at just eight years old, and by thirteen,

Jacqueline Cochran

she was working as a beautician. She opened her own beauty shop when she turned nineteen; and when the Depression hit in the early 1930s, she had saved enough money to move to New York, where she began taking flying lessons in 1932.2 Cochran earned her pilot’s license the same year, and in 1934, entered her first air race. During this period, she befriended aviatrix Amelia Earhart; the following year in 1935, Cochran entered her first Bendix Air Race, and had established a successful cosmetics business. In 1937, after winning first place in the women’s division of Bendix and making a blind landing,3 she was awarded the Clifford Burke Harmon International Trophy of the International League of Aviators for being the outstanding woman flyer in the world. This was the first of fifteen of these prestigious awards she would receive. In 1938, she took first place in the prestigious Bendix Transcontinental Air Race and received the General Willie E. Mitchell Memorial Award. When World War II erupted in 1939, Cochran began thinking about the possibility of the U.S. entering the war. She wrote a letter to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with a plan that discussed a future role for women pilots in the war. By 1941, Cochran had become

President of the 99s (an organization of women aviators) and the first woman to pilot a bomber across the North Atlantic. She also joined the British Air Transport Authority as captain, and soon began recruiting women pilots. After returning home in the spring of 1942, Cochran began training women pilots to fly American military aircraft; and on Nov. 16, 1942, Cochran established the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) at Howard Hughes Airport in Houston, Texas. The mission of the WFTD was to perform whatever flight duties the Army Air Corps required within the United States.4 5 The WFTD program was successful and led to Cochran’s appointment to the General Staff of the U.S. Army Forces to oversee the Women Air force Service Pilots (WASPS) in 1943. When the WASPS disbanded on December 20, 1944, they had flown a total of 60 million miles in 77 different types of aircraft.6 Cochran was awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal in 1945. She continued her competition in air races following the war and in 1953 became the first woman to break the sound barrier. Cochran died on August 9, 1980, in Indio, California.

Hazel Ying Lee (1912 - 1944) At a time when less than one percent of pilots in the United States were women, Hazel Ying Lee became one of the first female pilots employed by the United States military.7 Lee was born in Portland, Oregon, on August 24, 1912. There weren’t many job opportunities for ChineseAmerican women during this time, and after she graduated high school, Lee got a job as a department store elevator operator. She also joined the Chinese Flying Club in Portland and began taking flying lessons. In October of 1932, Lee became one of the first Chinese-American women to earn a pilot’s license, and by 1933 she had

Hazel Ying Lee

moved to China to attempt to join the Chinese Air Force. Her attempt was rejected because of her gender, even though there was a need for pilots. Instead, she flew as a commercial pilot for a private airline in Canton. Lee returned to the U.S. and learned of an opportunity to pilot in the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) following the Japanese military strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Following a six-month training period, Lee was accepted in the fourth class and began training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. She was assigned to a ferrying squadron at the Romulus Army Air Base in Michigan and joined the ranks of just 130 women who piloted “pursuit airplanes,” which were fast, highpowered fighter planes such as the P-63 Kingcobra, P-51 Mustang, and P-39 Aircobra.8 Lee flew fighter aircraft to their destinations as they poured out of American factories. In a letter to her sister, she wrote: “flying pursuit [fighter aircraft] keeps me very busy. We are on a seven day work week.” Tragedy struck on Thanksgiving Day in 1944. While piloting a P-63 Fighter, Lee was killed in a mid-air collision. She was 32‑years old. BIOGRAPHIES continues on page 17

Upon returning to the U.S. in 1985, Dr. Jemison worked as a general practitioner while also attending graduate engineering classes in Los Angeles. She joined NASA’s astronaut program in 1987.

Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison (1956 - ) On September 12, 1992, as part of NASA mission STS-47, engineer, physician, and astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel to outer space. With a background in both medicine and engineering, Dr. Jemison has “worked in the areas of computer programming, printed wiring board materials, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, computer magnetic disc production, and reproductive biology.”9 Though she was born in Decatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956, Dr. Jemison considers Chicago, Illinois, where she grew up, to be her hometown. Dr. Jemison graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1973 at 16 years old, earned her bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in 1977, and her doctorate in Medicine from Cornell University in 1981. From 1983 to 1985, she worked for the Peace Corps as a Medical Officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia. In that role, Dr. Jemison oversaw delivery of health care to the U.S. Peace Corps and Embassy personnel. She also worked on research projects with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control on a Hepatitis B vaccine.

From September 12-20, 1992, Dr. Jemison served as science mission specialist on the STS-47 Spacelab-J mission. This was a joint operation between the United States and Japan. The laboratory held round-the-clock experiments that have added to fundamental knowledge about the behavior of crystals, fluids, and human exposure to a weightless environment. The mission was completed in eight days and 127 orbits of the earth. Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA in 1993 and founded the Jemison Group, a technology consulting firm that integrates science and technology into everyday life. She taught environmental studies at Dartmouth College from 1995-2002, and is currently a Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Dr. Jemison is the recipient of numerous honors including the Johnson Publication’s Black Achievement Trailblazers Award, the NASA Space Flight Medal, the National Audubon Society’s Rachel Carson Award, induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame, and holds Honorary Doctorates of Science from Lincoln College, Wilson College, and Dartmouth College. 1 http://www.nationalaviation.org/quimbyharriet/ 2 American Women’s History: An A to Z of People, Organizations, Issues, and Events; Doris Weatherford; Prentice Hall General Reference, 1994. 3 http://waspmuseum.org/jackie-cochranbiography/ 4 http://waspmuseum.org/jackie-cochranbiography/ 5 http://www.army.mil/women/history/pilots. html 6 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/ peopleevents/pandeAMEX06.html 7 http://www.examiner.com/article/hazel-yinglee-1912-1944 8 http://www.examiner.com/article/hazel-yinglee-1912-1944 9 http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ jemison-mc.html

SPOTLIGHT ON

Ellen Ochoa

When NWHM charter member Dr. Ellen Ochoa began her graduate studies at Stanford University in 1980, she didn’t realize that her life’s path would be shaped by a string of groundbreaking events happening in the field of aerospace. While still an undergraduate, the first astronauts for the new NASA shuttle program were selected; for the first time in history women and minorities took part—and Dr. Ochoa took notice. When the shuttle flew for the first time, she became fascinated by NASA’s use of it as a laboratory in space. A few years later, when Sally Ride, a graduate of Stanford University, became the first American woman to go to space, Dr. Ochoa experienced a transformative moment. “She was from Stanford, and I went to Stanford,” she said. “That just made me consider it more as an actual possibility.” Possibility became reality in 1993 when Dr. Ochoa served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery and became the first Hispanic-American woman in space. She currently serves as the Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The journey to space began in La Mesa, California where she grew up as one of five children and was fortunate to have a mother who placed great value on higher education. “My mom encouraged me as someone who always loved learning,” said Dr. Ochoa. “She didn’t have the chance to go to college when she was young, but as a mother raising my brothers, sister, and me, she took one college class a semester and graduated a couple of years after I did. She had the expectation that all of her children would go to college.” Dr. Ochoa excelled in math as a high school student, so much so that she scored the highest of all her peers on a national math test. But because of her gender, she wasn’t encouraged to pursue engineering or science classes. Had she been a boy, it likely would have been a different case. She did, however, receive encouragement from teachers in the physics department at San Diego State University, who thought she’d do well because of her stellar background in math; and in 1980, she earned her B.A. in physics. From there Dr. Ochoa earned her master’s of science degree (1981) and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford (1985). Dr. Ochoa’s career at NASA began in 1988 and she was selected as an astronaut in 1990. Since that time, NASA has changed tremendously in its opportunities for women. “There have been a lot of changes at NASA. Women had been in the corps for 12 years when I arrived, but since I came and in the ensuing time, women have become commanders of the space shuttle and international space station. Within five years of my working here, a woman became head of the Johnson Space Center. There are now women in senior leadership at NASA headquarters, many flight directors are women, and that wasn’t the case when I first came,” she said. “Here at Johnson Space Center, we’ve definitely seen a progression of women into senior roles and leadership roles over the last 20 years. “ With the growing push for girls to enter into STEM careers, Dr. Ochoa believes the opportunities that exist for girls now are far better than they were when she was growing up. “There are a lot of programs that exist now that introduce girls to math and science earlier and give them a better idea of what it would be like to have a career, “she said. “I think in many cases girls don’t choose it [STEM careers] because they maybe have an erroneous view of what it is you do all day. They think that scientists work alone, and that they’re stuck in a lab somewhere, but while a lot of people do work in labs, a lot of work is collaborative. You work with teams of people solving problems and when girls realize that, it becomes more appealing to them. They like to solve problems and they often like to work with other people and often they haven’t heard what careers in this field are really about.”

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