Pioneering Women Pilots
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My Mother... and Others Who Flew
Long after Alzheimer's had begun to claim her mind my mother would brandish her student pilot license. She'd tell people that she had flown. She was proud that she'd not only been a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines, but had taken flying lessons and piloted an aircraft herself.
She was a rural Kentucky girl who had gone barefoot most of her summers because, for her family, the cost of shoes was daunting. Still, she graduated from high school at sixteen, and before she was out of her teens was not only attending college but learning to fly. It was the early fifties, long before the "women's movement", but already there were many pioneering women pilots who had gone before.
We are taught in school how Rosie the Riveter donned a pair of pants and paved the way for women to have jobs and careers. Yet that was the forties, and the twenties and thirties saw women pilots fly across the ocean. It wasn't just Amelia Earhart; Bessie Coleman was a renowned flyer too -- and she was African American living long before the Martin Luther King era! There were many other relative unknowns in the world of pioneering female aviators. (The International Organization of Women Pilots was known as the Ninety-Nines because they had 99 members... back in 1929.) This page is dedicated to the pioneering women who flew, literally as well as figuratively: those who commanded airplanes fifty or more years back.
She was a rural Kentucky girl who had gone barefoot most of her summers because, for her family, the cost of shoes was daunting. Still, she graduated from high school at sixteen, and before she was out of her teens was not only attending college but learning to fly. It was the early fifties, long before the "women's movement", but already there were many pioneering women pilots who had gone before.
We are taught in school how Rosie the Riveter donned a pair of pants and paved the way for women to have jobs and careers. Yet that was the forties, and the twenties and thirties saw women pilots fly across the ocean. It wasn't just Amelia Earhart; Bessie Coleman was a renowned flyer too -- and she was African American living long before the Martin Luther King era! There were many other relative unknowns in the world of pioneering female aviators. (The International Organization of Women Pilots was known as the Ninety-Nines because they had 99 members... back in 1929.) This page is dedicated to the pioneering women who flew, literally as well as figuratively: those who commanded airplanes fifty or more years back.
A Tribute to Amelia Earhart
A pioneering woman pilot
Amelia Earhart is a particularly well remembered aviator, for several reasons. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She was an articulate and charismatic figure who wrote books about her adventures -- and tragically she disappeared in flight.
For many, Amelia Earhart is the personification of the pioneering woman pilot, yet we should there were many women flying in the 1920s and 1930s. This video begins with a clipping of Amelia Earhart speaking out for women, then becomes a music slideshow.
For many, Amelia Earhart is the personification of the pioneering woman pilot, yet we should there were many women flying in the 1920s and 1930s. This video begins with a clipping of Amelia Earhart speaking out for women, then becomes a music slideshow.
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A Musical Tribute to Bessie Coleman
...and to the spirit of flight
Bessie Coleman, more so than Amelia Earhart, had the cards stacked against her -- or seemed to at least. Coleman was born to sharecroppers and to a life of poverty, but she didn't have the temperate for it. Ultimately she earned the money for flying school, but due to racism in the US, she had to travel to France for her lessons. She earned her livelihood through stunt flying, and she too died young and died tragically. Although she didn't realize her dream of opening a flight school for her people, she inspired has many throughout the years.
This music slideshow features pictures of Bessie and her flight paraphernalia. I consider the music selection stunning, and believe that it fits Bessie Coleman well: "I'm telling my people...Let your ego set you free to fly, and the negative energy pass you by..."
I could listen to this song again and again. In fact, I did listen to it over and over as I composed this page. Oh I do think Bessie Coleman took unnecessary risks --as the song declares, "When you're flying high, remember it's a long way down," -- but it's Bessie far more than Amelia, who's a hero to me.
This music slideshow features pictures of Bessie and her flight paraphernalia. I consider the music selection stunning, and believe that it fits Bessie Coleman well: "I'm telling my people...Let your ego set you free to fly, and the negative energy pass you by..."
I could listen to this song again and again. In fact, I did listen to it over and over as I composed this page. Oh I do think Bessie Coleman took unnecessary risks --as the song declares, "When you're flying high, remember it's a long way down," -- but it's Bessie far more than Amelia, who's a hero to me.
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Talkin' About Bessie Coleman
Talkin' About Bessie
Amazon Price: $7.97 (as of 06/03/2012)
Bessie Coleman is a wonderful book to teach not only the life of Bessie Coleman, but the writing craft as well. The story has a fictionalized frame: It is told from the point of view of many people who knew Bessie -- from friends and family to casual acquaintances -- who are gathered together to honor her after her in the wake of her tragic crash. At the end of the book, Bessie herself speaks.
Women Aviators on Google
Women Airforce Service Pilots... and Others
I was motivated to put this lens up as my mother neared the end of her life. I typed "pioneering women pilots" into Google and was surprised to find blog posts and news that were only hours old. It is March 8, 2010 as I begin this lens, and two days from now the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II will receive belated Congressional Gold Medals. For many, it will be a posthumous honor
- Pioneering female pilot “Mama Bird” Evelyn Bryan Johnson dies in Tennessee at 102
- Pioneering female pilot and Guinness world record holder Evelyn Bryan Johnson, known as ?Mama Bird,? died Thursday, according to a funeral home. She was 102. Bryan started flying in 1944 and went on to run her own flying service and manage a small-town ...
- Evelyn Bryan Johnson dies at 102; pioneering female pilot
- Evelyn Bryan Johnson took up flying in 1944, went on to hold a Guinness record for most hours in the air by a female pilot, and trained thousands of students. Evelyn Bryan Johnson, shown in 2005, held the Guinness World Record for logging the most ...
- Haven't we had enough of murder on the telly?
- I mean, come on guys: if it wasn't for their pioneering character development, you wouldn't be there. Dominic West (no relation) even expressed a wish that hopefully the film ? which was very sensitive and restrained, without a single musical number ...
- Chick Lit Pioneer
- By Emily Shire Forty years ago, Gail Parent wrote a groundbreaking novel on what was at the time a fairly unexplored topic: the single woman. The book, ?Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York,? completed over a period of a year and a half while ...
Bessie Coleman
More About Bessie Coleman
Additional Information About Pioneering Women Pilots
- A Timeline of Women in Aviation
- A timeline about women pilots -- from About.com.
- International Organization of Women Pilots
- The Ninety-Nines began in 1929 and they're still flying today. (In 1929, they were a group of 99 women -- hence the name.)
- Centennial of Flight: Bessie Coleman
- More about Bessie Coleman.
- Wikipedia Category: Women Aviators
- Click on the links to discover more women pilots across time.
- Smithsonian
- Click the arrows to meet a number of famous woman pilots, from before and after Earhart's time.
Bessie Coleman Lesson Plans
More About Amelia Earhart
My Mother: A Love of Flight
More About My Mother
- My Mother's Black Dress (Audio)
- Recorded on Drop.io
Thoughts on Pioneering Women Pilots?
Write them in the sky... or here.
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WordCustard
Apr 11, 2010 @ 2:27 pm | delete
- I hadn't heard of Bessie Coleman before, how wonderful to 'discover' her here, although I wish history remembered her as clearly as it ought to. Your mother also sounds like a high-flyer in every sense!
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pilegirl
Mar 18, 2010 @ 7:58 pm | delete
- What a great tribute to our moms and other women of their generation! :)
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skiesgreen
Mar 11, 2010 @ 1:56 am | delete
- Love it. I started flying when I was 14 and anything to do with aeroplanes is right up my alley. Top marks and lens rolled to Fun in the Great Outdoors
Norma
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drifter0658
Mar 10, 2010 @ 8:19 am | delete
- This is a wonderful tribute to pioneering women. Bessie Coleman fought hard for equality, and the fact that she had to go to France to get her license was a sad showing of the mess we still had in this country at such a late date.
And your mother. What a wonderful woman she must have been. It takes a special brand of person to actually reach for the sky and hitch a ride, especially when the Earth pulls back so hard.
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LotusMalas Mar 10, 2010 @ 6:42 am | delete
- Wonderful information about these amazing women!
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by KarenTBTEN
Hi. I'm a teacher and a writer. One of my passions is stringing words together -- and another is reading them out loud! I enjoy recording audio (publi... more »
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