Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.
Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden was an American aviation pioneer, holder of numerous aviation records, and the first woman to win the Bendix trophy, alongside Blanche Noyes. She was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society's Hall of Fame in 1980.
The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Founded in 1929, the Ninety-Nines has 153 chapters and 27 regional 'sections' across the globe as of 2022, including a 'virtual' chapter, Ambassador 99s, which meets online for those who are too busy or mobile to be in one region for long.
Blanche Noyes was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a transport pilot's license. In 1929, she became Ohio's first licensed female pilot.
Fay Gillis Wells was an American pioneer aviator, globe-trotting journalist and a broadcaster.
Betty Gillies was an American aviator, and the first pilot to qualify for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, later amalgamated into the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Mary Anita "Neta" Snook Southern was a pioneer aviator who achieved a long list of firsts. She was the first woman aviator in Iowa, first woman student accepted at the Curtiss Flying School in Virginia, first woman aviator to run her own aviation business and first woman to run a commercial airfield. Yet "Snooky", as her friends called her, was fated to be remembered for her relationship to Amelia Earhart. Her autobiography I Taught Amelia to Fly captures the essence of her fame and she is linked to Earhart, as her first instructor.
Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno is a professional musician, teacher, author, lecturer, and farmer. In 1967, Pellegreno and a crew of three successfully flew a similar aircraft to complete a world flight that closely mirrored Amelia Earhart's flight plan in 1937. On the 30th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath in her honor over tiny Howland Island and returned to Oakland, California, completing the 28,000-mile (45,000 km) commemorative flight on July 7, 1967.
The Women's Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States, taking place during the 1929 National Air Races. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most commonly known. Nineteen pilots took off from Clover Field, Santa Monica, California, on August 18, 1929. Marvel Crosson died in a crash apparently caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, but fifteen completed the race in Cleveland, Ohio, nine days later.
The International Women's Air & Space Museum, Inc. (IWASM) is a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, that preserves the history of women in aviation and space and documents their continuing contributions.
The Amelia Earhart Birthplace is a historic building and museum that was the birthplace of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. It is located at 223 N. Terrace St. in Atchison, Kansas, United States.
Katharine Stinson (1917-2001) was an American aeronautical engineer and the Federal Aviation Administration's first female engineer.
Gladys "Penny" Thompson was an American aviator and women's intercontinental air race-air show promoter and aviation publisher-editor during the 1940s and early 1950s. In 1953, she married Miami Herald humor columnist Larry Thompson, and for 20 years until his death, she was featured often in his daily column, "Life With Larry Thompson" and in three books he authored. She founded the Miami-Dade Mother's of Twins Club and the Twins Easter Parade.
Marion Weyant "Babe" Ruth was an American aviator and aviation instructor. She was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame, the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame, and the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame during her lifetime.
Dorothy Wetherald Rungeling was a Canadian pilot from Fenwick, Ontario hailed as one of Canada's most experienced air racers. She was the adopted daughter of Ethelwyn Wetherald, the Canadian poet and journalist. In 2004, Dorothy published a collection of her mother's writing, "Life and Works of Ethelwyn Wetherald 1857-1940". Dorothy is also known for own her writing as a published author and Aviation Editor for the Evening Tribune, Welland and won an Aviation Writers Award at the 1953 AITA convention. Before venturing into flying, Dorothy also trained and showed horses and wrote a series of instructions for fellow trainers.
Dorothy Swain Lewis was an American aviator who trained Navy pilots and flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program during World War II. She was also an artist who created a series of cast-bronze sculptures of WASP pilots for various World War II memorial sites.
Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey, the younger sister of aviator Amelia Earhart, was a high school teacher, author, and activist. After her sister disappeared on a flight across the Pacific in 1937, Earhart spent decades biographing Amelia's life and managing her legacy. Earhart also taught at the high schools in Medford and Belmont, MA, and she remained an active member of the Medford community until her death.
Mary Charlotte Alexander was an American aviation pioneer, one of the first women to become a commercial pilot.
Katherine "Kay" Adams Menges Brick was an important American aviator. She served in WWII in the U.S.'s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). After the war she was active in the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, serving as Secretary and International President. She also served in other aviation-related boards and associations.
Columbia Field, originally Curtiss Field, is a former airfield near Valley Stream within the Town of Hempstead on Long Island, New York. Between 1929 and 1933 it was a public airfield named Curtiss Field after the Curtiss-Wright aircraft corporation that owned it. The public airfield closed after 1933, but aircraft continued to be manufactured there primarily by Columbia Aircraft Corporation, which gave the private airfield its name.
