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.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft, and trained other pilots. Their purpose was to free male pilots for combat roles during World War II. Despite various members of the armed forces being involved in the creation of the program, the WASP and its members had no military standing.
Evelyn Genevieve "Sharpie" Sharp was an American aviator. She was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Sharp died at age 24, when the plane she was flying lost an engine during takeoff.
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.
Jane Sincell Straughan was an American aviator known for her contribution as a Women Airforce Service Pilot from 1942 to 1944. She remained active in aviation throughout her life, serving on the Civil Aeronautics Board and being a captain in the Air Force Reserve.
Pearl Laska Chamberlain was an American woman pilot. She learned to fly in a Kinner Fleet bi-plane in 1933 and held a pilot’s certificate until she was 97. Prior to World War II, the federal government established the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a back-door method to train pilots for military service.
Dora Jean Dougherty Strother was an American aviator best known as a Woman Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and B-29 Superfortress demonstration pilot. She was a U.S. military pilot, human factors engineer with Bell Aircraft, instructor at the University of Illinois and helicopter test pilot for Bell Aircraft.
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.
Bernice "Bee" S. Falk Haydu was an American aviator and served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) in World War II. Haydu remained active in aviation and remained an advocate for women pilots.
Betty J. Ligon was an American journalist. She is best known for being the longtime entertainment editor on the El Paso Herald-Post.
Myrtle "Kay" Thompson Cagle was an American pilot and one of the Mercury 13 female astronauts group. She worked as a flight instructor and wrote about aviation in North Carolina.
Evelyn Greenblatt Howren was an American woman aviator from Atlanta, Georgia. She helped organize the first all-woman squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, was one of the first women air traffic controllers in the U.S., and was in the first class of Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II. After the war she remained active in the aviation business in Georgia for many years. She was the third woman inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.
Mary Anna Martin "Marty" Wyall was an American aviator. Wyall was part of the last class of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and later became the unofficial WASP historian. She was instrumental in organizing the WASP veterans together years after they served.
Selma Kantor Cronan was an American aviator. She was part of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II, and after the war, she continued to fly. She was especially known for competing in air races such as the Powder Puff Derby.
Edith Magalis Foltz Stearns Grissom (1902–1956) was the first female transport pilot in Oregon, the fifth female transport pilot in the United States, and the first female state governor of the National Aeronautic Association. For her work as a transport pilot in World War II, she received the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom. By the time she died, she had logged over 5,000 hours of flying time.
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen is an American aviator and a member of Mercury 13. Jessen worked throughout her career as a flight instructor, demonstration pilot, advisor to the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and president of the Ninety-Nines. Jessen has also written about flying and the history of women in flight. Together with Wally Funk, Jessen is one of the last two surviving members of Mercury 13.
Marion Stegeman Hodgson (1921-2016) was one of the first women to train as a military pilot in the United States. Her 1996 autobiography Winning My Wings: A Woman Airforce Service Pilot in World War II was praised for its unique insight into the Women Airforce Service Pilots program in World War II. Her post-war work writing for magazines and newspapers helped bring to attention the fact that Women Airforce Service Pilots were never considered veterans of the war. Hodgson has been inducted into aviation halls of fame in Texas and Georgia.
Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt (1916–2002) was an American aviator. She ran a successful flight school and served as the first woman president of the Virginia Aviation Trade Council.
