Hattie Meyers Junkin Papers (1906-1982)
Acc. XXXX-0171

One of the first women to earn a glider class C license, the life of Hattie Meyers Junkin was inextricably bound with the history of the Waco Aircraft Company. 3.3 cubic feet (12 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (40K)

Hildegard Korf Kallmann-Bijl Collection
Acc. 1989-0042

Dr. Hildegard Korf Kallmann-Bijl (1908-1968) was a pioneer in atmospheric physics as it related to orbital trajectories. She developed the "Kallmann Atmosphere" model, which successfully predicted the lifespan of satellites in orbit. The model, combined with her later work "the International Reference Atmosphere," made possible the accurate prediction of the landing site for a space craft returning from orbit. The collection contains copies of published and unpublished technical papers, correspondence, awards, handwritten notes, calculations, newspaper articles, photographs, and negatives. 2.8 cubic feet (7 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (460K)

Moisant Family Scrapbooks
Acc. XXXX-0535

The Moisant Family--John, Alfred and Matilde--jointly established the Moisant Aviation School in New York in 1911. Unlike many other early aviation schools, the Moisants accepted women as students, the most renowned of whom was Harriet Quimby, the first woman to receive a pilot license in America--Matilde Moisant was the second. The collection consists of three oversized scrapbooks containing newspaper accounts of the Moisants' flying escapades, as well as press releases and writings. The articles also discuss other aviators, such as Quimby, who were associated with the Moisants. 3.48 cubic feet (3 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (64K)

Ninety-Nines, Inc. History Books Collection
Acc. XXXX-0470

The Ninety-Nines began on November 2, 1929, when a group of women pilots gathered together to discuss the formation of a club "to promote women pilots among themselves, and to encourage other women to fly, as well as to break down general opposition to aviation." This collection consists of 19 bound scrapbooks and 34 unbound scrapbooks chronicling the history of the Ninety-Nines from 1929 through 1982. 7.47 cubic feet (23 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (103K)

Blanche Stuart Scott Collection
Acc. XXXX-0062

Glenn Curtiss' first and only female student, Scott became America's first female professional flyer and was billed as the "Tomboy of the Air" while touring with the Curtiss Exhibition Team. She became a test pilot for Glenn L. Martin, flying Martin prototypes before final blueprints for the aircraft were drawn up. 1 cubic foot (2 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (77K)

Betty Skelton Collection
Acc. 2002-0002

Betty Skelton was an aviatrix in the 1940's. She held multiple records in the field and upon retiring became a race car driver and automotive test driver. By the mid 1950's she had branched out and become an advertising executive for Campbell-Ewald, the firm that handled advertising for Chevrolet. In 1959, she trained with the Mercury 7 astronauts, undergoing the same tests as the astronauts. She married Donald Frankman in 1965 and eventually moved to Florida and began a fourth career as a real estate agent. Betty donated her famous plane, "Little Stinker" to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in 1985. It currently hangs at the entrance to NASM Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles Virginia. This collection consists of news clippings, photographs, magazine and four scrapbooks. Collection size is 4.23 cubic feet (11 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (67K)

Louise McPhetridge Thaden Collection
Acc. XXXX-0006, 1986-0042, 1986-0188

Louise McPhetridge Thaden (1905-1979) was one of the United States foremost female aviators during the late 1920s and 1930s. She achieved several records including Altitude (1928), Solo Duration (1929), Speed (1929), Refueling Duration (1932), Light Plane Speed (1936), East-West Speed (1936), Inter-City Distance Speed (1937), and 100 km Speed (1937), and won the first National Woman's Air-Derby (1929) and the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race (1936). She later worked with the U.S. Department of Defense, Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) and co-founded the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots. This collection contains newspaper and journal articles, personal letters and business correspondence, writings, photographs, and scrapbooks, all relating to her aviation career. 3.38 cubic feet (10 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (224K)

United States Women in Aviation through World War I
Acc. XXXX-0424

This collection of photographs, written notes, articles, photocopies of news clippings, correspondence, and biographies was used by Claudia M. Oakes to prepare the publication United States Women in Aviation Through World War I (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, D.C., 1978). 0.7 cubic feet (2 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (202K)

Lee Ya-Ching Papers
Acc. 2008-0009

Lee Ya-Ching was a Chinese aviatrix in the 1930's and 1940's. Beginning her flying career in Switzerland in 1934, Ms. Lee was the first woman to receive a pilot's licenses from the Ecole Aero Club de Suisse, the Boeing School of Aeronautics and the government of China. In partnership with several other pilots, Ms. Lee opened a civilian flying school in Shanghai. Despite being instrumental in the formation of a Chinese air force prior to World War Two, Ms. Lee found she was not allowed to fly for her country when Japan invaded. Finding other ways to serve her country, Ms. Lee helped form hospitals and flew Red Cross planes from Hong Kong to Canton. Wishing to do more, Ms Lee embarked on a goodwill tour of the United States, Canada and South America, raising money for the war effort in China. Following the war, Ms. Lee returned to China, where she receded from public life. This collection consists of news clippings, photographs, magazines and three scrapbooks. The majority of the collection is in English; however, there are significant occurrences of Chinese, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch. Collection size is 11.9 cubic feet (22 boxes).

HTML version     PDF version (169K)