All Stories

When World War II broke out, hundreds of women took to the skies in support of the war effort. Many contributed as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). However, women like Willa Brown who were barred from becoming a military pilot by both her race and gender, found other ways to contribute. These are the stories of five women who contributed to the war effort by flying. 

On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound and, at the time of her death in 1980, she held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history. 

On September 25, 1912, Alberto Salinas Carranza and Gustavo Salinas Camiña received their pilot licenses from the Aero Club of America. The Salinas cousins were the first of a group of five Mexican pilots sent by their government to the United States to study at the Moisant Aviation School at Hempstead, Long Island. The photographs and correspondence found in the collection of Shakir S. Jerwan, their “profesor,” provide a unique glimpse into the early history of Mexican aviation.

100 years ago Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to earn her pilot's license. In part because she was a woman, and especially a woman of color, Bessie had to travel all the way to Europe to get her flight training. Today on AirSpace, we're looking back on Bessie's experiences in France and Germany in the 1920s and exploring just how far she went to earn her historic license (and inspire generations of pilots along the way).

"Thirty-six years flying fighters!” The Museum reflects on the life of one of the most highly regarded military pilots who passed away on July 24, 2021.

Before his death in 2008, famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke had contact with the Smithsonian Institution, both directly and indirectly, throughout the years. This blog explores the correspondence between Clarke and members of the Smithsonian found in his personal papers held by the National Air and Space Museum Archives.

Wally Funk is finally going to space. After being the youngest of the female pilots tested by Dr. Lovelace, Funk will become the oldest person to fly into space at age 82.

What do archivists do when they’re not in the archives? Last summer, in addition to making digital collections available to researchers all over the world, National Air and Space Museum archivists Elizabeth Borja and Melissa Keiser experimented with historical recipes found in the Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Collection.

June 19, 1865, Texas—A Union Army General, Gordon Granger informed the enslaved African Americans of Texas of their freedom. June 19, 1925—A young Black woman climbed into her aircraft and took to the skies in Houston, Texas. White and Black audiences, separated by different seating arrangements, cheered in unison. Reflect on the significance of both of these events and what it means today.

One-hundred years ago, Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. Her remarkable journey reflects the racist and sexist struggles many faced across the nation, and worldwide, in the 1920s—both in the air and on the ground.