You will be hearing from myself and from fellow park ranger diane wolfe. Will talk to you a little bit in celebration of womens History Month about the women of Floyd Bennett field we will talk to you a little bit. Its one of the more significant sites in the history of aviation. It is a story that doesnt get told to much anymore, but in its day, the aviators who flew at Floyd Bennett field during the 1930s were as big of celebrities as anybody you might think of. You know, you start with the age of charles lindbergh, 1927 and really, right up until world war ii, these folks were advancing Aviation Technology at an incredible rate. When you think that the first airplane flight was in 1903 with the wright brothers, we are at the dawn of the jet age. We go from a time when it was perfectly common to have biplane wood and fabric airliners to allmental monoplane airliners capable of crossing the country at 200 miles an hour carrying 22 passengers allmental. Allmetal. Thats a leap in just 10 years. Its really quite a remarkable story. The women aviators of that time work were very much a part of the story. Without further a do, lets go with the presentation here. Without further ado. Just hit the down arrow button. All rights, too many people in the 1930s, this is what a womans career in aviation look like all right, to many people in the 1930s, this is what a womans career in aviation looked like. [laughter] would it be easier if i just did it and talked to you from back there . Can we do that . All right, we can do that. Ok, you got it . Ive got the timing down. So you can listen to my dulcet tones from the background. It will be just like going to a theater. The first air hostesses working on the airlines working for the airlines on airliners had to be registered nurses. Of course, the job evolved into other services, such as meal and Beverage Service remember those days . It was actually sort of easy to do that a lot easier than it is today because most airlines carried about 10 passengers. This is the interior of the ford try motor try motor, and its looking from the very back of the plane to the front. What happened was you had people who were highly trained as nurses, and it even evolved into they were basically waitstaff and symbols for advertising. But there were other careers for women in aviation. You could be a pilot, like Laura Ingalls. From the day that Floyd Bennett field opened as new yorks first me to support airport on may 23 1931 new yorks first Municipal Airport on may 20 3 19 31, floyd took part in all of the or a lot of the famous flights that took place on the field. In fact, Amelia Ehrhardt took part in the opening ceremonies flying and auto gyro. Do you know what that is . Its sort of an early form of helicopter. Youve got a normal airplane fuselage, but it has very short wings. What happens is as the airplane engine moves through the sky, it causes those rotors to turn, and that is what creates lift. It is sort of a neat precursor to the helicopter. Thats 1931, so shed be probably about 30. Throughout the 1930s, Floyd Bennett field there it is located right on jamaica bay. There is our queens connection. Throughout its life as a Municipal Airport it really was one of the centers of the aviation universe. Thats the terminal building, which is now our parks visitors center. If you look at this cartoon map that was done in the 1930s, you will see a lot of the names up there. You will see the name ruth nichols. You will see the name Amelia Ehrhardt. Listed right up there with the famous male aviators of the day such as wiley post and jimmy doolittle. In the air, the women were considered the equal to their male counterparts. I mentioned Laura Ingalls before. Laura ingalls was from brooklyn. Not to be confused with Laura Ingalls wilder of the itll house books little house books. She was a brooklyn girl and a famous aviator throughout the 1930s. Ruth nichols, who was considered sort of one of the glamour girls of aviation in the 1930s. Helen ritchie, who set and endurance record. Helen richey. She was over the field for 10 days. Her story we will get to in a little bit. Sort of has a tragic end. Beryl markham, who became the first woman to fly across the atlantic from east to west. Did not quite yet all the way to Floyd Bennett field. Crashed up in northern maine, but eventually did make it to the field. Jackie cochran, who is a very famous aviator. Let me ask you how many of you have heard that name before . How many of you have heard the name Amelia Ehrhardt before . Of course you have. Everybody has. My main goal this evening is to try to get you if i do nothing else today, its to get you to know who Jackie Cochran was. Shes a fascinating person. Women aviators flew all throughout the 1930s during whats called the golden age of aviation. Once the navy took over the field in 1941, men and women served in the navy at Naval Air Station new york, Floyd Bennett field throughout the war. [inaudible] lincoln actually there are three planes there. Navy fighters. Corsairs. That photo was taken right around the end of the war. Ruth nichols, when she flew and this is her arriving at Floyd Bennett field brought a change of clothes with her, so she could the image we saw at the beginning was ruth nichols in her lying suit. She would bring a change of loads with her so she could change out of her flying suit and into something a little more appropriate exactly, to greet the press. You will find that glamour and womens aviation in the 1930s are kind of intertwined. Here is Laura Ingalls again. She said many records flying into Floyd Bennett field. She was also quite an accomplished aviator throughout the 1930s. She was the first woman to fly around south america. She flew around the perimeter of the continent of south america, which was sort of a big deal back then. It was pretty wild, undiscovered country for the most part. She set down in some rather interesting places, had a pistol with her the entire time. Even before Floyd Bennett field was opened in 1931, america, of course had women aviators. Harriet quimby was americas first woman pilot. Here she is with here are the first two female american pilots. Matilda masson mathilde m oisant and harriet quimby. She was an accomplished pilot but she was treated more as a novelty. She actually died sort of tragically when she was booked out of her airplane. As you can see, thats her aircraft. There was not all that much thought given to safety. Anytime you got in a plane especially in the early years of aviation, it was a pretty dangerous undertaking. Any time you got in a plane. [inaudible] lincoln yeah, mmhmm. If you want to see an actual blue area blario, theres one of the cradle of aviation. You will be amazed that people actually flew these things. Harriet quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel, and she did it in that. [inaudible] lincoln no. The first pilot to fly across the English Channel was louis blair area who built the plane and he did it in the same thing louis bleriot. Bessie coleman was africanamerican, and she was unable to get a pilots license in the united dates, so she traveled to france to get her pilots license, and she earned quite a good living running her own air circuit, putting on air shows throughout the 1920s, but again, you know, this is an inherently dangerous activity. She was also killed in a crash. Helen richey, once Floyd Bennett field open, as i mentioned, is sort of became the center of the aviation universe. The reason was that Floyd Bennett field had something most airports of that era did not have, which was long, caved, concrete runways. In the 1930s, it was still very, very common to find dirt or grass runways. If you are doing longdistance endurance flight, it requires a lot of fuel, so that makes the plane very heavy. You need that concrete in order to be able to support the weight. Helen richey, in her aircraft, the outdoor girl outdoor girl was a brand of cosmetics and they sponsored the flight of helen richey and francis harold, and they were doing and endurance flight and Frances Harrell, and they were doing and endurance flight. One of the things they were doing that is now fairly common practice and military aviation was aerial refueling, which meant there is a plane flying above them that would drop a hose to their plane as they were flying. They stayed in the air for 10 days. Yes . Yeah . [inaudible] lincoln this is them on their return. This is Frances Harrell and helen richey with one of the models from outdoor girl cosmetics, of course, taking off for their flight from Floyd Bennett field. Looking a little worse for wear their. There. Helen richey went on to become the first woman to earn her commercial pilots license, and she got a job briefly with central airlines, but the Airline Pilots union complained that she was taking a job away from a male pilot, so she was let go. She went on to fly first with the british aircraft delivery units, and then when the united dates Army Air Force United States Army Air Force allowed women to apply to fly, she joined that organization, which was founded by Jackie Cochran. She did that all throughout the war, flying aircraft, delivering aircraft for the military. Unfortunately, after the war helen richey was unable to find any work as a pilot. Remember, the country had just trained tens of thousands of new pilots for the war. Many of them were looking for jobs in aviation. So because she could not find a job in aviation, she actually ended up committing suicide. On a happier note, this is louise vaden thanden the first woman to win the bendix trophy,. It was given an air race from california to Floyd Bennett yield, and she was the winner in 1936. Ruth nichols, again, our glamour girl she would fly around the country, and she would speak to different groups about aviation and winning in aviation. It would not be uncommon for her to speak to a group like this say. [inaudible] lincoln oh, im sorry. A hydro airplane licensed women hydro airplane pilot which means shes licensed to fly seaplanes or flying boats. She was also sponsored, the same way that nascar drivers are sponsored today. They would have advertising placed on their aircraft the way race car drivers have the advertising all over their cars. Earlier, we saw the auto gyro that Amelia Ehrhardt was flying, which was sponsored by beech nut gum. Theres really nichols and Jackie Cochran theres ruth nichols and Jackie Cochran. There were not that many female pilots in the 1930s, so they all knew each other and competed against each other, and many of them formed an organization which still exists of women pilots called the 99. It was called the 99 because 99 women showed up, 99 women pilots showed up to the first organizational meeting, which took place actually out on long island. Then there is Laura Ingalls. Real quick story about her she was actually imprisoned by the United States government during world war ii because her boyfriend was in the german luftwaffe. Heres laura with wiley post and Amelia Ehrhardt in the restaurant at Floyd Bennett field. If you come down to the field ill show you exactly where that picture was taken, though it is no longer a restaurant. Everybody know who wiley post was . Ok. No, no actually, wiley post was killed in a plane crash, but he was killed flying with his good friend will rogers. They were both oklahomans. This aircraft was called the whitney may of oklahoma, and he was the first pilot to fly solo around the world. He did that in 1933 and did that and back to Floyd Bennett field. There is Laura Ingalls aircraft, called the auto de fae, which is latin for act of faith. Which is weve seen, anytime you got into a plane in the early days, it was an act of faith. Called the auto de fe. She was getting ready to make a crosscountry east to west flight, attempting to set the record that had been set earlier by Amelia Ehrhardt, and she actually ended up breaking amelia record breaking amelias record by about five hours. It was a pretty good flight. Amelia ehrhardt did do a lot of flying at Floyd Bennett field. This was probably the plane she flew the most and set the most records in, which she called her litter red little red bus, a lockheed vega, same kind of plane that wiley post flew. There she is upon her return from being the first woman to fly a plane across the atlantic. She was also the first woman to fly across the atlantic, but she was not the pilot. She was a passenger. She was also the first woman to fly twice across the atlantic. Of course, i told that to a friend of mines sister, who was a flight attendant, and her response to that was, big deal. I do that in a week. [inaudible] lincoln yes, it was. It was very much so. Amelia was sponsored, too, by beech nut, as we saw earlier, and by lucky strike. Of course, the flight that we all know amelia and heart for is the flight where she ultimately ended up losing her life. That was also on a lockheed aircraft, a lockheed electra which is the plane here. This is her at Floyd Bennett field. A lot of the preparation work that was done for her round the world flight was done at Floyd Bennett field. The actual flight itself started off from miami, but she did a lot of the prep work because of the facilities at Floyd Bennett field. Now this is Jackie Cochran. Jacqueline cochran. She only set one record at Floyd Bennett field she won the 1938 bendix trophy in recordsetting time, but her exploits in aviation are kind of unparalleled. She actually learned to fly because she was selling cosmetics throughout the south mostly, and she was driving around the south in a car, and someone suggested she could cover a lot more ground if she learned to fly, so she did. But she actually never gave up the cosmetics business, either. At one point, she was the wealthiest woman in the country is that correct . Yeah. Yeah, when she finally did get married, so she did quite well for herself. She never lost the aviation buck. This is her arriving at Floyd Bennett field after the bendix trophy race. During the second world war, she had this brilliant idea that she actually was stealing from our british allies. The aircraft Delivery Service where women pilots would deliver planes from the factories to the airfield she said why couldnt we do that in the u. S. . She took this to general henry have arnold, and he said no. Jackie cochran is not one to be deterred. So she went to her good friend eleanor roosevelt, and said this is just a great idea. Lets have women live planes from the factory to join the Army Air Force fly planes from the factory to join the Army Air Force, and mrs. Roosevelt said absolutely. She mentioned it to her husband, the president , who mentioned it to general arnold, who im sure said, what a splendid idea, mr. President. Thats how the Womens Air Force Service Pilots were founded. Of course, Jackie Cochran was named the commander of the wasps. It created a lot of jobs on the home front for women there were women mechanics, women pilots. They were trained in a military style, but they were not an official part of the military. It was not until the 1990s that they were granted veterans benefits. Jackie surrounded by a lot of her lost pilots. After the war Jackie Cochran became a big proponent of an independent air force, which, of course, came about in 1947. She continued to fly. She want to be the first pilot first woman pilot to fly supersonic lee, so who better to teach her than the first pilot to fly supersonic lee, general chucky egg jagr . She became the first woman to fly twice the speed of sound, again with chuck yeager flying the chase plane. At the time of her death, Jackie Cochran helped more aviation records than any pilot man or woman in history Jackie Cochran held more aviation records than any pilot, man or woman, in history. You can make a pretty great kreis case Jackie Cochran may have been the greatest pilot of alltime. Jimmy doolittle fans may have something to say about that, but of course, during the war and diane is going to touch on this women found lots of jobs at Floyd Bennett field that had traditionally been held by men. The previous picture of a teller operator, this parachute rigor rigger. Of course today, there are no jobs in aviation or space that a woman cannot do. Sally ride, for example. Major nicole mela chelsea, the first woman to fly with the air forces thunderbird flight team. Major nicole malachowski. [inaudible] lincoln no, those with the thunderbolts. The thunderbirds are the u. S. Air force flight team. Today, if you look in the cockpit, you do not know whom you will see. It doesnt really matter. Ok . So what we are going to do is would you folks like a minute while diane comes up and gets ready, and i will answer any questions, if you want to do that . Yes . [inaudible] [inaudible] every month they would have a guest the work, and amelia and heart and her husband came out in 1931, 1932, and they gave a lecture to 600 women, and then they toured the island. I never knew we had and Amelia Ehrhardt connection until i found it in the archives of the times. Lincoln im going to steal that story. [laughter] fantastic. Thank you so much. Lincoln ok. Any other questions . Yes . [inaudible] when was the last time it was used as an airfield . Lincoln 1971. It was closed in 1971 in a round of base closures during the vietnam war. Date side base closures. In 1970 one, the navy closed it down. In 1972, it was made part of eight way National Recreation area gateway National Recreation area, so that is what it is today. Else because of the women in the military and a little about the women that supported the war effort. The women at Floyd Bennett field after the airport was no longer an airport it became naval station new york. During world war ii, just like in the defense plans and in the private sector, the military women were also there, and they took over the job of the men. I mentioned Charles Dickens and that it was the best of times and the worst of times. Obviously, it was a war so you had a lot of sadness and a lot of loss, but for many people looking back, it was their adventure. And there was joy. People got married. They may have had to do it on a weekend pass, but they still got married. It depends on your own memory of the war. Obviously, if you had loss, that would be your memory. Moving out it was the women moving out of the house. They were traditionally in the home, not thought of as going out of the house, but a were soon to move out. They were certain to move out. We declared war. There was pearl harbor on december 7, 1941. We declared war on the eighth of december 1941. We declared war on japan. On december 11 the same year, we declared war on germany and italy. That does not mean the war had not been going on. It had been in europe from 1939. They needed the women. They needed us. Where with them and going . They were all going overseas, and they needed every man to go overseas, so they needed to recruit these women to fill the jobs of those men. I thought this was good its a Women Army Corps quote from one of the women, beatrice stroup. She said it was not just her brothers country or her husband her brothers country or her husbands her brothers country or her fathers country or her husbands. It was her country, too. There was recruitment for women on the home front. Floyd Bennett Field was a naval station in new york, so we had the wave, but they had to be trained, and there were a number of races, a number of Training Centers in the United States. One was in the bronx at hunter college. This is just an example of when they arrived. They had an oath of enlistment. This is the first day in the mess hall, and you will see where they are just arriving talking about their arrival. Remember something these women, and a lot of them had never left home before. You had people from iowa, california, and all over the country going to these various areas including new york, but if you were from a farm in iowa or north dakota, you are arriving in new york city, which is a huge city, even then. They had to be trained, and they were trained just like the men. This is an example of the derricks. Notice the beautiful pajamas. It was at hunter in the bronx. They would do their marching just like the men. They also had a newspaper for the Training Center in the bronx. It was serious, but it also had some humor about what life was like. It was strict training. You will see that they are practicing with their weapons. They had testing, which was very serious. I had an example which i can show later a copy of an exam and their schedule. The one i brought with me does have been going to Floyd Bennett field. They also had cartoons. In this one, the woman is on the phone with her mother saying, but mom, were supposed to keep a secret. The mother is obviously asking her to tell the secrets of what they are doing. Keeping slim with gym dated calisthenics they did calisthenics. One of the things when they were doing the physical aspect of it, they would trained just like the men they would train just like the men and do the exact same physical fitness qualification, but there is a difference, so in the end when they did find out for instance, sometimes upper body strength. Its a little harder for us to chin ourselves, so they did modify it, but they did go through the strict regiment. But it was world war ii. Lincoln mentioned this when he mentioned the cosmetics and things like that. Something navy, something new something snappy, and something blue. They were given uniforms. Some things are not going to fit right, as the cartoon shows however, its world war ii. The uniforms were styled by a french designer, and a lot of designers did come over. They were in exile, and they came over here because they needed to get out of europe. In england, Norman Hartnell also designed uniforms for the army and the medical units and later nurses. You are going to see these different poses, which you would never see on a military woman today. This is one i have with me, and it showed that they did come for a visit to floyd in it field. They had to learn the navy lore and tradition and customs just like the men did. They were very strange. If you read what i brought with me. Some of the customs were dont go on the quarter deck in your civilian clothes. Dont even exercise. You need permission if youre going to do anything, and try to wear your uniform on the vote at all times on the boat at all times. I do have her exam she did very well. Then they were assigned duty stations. They did not necessarily mean that they would stay in the area. We did give people from other areas we did get people from other areas here, and some people that were here went other places and vice versa. In this case was a woman who was in new york and stayed in new york. They were sworn in, and they graduated. You have the human class of hunter on the right, but an interesting aspect that i will talk more about later was the africanamericans. They were segregated. The two women in the picture they did not go to the hunter Training Center, but they were assigned to new york and assigned to hunter, and ida pickens taught physical fitness and wills taught actually she was an administrator. Wills is on the left and pickens is on the right. I will talk more about the africanamerican experience later because there was segregation, as you all know during world war ii. A right, to the waves and the things to note and linc hit on it before the acronyms. Women excepted to volunteer emergency service. Listen to all the acronyms. You have the wasps too. Women accepted to volunteer emergency service. Listen to all the acronyms. We will get to that because that plays into a part of how it is worded. Before, u. S. Naval air station new york. It was the facilities for the north atlantic fleet. It serviced and delivered aircraft to the fleet. When the planes were transported this woman had asked the question about the women flying. The wasps did fly the planes. They were very brave because what they did was they gave those women any kind of plane they had to fly. They flew bombers, and they flew everything. These planes a lot of them had been repaired and not really that safe, and they gave them to the women. I read somewhere that they said that they liked giving them to the women because it showed the men that they should try to fly these dangerous planes, to because of the women could do it, they could do it fly these dangerous planes, too, because if the women could do it, they could do it. They would ferry them to Floyd Bennett field from california on the defense plans. Once they got here, the men would take over and go there. Theres an interesting aspect that comes up with Jackie Cochran. Shes always going to come up in what we talk about. The next three women they were assigned to Floyd Bennett field. The first one is animate foerster its her married name. She arrived in brooklyn. She said it was a cattle car. It was a semi with enclosed trailers. They just packed the women in when they arrived and brought them down by bush avenue to Floyd Bennett field. That was her description. Fran metcalf described what it was like. Basically, there were 50 went into each room and for in a cubicle. The showers were opened. You see that now in gyms and everything, but remember these women were sheltered. If you worked all night, you might have a private room, but otherwise, you would be in the bunk room. Some women did live offbase. They were also washers and dryers, but do not think of like we had, think of a rack. You hang your clothes until it dried. This is just a faint tanner. They were up at 4 00. They ate meat and potatoes for breakfast. They march, drilled, exercised. She mentioned the strength testing and some of the endurance test that they did that they did change them later but they still had to do the same thing as men. Chatting up is usually the best example. They can modify it a little for a woman, but it is still hard. They also had civilian women working at Floyd Bennett field. This is the id card from Patricia Mary machen, a clerk typist from brooklyn. We are in the process of researching her. We think she has a brother living in houston. We dont know if she was alive. Just recently, someone found her id i dont know if it was an attic or in the rafters of one of our buildings. 300 women served at floyd and it field Floyd Bennett field. They did everything. Operations, training, medical, athletics. This is an example of one, and it is an important one because it continues the airport of the 1930s. Its the control tower. It changed a little, but this is what it would have looked like for the waves working in the control tower during the 1940s. Linc showed you before the parachute rigors riggers. Machinist mates would have had to fix the planes and repair the planes and put them together. Remember, they were replacing the men that had been working there before and had served, so they did any job that was there. We are back to jackie. Linc mentioned a lot of things. I may go over a few things. He had shown the same picture when she was in the air transport exhilarated auxiliary. When she went, she took 25 women over. She beat out hap arnold when he did not want her to do anything. Everything linc said is correct but she did take a 25 women over and served with the british before we were in the war, but then, he realized that she needed to come back, so she came back and became the director of the wasps. It was the Women Air Force Service Pilots program. As linc mentioned, it was only recognized in the 20th century. They finally got their veterans rights, and obama gave them the gold medal, the highest honor a civilian can get so they were finally recognized, but years later. Remember, they did a lot of dangerous work and flying planes. Another interesting fact about jackie is she had that cosmetics company, and theres pictures of her in the plane where she is putting on her makeup. Before she got out she had to put her lipstick on. I do have some lipstick romp world war ii. Dont try to use it we dont know whats in it, but i brought it with me in a compact. I do have some lipstick from world war ii. An interesting part with her was that when she was young, she could barely read or write, and she took one of her pilots tests orally because she could not read or write well, and then she went on, as lincoln said, to be a test pilot. She was a remarkable woman. This is one of the schools the wasps went to. Like i said, they were really brave pilots. The army nurse corps, the anc they served also. I put some of the other military women in here during world war ii. The africanamerican nurses that served they only served in africanamerican units because remember, they were segregated. I put this in because at first it was the womens Army Auxiliary corps, waac, and then it went to the wac the womens army corps. But remember the auxiliary voluntary, volunteers does that tell you anything about what they expected from these women . Basically, they were expected not to be permanent. They were expected to eventually go home. They were paid in the military. They got wages. That is a very important part of the whole thing because many of them liked earning those wages. Its like there had to be an character and u. S. Citizens. They had height and waste and age requirements to height and waist and age requirements, too. They could have children, but they had to be under 14 years of age but everybody came together to win the war. You have the military. Rita heyward is here because you have the canteens Rita Hayworth is here because you have the canteens and everybody trying to get the morale up for the war. The children did with the recycling and the bond. When the women that were africanamerican in the men, too they served bravely. They served well, but there was always that prejudice in the background, and some of the defense did not want to hire the people of color, so roosevelt did pass he passed in order the executive order 888 02, but thats not what is important. It served its purpose. It helped them to be have fairness in the work race, but its not a law. They did not pass the law. It was an executive order, so that is important to note, too, and they were not always paid the same thing. [inaudible] lincoln it was a very important part of the Roosevelt Coalition because the solid south voted democratic. They voted for democrats and it would not have gotten through them. [inaudible] lincoln he definitely has a zero to the ground. Above everything else, he was a supremely good politician. He definitely had his ear to the ground. Thats why certain things he failed a lot on the civil rights front because of trying to keep a coalition together with southern democrats. He didnt try to push the envelope . Lincoln exactly. Judith on the victory line, they put out orders and bulletins and advertisements to get the women to come in, not just in the military, but in civilian jobs as well. It was not just defense plans because remember, the factories everything the men were gone so the women had to take over. This is the iconic rosie the riveter Norman Rockwells on the right and the other one that we all know. She wasnt real you all know that. She was a composite. Im sure you all know that. Besides riveting, she did all the other factory jobs and clerical jobs, but what happens in the end the next day after the war is over, they were sent home. They were told to go. I am from east meadow, which is right next to levittown. I grew up in the same type of house. But that is true. They did go home. The interesting thing is though that many of the women liked working. They like having the wage, and some of them did remain in jobs. The military, by the way, said open we dont need you anymore at all we dont need you anymore at all, so they sent him home, but it led the way into the 1960s. [inaudible] women who did not want to go home were stuck. We had fond europe to smithereens. Germany had bombed the industrial capacity of england. We had wrecked all of japan. If you wanted anything after the war if you wanted a toaster i never had trouble finding a job. Judith the education level was not in general most of the women did not have that education level yet. If they did, you would have found that job. It was not just that they could not find a job. It was just that traditionally [inaudible] judith but you were you were an engineer. You would have found that job. Other women some of them would have found jobs, but they were told to go home, and traditionally, their husbands would have returned and expected them to go home. The ones that were able to stay in jobs in the fact that they had worked led to historically further the Womens Movement but most of them went home, though and they raised their families. We did the military women here but he had some posters remember, its this way. Its you see those women. You would not seek a military woman today advertising with lipstick and powder, but it was part of that tradition of the woman in the house and the beauty and the whole thing, and, yet, they would risk their lives. I think it was oh, the wasps. The women pilots did not have uniforms, so they got castoff from the men. The africanamerican women were the first actually to be released. You had that segregation still going on, and the women were not always paid the same as the men, either. But you were an engineer. That was very rare. The generation of the 1960s and 1970s is when you started to see more women in college or more people in college. [inaudible] they taught me. I dont have a degree in engineering. Judith but you learned that job. Not everyone did that because of the fact that they just traditionally there were a lot of us. Judith there were enough that it made things happen later but the seeds were there to have more opportunities for women yes, definitely. You were part of that seed that would have pushed to have that but the majority of them did go home. Yes, there were a lot that state, but there were many, many that went home. Im of them came out again. My mother worked at a defense plant. She never worked when we were growing up, and then she got a job when we all grew up. So the seed was there. Some of them came out again. They raised a generation that would go to college and push it to today. Remember, the women, like i said the women are now part of the military, so they are lying jet and going to the front and doing that. They are flying jets. I think the women like you who did those jobs were really important because they pushed those further. Every war like you have the civil war. We have been nurses, but they didnt get paid. They work volunteers. Spanishamerican war, the nurses were contract workers, and they were on gunboats going to the philippines and cuba. World war i, they were in the military. A lotta people dont know that women worked in plants and took over mens jobs, which led to world war ii when they were in the military. Where they actually had where they were officers, to today and vietnam and present time. That would be the story. We became a National Park in the end here. Thank you so much for inviting us. [applause] you are watching American History tv. Follow us on twitter for information on our schedule of upcoming programs. And to keep up with the latest history news. American history tv author Robert Duncan with talks about happen to other confederate armies following the surrender at appomattox. This talk was part of symposium on the closing of the civil war cohosted by lockwood university
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