Women of the Air:
Those Fabulous Female Flyers





[PIONEERS] [WORLD WAR II] [SPACE FLIGHT] [AMELIA EARHART]


PIONEERS

Sisters of the Wind: Voices of Early Women Aviators, by Elizabeth S. Bell. Triology, 1994.
How aviation's women pioneers explored, set records, and risked their lives to achieve their dreams in a man's world.

Soaring Above Setbacks: The Autobiography of Janet Harmon Bragg, African American Aviator, by Janet Harmon Bragg, as told to Marjorie M. Kriz. Smithsonian Institution, 1996.
Inspirational story of the first African American woman to earn a full commercial pilot's license, overcoming every obstacle her race and gender placed in her path.

Women with Wings: Female Flyers in Fact & Fiction, by Mary Cadogan. Academy Chicago, 1992.
A celebration of the achievement of female flyers from 18th century balloonists to the space age.

Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography, by Jacqueline Cochran & Maryann Bucknum Brinly. Bantam Books, 1987.
Story of a pilot who, at her death, held more speed, altitude & distance records than any other pilot-male or female. Cochran was the first woman to break the sound barrier and the first to fly a bomber across the Atlantic.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life, by Susan Hartog. Talese, 1999.
A portrait of Anne Morrow Lindbergh--loyal wife, devoted mother, pioneering aviator, and critically acclaimed bestselling author.

Her Mentor Was an Albatross: The Autobiography of Pioneer Pilot Harriet Quimby, by Henry M. Holden. Black Hawk, 1993.
This book-which is NOT an autobiography as the title suggests-tells the story of a fearless and independent women of the Victorian Age who dared to follow her dreams, becoming the first women in America to receive a pilot's license to fly and the first woman to fly a monoplane alone across the English Channel.

The Powder Puff Derby: The True Story of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race, by Gene Nora Jessen. Sourcebooks, 2002.
How 19 gutsy women risked everything to attain their rightful place in the male-dominated world of aviation.

The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life & Times of Pancho Barnes, by Wanda Langley. Morgan Reynolds, 2006.
Profiles nine women from the early years of flight: Harriet Quimby, the first American woman to receive a pilot's license; Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman pilot; Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of Charles Lindbergh; Katherine Stinson, the first woman to peform a loop; Ruth Law, who smashed the existing cross-country distance flying record of 452 miles set by Victor Carlstrom by flying non-stop from Chicago to New York State in 1916; Ruth Nichols, the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance for a female pilot.; Louise Thaden, the first woman to win the Bendix Trophy; and legends Jacqueline Cochran & Amelia Earhart.

Women of the Wind: Early Women Aviators, by Lauren Kessler. RH, 2000.
The saga of Florence "Pancho" Lowe Barnes (1901--1975)--air racer, record setter, daredevil, and all-around free spirit who enjoyed disguising herslef as a man, smoking cigars and seeking adventure.

Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation, by Eileen F. Lebow. Brasseys, 2002.
An engrossing look at the women from around the world who barved the skies in spite of intense opposition.

North to the Orient, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1935.
An account of the survey flight Anne accompanied her husband-famed aviator, Charles Lindbergh-on in 1931.

Women of the Air, by Judy Lomax. Dodd, Mead, 1987.
Stirring portrait of the world's greatest heroines of the wild blue yonder.

West With the Night, by Beryl Markham. North Point, 1983.
Autobiography of the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west.

Women Aloft, by Valerie Moolman. Time-Life, 1981.
This lavishly illutrated volume in the "Epic of Flight" series is devoted to the heroines of the skies, whose passion to fly was no less strong than that of their male counterparts.

Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fast Lane, by Doris L. Rich. Univ. Press of FL, 2007.
A fresh look at the intelligent, complicated and often abrasive aviator who rose form humble beginings to achieve the title of America's greatest female pilot.

Barefoot in the Sky: An Autobiography, by Sheila Scott. Macmillan, 1973.
Scott was the first pilot to fly solo over the true North Pole in a light aircraft.

Aviatrix, by Elinor Smith. Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1981.
Elinor Smith soloed at the age of 15 and became the youngest licensed pilot in the country. After attracting natinal attention by flying under the four New York City bridges, Elinor Smith went on to pilot 158 different models of aircraft and was named the "Best Woman Pilot" of 1930.

Rising Above It: An Autobiography, by Edna Gardner Whyte. Orion, 1991.
Whyte was an aviator of exceptional skill who taught both military and commercial pilots how to fly-but was herself denied employment in the field she loved.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air, by Kathleen C. Winters. Palgrave, 2006.
A biography of the bright and adventurous writer and diarist who was also one of the defining figures of American aviation.

Voyager, by Jeana Yeager & Dick Rutan, with Phil Patton. Knopf, 1987.
Depicts the historic flight of the experimental aircraft and its record-setting around the world journey on a single load of fuel.


WORLD WAR II

For many years, the contributions of women in the air force during World War II was overlooked. These female pilots flew B-26s when men were afraid to and logged over 6,000,000 miles in the air. As the following list proves, this oversight has been corrected.


A WASP Among Eagles: A Woman Military Test Pilot in World War II, by Ann B. Carl. Smithsonian Institute, 1999.

Women Pilots of World War II, by Jean Hascall Cole. Univ. of Utah, 1992.

Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The Wild & Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age, by Leslie Haynsworth & David Toomey. William Morrow, 1998.

Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines: The Unknown Heroines of World War II, by Sally Van Wagen Keil. Rawson, Wade, 1979.

High Honor: Recollections by Men and Women of World War II Aviation, by Stuart Leuthner & Oliver Jensen. Smithsonian Institution, 1989.

A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II, by Anne Noggle. Texas A&M, 1994.

Daughter of the Air: The Brief Soaring Life of Cornelia Fort, by Rob Simbeck. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999.

On Silver Wings: The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, 1942-1944, by Marianne Verges. Ballantine, 1991.

WASPS: Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, by Vera S. Williams. Motorbooks International, 1994.


SPACE FLIGHT

A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space, by Grace George Corrigan. Univ. of Nebraska, 1993.
On 28 January, 1986, Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space, died with her fellow astronauts in the fiery explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. This memoir was written by her mother.

I Touch the Future-The Story of Christa McAuliffe, by Robert T. Hohler. Random House, 1986.
A biography of the woman whose death while reaching for the skies touch millions.

Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space, by Bettyann Kevles. Basic, 2003.
The fascinating tale of space-faring women, from Valentina Tereshkova to Kalpana Chawla.

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Woman in the Space Race, by Stephanie Nolan. Four Walls, Eight Windows, 2003.
Chronicles NASA's secret all-female astronaut program that trained 13 women in the early 1960s to be Mercury astronauts until it was unexpectedly abandoned as a result institutional sexism and a strong antifemale bias.


AMELIA EARHART

Lost Star: The Search for Amelia Earhart, by Randall Brink. Norton, 1994.

Winged Legend: The Story of Amelia Earhart, by John Burke. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1970.

East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart, by Susan Butler. Addison-Wesley, 1997.

Last Flight, by Amelia Earhart, arranged by George Palmer Putnam. Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1937.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?, by Thomas F. King et al. AltaMira, 2001.

Amelia Earhart: The Final Story, by Vincent Loomis, with Jeffrey Ethell. Random House, 1985.

Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved, by Elgen M. Long & Marie K. Long. Simon & Schuster, 1999.

The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart, Mary S. Lovell. St. Martin's, 1989.

Amelia Earhart, by Carol Ann Pearce. Facts on File, 1988.

Soaring Wings: A Biography of Amelia Earhart, by George Palmer Putnam. Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1939.

Amelia Earhart: A Biography, by Doris L. Rich. Smithsonian Institution, 1989.

The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart, by Gordon Theisen. Lebhar-Friedman, 2001.

Amelia Earhart: The Sky's the Limit, by Lori Van Pelt. Forge, 2005.

Still Missing: Amelia Earhart & the Search for Modern Feminism, by Susan Ware. Norton, 1993.

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