Happy Birthday to aviator and journalist Harriet Quimby (b. May 11, 1875, in Michigan), who in 1911 became the first American woman and second woman in the world to hold a pilot’s license. The New York Times reported that beyond passing the examination she also “created what is probably a world’s record for contestants for pilot’s licenses by landing within 7 feet 9 inches of a given mark. Her figures are close to the world’s record for experienced aviators as well.” Quimby wrote about her flying adventures in her journalism, publicly emphasizing her decision to wear the flying attire typically worn by male pilots. She framed aviation as liberating and empowering for women, encouraging others to join her in breaking gender barriers. Her flying career was both remarkable and tragically brief, ending with her 1912 plane crash death. Scholar Fred Erisman argues that Quimby’s “most substantial” historical contribution was “her embrace of the fledgling American belief that aviation would ultimately bring about profound changes in American society.”
Citations: Fred Erisman, In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots of Early Aviation (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 12, 14, 21-22, 25-26, open access, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv15pjxwd.1; “MISS QUIMBY WINS AIR PILOT LICENSE,” New York Times, August 2, 1911, 7, https://nyti.ms/3J89sxa; Bain, “Harriet Quimby,” photograph (location unknown, 1911), https://lccn.loc.gov/2001704117.
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