Includes bibliographical references (pages 270-327) and index.
Contents:
The top of the hill. Devotedly, Ruth -- Real and natural, every inch -- The fortune of the air -- The fairest of the brave and the bravest of the fair -- Flying salesgirls -- The right sort of girl -- City of destiny -- If this is to be a derby -- There is only one Cleveland -- Good eggs -- Mr. Putnam and me -- Law of fate -- Give a girl credit -- Grudge flight -- Spetakkel -- All things being equal -- That's what I think of wives flying -- They'll be in our hair -- Playing hunches -- A woman couldn't win -- The top of the hill.
Summary:
Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn in on a manly, and deadly, pursuit. Keith O'Brien recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky. O'Brien weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high-school dropout who worked for a dry cleaner in Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at the constraints of her blue-blood family's expectations; and Louise Thaden, the mother of two young kids who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men -- and in 1936, one of them would triumph in the toughest race of all.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.