Ruth Rowland Nichols
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Ruth Rowland Nichols (23 February 1901 - 25 September 1960) was an aviation pioneer. She was the only woman yet to hold simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and distance for a female pilot.
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[edit] Early life
Nichols was born in New York City to Erickson Norman Nichols and Edith Corlis Haines. Her father was a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and had been a member of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders (officially known as The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry). Ruth was sent to the Masters School, a private preparatory school for young women. On her graduation from high school in 1919, her father's graduation present to her was an airplane ride with Edward Anderson "Eddie" Stinson, Jr., ace World War I pilot, which spurred her interest in becoming a pilot. After her graduation from the Masters School, she attended Wellesley College, studied to become a doctor, and graduated in 1924.
[edit] Career as a pilot
While a student at Wellesley College, Nichols secretly took flying lessons. Shortly after graduation, she received her pilot's license, and became the first woman in the world to obtain a hydroplane license. She first achieved public fame in January of 1928, as co-pilot for Harry Rogers, who had been her flying instructor, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Miami, Florida. Due to her socialite upbringing and aristocratic family background, Nichols became known in the press as the "Flying Debutante", a name she hated[1]. Nichols was then hired as a sales manager for Fairchild Aviation Corporation. In 1929, she was a founding member, with Amelia Earhart and others, of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of licensed women pilots.
During the 1930s, while working for Fairchild and other aviation companies, Nichols made several record-setting flights. In 1930, she beat Charles Lindbergh's record time for a cross-country flight, completing the trip in 13 hours, 21 minutes. In March, 1931, she set the women's world altitude record of 28,743 feet (8760.9 m). In April, 1931, she set the women's world speed record of 210.7 miles per hour (339.1 km/h). In June, 1931, she attempted to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, but crashed in New Brunswick and was severely injured. Following her recovery, in October, 1931, she set the women's distance record with a flight from Oakland, California to Louisville, Kentucky, 1,977 miles (3182 km).
On 29 December 1932, Nichols became the first woman pilot of a commercial passenger airline, flying for New York and New England Airways.
On 21 October 1935, Nichols was critically injured in a crash during a barnstorming flight in Troy, New York. She was unable to fly for nearly a year after. When she returned to flying, Nichols went to work for the Emergency Peace Campaign, a Quaker organization that sought to promote peaceful resolution to international conflicts then brewing. In 1939, she headed Relief Wings, a civilian air service that performed emergency relief flights and assisted the Civil Air Patrol during World War II; Nichols became a lieutenant colonel in the Civil Air Patrol.
Following the war, Nichols became involved in other humanitarian efforts, using her celebrity to bring attention to causes and to raise funds. She organised a mission of support for UNICEF, including piloting a round-the-world tour in 1949. In the 1950s, she served as director of women's activities for the Save the Children Federation, director of the women's division of the United Hospital Fund, and field director for the National Nephrosis Foundation.
During the course of her career, Nichols flew every type of aircraft developed, including the dirigible, glider, autogyro, seaplanes, biplanes, triplanes, transport aircraft, and a supersonic jet. In 1958, after lobbying the United States Air Force for permission, she co-piloted a TF-102A Delta Dagger and reached 1,000 miles per hour (1600 km/h) and an altitude of 51,000 feet (15 545 m), setting new women's speed and altitude records at age fifty-seven.
Suffering from severe depression in 1960, she died of an overdose of barbiturates at her home in New York City. Her mortal remains are interred at the The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York[2]
Ruth Nichols was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1992. A propeller from her 1930s Lockheed Vega is displayed in the National Air and Space Museum's Golden Age of Flight gallery.
[edit] References
- ^ The Women Who Dared the Skies article at century-of-flight.net
- ^ Women of Woodlawn article at thewoodlawncemetery.com
[edit] Sources
- Roger D. Launius (2000). "Nichols, Ruth Rowland", American National Biography Online.
- Mur Wolf. Ruth Nichols. Wellesley College - Person of the Week. Retrieved on August 28, 2006.
- D. Cochrane and P. Ramirez. Ruth Nichols. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved on August 28, 2006.
- Jone Johnson Lewis. Ruth Nichols. Women's History. Retrieved on August 28, 2006.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nichols, Ruth Rowland |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nichols, Ruth |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American aviation pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 23 February 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | 25 September 1960 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | New York City |
