Women Pilots Topic of TWU Symposium
9/10/03
DENTON — Texas
Woman’s University will celebrate the first centennial of flight with
a half-day symposium focusing on the accomplishments of women military pilots.
“Flying for
Freedom: British, American and Soviet Women Pilots of World War II,”
which includes a documentary and discussions by experts on women military
pilots, will be Oct. 3 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Blagg-Huey Library. Admission
is free, but reservations are required because seating is limited. A luncheon
featuring a panel of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) begins at 12:30
p.m. and costs $12 per person. The deadline for program and luncheon reservations
is Sept. 26. Call (940) 898-3743 for reservations.
The program will begin
with the documentary “Above and Beyond: 100 Years of Women in Flight”
and will include comments from the film’s executive producer, Alice
Carron.
Dr. Kate Landdeck
will discuss the WASPs immediately following the film. Her lecture is titled
“In War and Peace: The Women Airforce Service Pilots.”
Between 1942 and 1944, more than 1,000 women served as WASP pilots, freeing
male pilots for combat duty. WASP pilots ferried aircraft from the factory
to embarkation points, worked as military flight instructors, conducted flight
testing and flew radio-controlled planes and anti-aircraft training tow targets
for the military during World War II.
The TWU library holds
WASP archives.
Dr. Landdeck is an
assistant professor of history at TWU and teaches upper-level and graduate
courses on World War II. Her primary topic of interest is the WASPs.
“American Fly
Girls in England: The British Air Transport Auxiliary” will be Dr. Jacque
Boyd’s topic.
Dr. Boyd owns Aero Infosearch, which specializes in consulting with women
pilots, and is a columnist for Aviation for Women. She recently was profiled
in Women in Aviation: Leaders and Role Models for the 21st Century. She has
been a member of the Ninety-Nines Inc., an international organization of licensed
women pilots, since 1975; serves as the chairman of Amelia Earhart Research
Scholar Grant, which is presented by the Ninety-Nines; and is a permanent
trustee for the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Board.
“Wings, Women and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat” is Dr. Reina Pennington’s topic.
Dr. Pennington is director of the Studies in War and Peace program at Norwich
University, where she teaches military, Russian and European history. She
spent more than nine years as an intelligence officer in the United States
Air Force, where she served as a Soviet analyst with F-4 and F-16 fighter
squadrons.
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For Further Information Contact:
Roy Kron
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: rkron@twu.edu