In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots of Early Aviation by Fred Erisman

Abstract

Reviewed by: In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots of Early Aviation by Fred Erisman Caroline Tapp (bio) In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots of Early Aviation By Fred Erisman. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2021. Pp. 242. In a succinct work capturing the rise and decline of the golden age of American aviation through the lives and writings of eight women pilots, Fred Erisman's In Their Own Words offers an engaging reassessment of the era of early flight. In six chapter case studies, Erisman presents the stories of eight women fliers by mining their published books, memoirs, and hundreds of magazines and newspapers. Intertwining biography, cultural history, and literary analysis, Erisman delves into the lives of Harriet Quimby, Ruth Law, Katherine and Marjorie Stinson, Amelia Earhart, Louise Thaden, Ruth Nichols, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Tracing their stories chronologically from 1910 through World War II, he connects the experiences of these early aviators to major themes in American society, including the women's movement, the world wars, westward expansion, and the space race. In doing so, Erisman underscores the power of personal voice in the progress narrative of aviation in American life. At a quick glance, the work's organization suggests a standard biographical approach, yet the themes presented within each chapter offer a compelling analysis of the relationship between feminism, technological advancement, and American culture. As Erisman argues, early women fliers simultaneously excelled in piloting various aircraft while defending their ability to do so to the public. Through a careful analysis of the women's viewpoints and experiences, he reminds readers that men were not the only ones to promote the value of aviation. In centering women not as passive participants but as pilots and promotional voices for the value of a new technology, he shows that the aircraft serves a dual purpose in the history of both technological development and the broader social and political contexts of the United States. Erisman's rhetorical analysis reveals valuable insights throughout, including the example of Louise Thaden's differentiation between flying and flight (ch. 4). Thaden viewed technological change and innovation affecting the practical ability to pilot an aircraft as "flying." "Flight," however, remained the pure essence of discovery intuitive to humanity. This slight yet vital differentiation in word choice highlights one of Erisman's buried claims regarding early aviation's potential as a democratic enterprise. Whether commenting on women's rights (ch. 2), aerial war (ch. 4), or the individual ownership of airplanes (ch. 5), these women reveal aviation as integral to American society. Ultimately, Erisman suggests that the end of World War II and the lack of a widely accepted and publicly identifiable spokesperson for women in aviation led to the decline of women pilots and democratic dreams of flight. Though their vision went unfulfilled, these women's writings capture the potential of access and opportunity that encompassed American aviation's golden age. [End Page 273] Erisman's work serves as a complement to existing works on women in early aviation, including those by Claudia Oakes, Deborah Douglas, and Henry Holden. Throughout the book, he expands on the work of Joseph Corn to compare women fliers' words with the theories of the "winged gospel." While previous cultural histories tend to recognize the American public as the gatekeeper of women's validity in pursuing flight, this account recenters public correspondence not about women but by women. For historians of technology, this work underscores the power of written sources to elucidate the interactions with and impact of technology on different groups of people. It highlights important themes such as access, ability, and public reception of operators of technology. While Erisman directly addresses the omission of the African American flying community as a result of few writings by women of color, an intersectional analysis would only add to the work's value as a social and cultural history, particularly when engaging themes of democracy and freedom. As the Federal Aviation Administration and other organizations take seriously the cultural barriers impacting the aviation industry, Erisman's book reminds historians and the general public that women pilots have long recognized culture's role as a presumed segregating force in technological mastery. It...