Ninety-Nines

The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. As of 2018, there are 155 Ninety-Nines chapters across the globe, including a 'virtual' chapter, Ambassador 99s, which meets online for those who are too busy or mobile to be in one region for long.

For other uses, see 99 (disambiguation).

The Ninety-Nines, Inc.
FormationNovember 2, 1929 (1929-11-02)
Founded atValley Stream, New York[1]
TypeInternational Organization of Women Pilots
HeadquartersOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Coordinates35.406611°N 97.597573°W / 35.406611; -97.597573
Membership
~6,100
Websiteninety-nines.org

The organization was founded on November 2, 1929, at Curtiss Field,[2] by 26 licensed women pilots[3][4][5][6][7][8] for the mutual support and advancement of women pilots. Amelia Earhart had called for a meeting of female pilots in 1929 following the Women's Air Derby. All 117 women pilots licensed at the time were invited, and the group is named for the 99 of them who attended the meeting or expressed an interest in forming a group.[9] In 2014, the Ninety-Nines was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[10]

External images
First Meeting, group photo, cropped
First Meeting, group photo

Membership

Charter members include:

(president 1931–1933)[12]

Other notable members include:

(president 1941–1943)[12]
(president 1955–1957)[12]

Charter member Margaret Thomas "Tommy" Warren[16][17] believes she might have been the youngest charter member of the 99's — only 17 when she joined. She was not present at the first gathering of women aviators on Long Island in October 1929, but did go to New York with Frances Harrell for the second meeting on December 14 at the home of Opal Kunz and was appointed to represent Texas.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][16][25][26][27][28]

As of 2017, the organization has 5,159 members in thirty countries. The mission of the Ninety-Nines is to promote world fellowship through flight, to provide networking and scholarship opportunities for women and aviation education in the community, and to preserve the unique history of women in aviation. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. The organization is divided into "sections" that are part of geographical areas covering several states in the U.S., provinces in Canada, and even countries. Chapters are the smallest grouping, falling under their geographical "sections".[29]

Scholarship fund

The Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Fund (AEMSF)[30] program assists in funding flight training for both recreational and career track women pilots by awarding a scholarship for an entire pilot certificate or rating to qualified members. The AEMSF "Fly Now" scholarship is a progressive milestone award of up to $6,000 to assist a Ninety-Nine in completing her Private Pilot training. In addition to the AEMSF program, many individual chapters of the Ninety-Nines[31] give their own flight scholarships[32] to benefit local woman aviators. Aspiring professional pilots can find career guidance and mentors in the Ninety-Nines "Professional Pilot Leadership Initiative" program.

Museums and activities

Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum

The Ninety-Nines are owner-custodians of the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas. The birthplace and early childhood home of early aviator Amelia Earhart has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been returned to its turn-of-the-century condition by the "99s"; it features an abundance of personal and family memorabilia.[33]

99s Museum of Women Pilots

Their international headquarters building on Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is home to the 99s Museum of Women Pilots. Museum artifacts include historical papers, personal items, video and oral histories, photos, memorabilia and other notable artifacts from famed woman aviators from around the globe. The museum collection and exhibits provide insight into the role women pilots played in the development of aviation and their historical footprint.[33]

Activities

Ninety-Nines members support the goals of the organization by being active in numerous aviation activities, including : aviation education seminars in the community, air racing, from the Powder Puff Derby to the Palms to Pines[34] and the Air Race Classic; and airmarking[35] by volunteering their time to paint airport names, compass rose symbols and other identifications on airports and the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA). Most regional and national NIFA competitions have "99s" on their panels of judges.

References
  1. Marcelle S. Fischler (May 12, 2002). "LONG ISLAND JOURNAL; Where Earhart, not Lindbergh, Is the Hero". The New York Times. p. LI14. Retrieved February 15, 2019. The Ninety-Nines were founded in 1929 at Curtiss field in Valley Stream, where Green Acres Mall now stands, by Earhart, its first president, and other early female pilots, many of whom were from the Island. There were 99 charter members.
  2. "Advance Sunrise Airport / Curtiss Airport / Columbia Aircraft Company Airfield, Valley Stream, NY, 40.66, -73.724 (East of JFK Airport, NY)". Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019. The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots, was established on 11/2/29, when 26 licensed women pilots met at Curtiss Airport in Valley Stream. In 1931, Amelia Earhart was elected as their first president. The group was named for the 99 charter members. According to Chrystopher Spicer, one of their charter members was Jessie "Chubbie" Miller, who had been the first woman to travel by air from England to Australia. “Her main airfield in the U.S. was the old Curtiss Field at Valley Stream.” Curtiss Airport was the largest commercial airport on Long Island for 3 years starting in 1930. Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
  3. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "99s in Aviation History - Thirty Years at a Glance..." Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  4. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "99s in Aviation History | Sixty and Counting". Ninety-nines.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  5. Doris Abbate (Long Island Chapter Historian) (January 2005). "Where It All Began..." ninety-nines.org. 99 NEWS Magazine. On November 2, 1929, 26 licensed women pilots flew, drove, took a train and walked here to Valley Stream, Long Island for that memorable meeting and their first photo in a hangar at Curtiss Field. Serving tea from a delicate teapot and cookies on a spare parts wagon were Fay Gillis Wells, in her helmet and flight suit, and Viola Gentry, with a bouquet of mums presented her as she left the hospital after a plane crash while attempting an endurance record.
  6. "How the Ninety-Nines came to be -- The Powder Puff Derby". ameliaearhartmuseum.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  7. "History of women pilots. History of the 99s". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. "History of women pilots. Woman pilots and aviation history". Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. "Our History" Archived July 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Ninety-Nines website.
  10. Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
  11. "Charter members of the Ninety-Nines". Ninety Nines website.
  12. "Past Presidents of the Ninety-Nines". Ninety Nines website.
  13. "Biographies". Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. "99s Charter Members". Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. "Manila Davis Talley Scrapbook · SOVA". sova.si.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  16. "Margaret Thomas Warren, was aviation pioneer; at 92". archive.boston.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  17. The Ninety-Nines: Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow. Turner Publishing Company. November 22, 1996. ISBN 9781563112034. Retrieved November 22, 2017 – via Google Books.
  18. Warren, Margaret "Tommy" (January–February 2002). "The Early Years". The Ninety-Nines. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  19. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Our History - Women in Aviation History - Margaret Thomas 'Tommy'..." Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  20. "Cleary, Mary (2006). Separate Lives and Shared Legacies: Privilege and Hardships in the Lives of Twenty Women who Made a Difference. Undergraduate Review, 2, 184-202". bridgew.edu. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  21. Mary, Cleary (August 21, 2018). "Separate Lives and Shared Legacies: Privilege and Hardships in the Lives of Twenty Women who Made a Difference". Undergraduate Review. 2 (1). Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  22. "ATA The early years". airtransportaux.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  23. "Conquering the turbulence". Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  24. "Taking Off - Margaret Thomas Warren: 9781897817162 : 1897817169". abebooks.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  25. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Margaret Thomas "Tommy" Warren". ninety-nines.org. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  26. "Warren, Margaret Thomas. Sylvia Warren Her People and Their Places : 9781901658316: 1901658317". abebooks.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  27. "Warren, Margaret Thomas [WorldCat Identities]". worldcat.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  28. "Warren, Margaret Thomas. Sylvia Warren – Her People and Their Places. Dublin, Ashfield Publishing Services, 2003". The Time Traveller's Bookshop and Gallery. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  29. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Who We Are - Chapter & Section Websites (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  30. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Scholarships | Scholarship Summary (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Ninety-nines.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  31. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Join Us | Find a Chapter (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Ninety-nines.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  32. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "Scholarships | Section and Chapter Scholarships (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Ninety-nines.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  33. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "What We Do - Advancing Women Pilots (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Ninety-nines.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  34. "Palms to Pines". palmstopines.org. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  35. The Ninety-Nines, Inc. "What We Do - Air Marking (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.)". Retrieved November 22, 2017.
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