Under the wings of the 150 daily flights arriving and departing from Will Rogers International Airport sits a small museum celebrating female pilots. The 99s Museum of Women Pilots is one of two museums in Oklahoma specifically honoring women and their achievements, the other being The Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City. While most people have heard of the most famous female pilot, Amelia Earhart, there have been many other important women throughout the history of flight.
“The museum tells the story of women in aviation from the earliest barnstorming days to the space age,” Museum Manager Brandy Ball said. “These women were daredevils, record-setters, military service members and stunt pilots.”
The 99s is an international organization founded in 1929 by 99 female pilots. Their mission was to promote the “advancement of aviation through education, scholarships and mutual support while honoring our unique history and sharing our passion for flight.” In 1955, the headquarters for the 99s was moved from Long Island to Oklahoma City, where it has grown to include a library, archives and an oral/video history collection. On July 24, 1999 — Amelia Earhart’s birthday — The 99s Museum of Women Pilots opened its doors to the public.
“The museum’s first collection to be inducted into its archives was that of Mathilde Moisant,” Ball said. Moisant was an American pioneer aviator and the second woman in the United States to obtain her pilot’s license, following Harriet Quimby. The collection at the 99s Museum includes her 1911 “flying costume,” pilot’s license, goggles, binoculars, photos and news clippings.
The museum offers history and mementos from some of aviation’s biggest moments. Visitors are encouraged to learn about the female aviators of World War II, when the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron was formed in 1942 by Jackie Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love, and Cochran created the Women’s Flying Training Detachment. Later, these divisions would come together to form WASP: the Women Air Force Service Pilots. WASP members were awarded the World War II Victory medal in 1984 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. Another exhibit highlights The Mercury 13. This was a privately funded program that trained and tested 13 American women as a comparison to selected male astronauts. While these women were not able to fly to space, they are a critical piece of space exploration’s history. And of course, no museum on female pilots would be complete without including legend Amelia Earhart; items from her life, including her pilot’s license, are on display.
For kids of all ages interested in planes, aeronautics or space travel, the museum also houses the Penny Nagy Youth Education Center. This interactive learning experience features things like a live flight tracker with aircraft flight statuses from FlightAware and ForeFlight, which assists with planning a flight just as a pilot would in the cockpit. It also has a Microsoft Flight Simulator which allows you to “fly” to 20,000 real airports on hundreds of different aircrafts including helicopters, commercial jets and even airships.
Women in aviation are passionate, interesting people and the 99s Museum of Women Pilots is an excellent place to learn about so many of these incredible individuals.
