“Women and Flight,” a Smithsonian traveling exhibition will open at the Challenger Space Center in Peoria, Arizona on Saturday, December 7, 2002 and will be on display through January 18, 2003. Admission to the exhibit is free with general admission to the Center, which is $4 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.
The exhibition features 75 black-and-white photographs of contemporary women pilots by Carolyn J. Russo, photographer at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. The photographs, accompanied by quotes and biographical sketches, profile 37 women aviators and astronauts. Each Saturday of the exhibition period will also feature special guest speakers, children’s activities, and more. The Saturday Guest Speaker series will focus on female aviation-related speakers who will present on topics as diverse as the role of women aviators in WW II; flight nursing; aviation writing; and piloting helicopters. A schedule of currently confirmed speakers will be sent out separately.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Carolyn Russo traveled the United States extensively to interview and photograph each pilot. The range of occupations is impressive. It includes pilots from virtually all fields of aviation – military, commercial, business and sport. Featuring working environments as backdrops, Russo’s portraits reveal the circumstances and conditions of the daily lives of female fliers. Their stories offer vivid demonstrations of personal courage, historical progress and accomplishment.
Women have been pilots since 1908 – only five years after the first successful airplane flight. But for decades they remained a rare breed, hampered by social, economic and legal barriers. Only in the past 25 years have professional training and career opportunities become widely available to women. Today, as shown in these photographs, women fly everything from gliders to space shuttles.
The five-year, 30-city tour of “Women and Flight” was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). After leaving the Challenger Center, the exhibition will continue on its national tour through February 2004. Each year, SITES shares the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside of Washington, D.C. One of the Smithsonian’s four National Programs, SITES makes available a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown not only in museums but wherever people live, work, and play: in libraries, science centers, historical societies, community centers, botanical gardens, schools, and shopping malls. In 2002, SITES celebrates 50 years of connecting Americans to their shared cultural heritage. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at http://www.sites.si.edu.
The national tour of “Women and Flight” has been generously supported by Pratt & Whitney and United Technologies Corporation, with additional support provided by Ilford Corporation and the Smithsonian Women’s Committee. Locally, the exhibition is supported in part by the Peoria Arts Commission, and a private donation from Ms. Sally Douglas, Challenger Center supporter and former corporate Secretary for the Board of directors of the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum.
