Special Collections

Jacqueline Cochran was a groundbreaking aviator. A poor girl from Georgia, she began flying lessons in 1932 at the age of twenty-six, and by 1941 she was a flight captain in the British Air Transport Auxiliary and trained other women to do the same. In 1942, she returned to the United States, and went on to organize and serve as the first director of a similar organization, the Women Auxiliary Service Pilots or WASPs. She also served as President of the Ninety-Nines simultaneously. Following the war, she broke aviation records in a variety of ways and was the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953. Her collection of belongings in the museum reflects her accomplishments throughout her career.