Women Pilots

Elizabeth Lippincott McQueen with her parrot, Dick McQueen. During World War I, Beth would take Dick with her to visit soldiers in Boston to provide them entertainment and tranquility.Throughout her life, Beth was devoted to world peace and women's rights. She believed aviation could be a key instrument to world peace. Although she never obtained a pilot's license, she took aviation courses in order to gain enough knowledge to convince the public of the usefulness and safety of airplanes (a controversy at the time). In 1929 she founded the Women's International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA) to promote the uses of aviation in society and simultaneously providing opportunities for women to get involved in aviation. In that same year, she also organized the first Women's National Air Derby (the Powder Puff Derby). Beth was awarded many honors for her achievements before her death in 1958.