Ellen Church
Ellen Church | |
---|---|
File:Captain Ellen Church.jpg | |
Born | Cresco, Iowa |
September 22, 1904
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Terre Haute, Indiana |
Education | Bachelor's degree of nursing education, University of Minnesota |
Occupation | Flight attendant Nurse |
Employer | Boeing Air Transport (Predecessor of United Airlines) |
Known for | First female flight attendant |
Awards |
Ellen Church (September 22, 1904 – August 22, 1965) was the first female flight attendant.[1]
Contents
Biography
Church was born in Cresco, Iowa. After graduating from Cresco High School, Church studied nursing and worked in a San Francisco hospital.[2] She was a pilot and a registered nurse. Steve Stimpson, the manager of the San Francisco office of Boeing Air Transport (BAT), would not hire her as a pilot, but did pass along her suggestion to put nurses on board airplanes to calm the public's fear of flying.[2] In 1930, BAT hired Church as head stewardess, and she recruited seven others for a three-month trial period.[2]
The stewardesses, or "sky girls" as BAT called them,[1][3] had to be registered nurses, "single, younger than 25 years old; weigh less than 115 pounds [52 kg]; and stand less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall [1.63 m]".[1] In addition to attending to the passengers, they were expected to, when necessary, help with hauling luggage, fueling and assisting pilots to push the aircraft into hangars.[3] However, the salary was good: $125 a month.[1][2]
Church became the first stewardess to fly (though not the first flight attendant, as German Heinrich Kubis had preceded her in 1912). On May 15, 1930, she embarked on a Boeing 80A for a 20-hour flight from Oakland/San Francisco to Chicago with 13 stops and 14 passengers.[4] According to one source, the pilot was another aviation pioneer, Elrey Borge Jeppesen.[5]
The innovation was a resounding success - the other airlines followed BAT's example over the next few years - but an injury from an automobile accident ended her career after 18 months. She obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing education from the University of Minnesota and resumed nursing.[1][6] In 1936, she became supervisor of pediatrics at Milwaukee County Hospital.[6] During World War II, Church served in the Army Nurse Corps as a captain and flight nurse and earned an Air Medal.[1] She moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where she became director of nursing and later an administrator at Union Hospital.[6]
In 1964, she married Leonard Briggs Marshall, president of the Terre Haute First National Bank.[4][6] A horse riding accident ended her life in 1965.[4][6]
Legacy
Cresco's municipal airport was named Ellen Church Field (KCJJ) in her honor.[1]
References
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