Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Just three days before her 17th birthday, Australian sailor Jessica Watson – arriving in Sydney Harbour at 1:53 p.m. in her boat Ella’s Pink Lady -- completed a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the Southern Hemisphere. A pink carpet was set out for her and, as she walked on it after getting out of the boat,... Continue Reading →
Professional racing cyclist Lee Wai Sze, who also goes by the name of Sarah Lee, was born in the urban area of Kowloon in Hong Kong. Despite being born with anemia, Lee participated in and excelled in athletics at an early age. She eventually developed a strong interest in cycling, and started pursuing that sport on a... Continue Reading →
During World War II, a large number of Chinese-American women made important contributions to the United States’ efforts in the fight against the Axis powers. A key example of these contributions, many of which centered on transportation, involved Los Angeles’ Chinatown branch of the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) throughout the war years. AWVS, which... Continue Reading →
In December 2006, Sunita Williams became only the second woman of Indian descent to travel to outer space when she was launched on board Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS). Kalpana Chawla had become the first woman of Indian descent to travel to outer space when she flew on board Space Shuttle... Continue Reading →
Lifelong Indiana resident Mary E. Landon (1876-1971) was one of the first American women – if not the first American woman – to drive a gasoline-powered automobile. In the late 1890s, she and her husband John moved from South Bend to Kokomo to work there for the automobile manufacturer Haynes-Apperson Company in its new factory.... Continue Reading →
In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly into outer space. (Two female USSR cosmonauts, Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya, had already traveled into orbit.) Ride, who was 32 at the time of her first space flight, also established a still-intact record as the youngest U.S. astronaut to make such a journey.... Continue Reading →
The American Red Cross (ARC) Motor Corps was an all-women’s service established during World War I to provide transportation support on the home front for the U.S. military as well as the ARC. The women who served as volunteers for the ARC Motor Corps wore uniforms (initially khaki, then Oxford grey) and were expected to... Continue Reading →
In 1983, Carmen E. Turner made history as the first African-American woman to lead a major transit agency when she became general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Her appointment to this position also reflected the overall strides being made by women at the time when it came to assuming key leadership... Continue Reading →
Margaret “Maggie” Gee became an aviation pioneer during World War II when she was one of only two Chinese-Americans to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). The organization, which was formed in August 1943 from both the Women’s Auxiliary Flying Training Detachment and Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, consisted of female pilots who performed... Continue Reading →
Mary Millicent Miller (1846-1894) was a maritime transportation pioneer who started out life in Louisville, Kentucky, as the daughter of a steamboat engineer. She set upon a career path similar to her father’s after she married a riverboat operator named George Miller. Using a steamboat called the Saline, the couple regularly transported passengers and freight... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 