Devries, Kelly. Joan of Arc: a Military Leader. (Sutton Publishing, 1999).
Pernoud, Regine and Marie-Veronique Clin. Joan of Arc: Her Story. (St. Martin's Press, 1999).
Archive with transcripts from Joan's trial: http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/
Website: http://kathrineswitzer.com/
Radio spot, "Education, Athletics, and Title IX," Amy French: http://www.delta.edu/socsci/history/this-moment-in-time.aspx
With World War II in its infancy, Jackie Cochran wrote Eleanor Roosevelt to suggest that female pilots be used in the war; she also approached General Hap Arnold, but was dismissed. In 1940, Cochran broke the speed record. General Arnold seeing no abatement to the war and recognizing Jackie's persistence and superior aviation skills sent her to England to study women pilots flying with the Royal Air Force. Cochran returned and was given permission to organize a Woman's Flying Unit; she was appointed its director in 1942. In 1943, Cochran was appointed to the U.S. Army Air Force staff as Director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Very few women were chosen to be a part of this elite group, though thousands enlisted to join. Out of 25,000 applicants, 1,074 women pilots completed their flight training (Cornelsen). Women in the WASPs had to be no shorter than 5ft 2 ½ in tall, no younger than 18 ½ years old, and have flown no fewer than 200 hours (Pope). Jackie Cochran wanted the WASPs to be trained like the men in the Airforce so once the women made it into the program they had to endure 200 hours of flight lessons and 400 hours of ground school (Fly Girls). Her dedication to making sure these women were trained the same as men and were prepared for all situations made this group of approximately 1000 pilots an elite force. The women test-flew every plane that came off the assembly line, as well as flew planes for target practice. The WASPs flew more than 60 million miles and over 77 different types of military aircrafts for the Airforce (Cornelsen). Thirty-eight of these women gave their lives for their country having never left U.S. air space. Between September 1942 and December 1944, WASPs delivered 12,650 aircraft of 78 different types.
Cochran continued to win awards and set records after the war's end. In 1953, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier. From 1959-1963, she was the first female president of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. In the early 1960s, Cochran was involved in efforts to test the ability of women to be astronauts. She retired from the Air Force in 1969, but continued working as a consultant to NASA. Her other achievements include being inducted into numerous Halls of Fame, an unsuccessful (but close) race for the Californian Congress, and over two hundred records.Carl, Ann B. A WASP Among Eagles: A Woman Military Test Pilot in World War II. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999).
Cornelsen, Kathleen. "Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II: Military Aviation, Encountering Discrimination, and Exchanging Traditional Roles in Service to America ." Journal of Women's History, Winter 2005.
Fly Girls. Directed by Laurel Ladevich. By Laurel Ladevich. Performed by Mary McDonnell, Kathy Soucie, and Paul Tibbets. PBS.org. 1999. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/filmmore/webcredits.html.men
Kamps, Charles Tustin. "The WASPs." Air & Space Power Journal, (Summer 2013).
Langley, Wanda. Flying Higher: The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II. (North Haven, Connecticut: Linnet Books, 2002).
Pope, Victoria. "Flight of the WASP." American Heritage, (Spring 2009).
Cochran, Jacqueline, and Maryann Bucknum Brinley. Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1987.
WASP Gallery (includes digitized artifacts and primary sources)Annie Smith Peck enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Rhode Island. Her father, an attorney and business owner, was a prominent man in Providence serving on their City Council. Annie started her education by attending Dr. Stockbridge’s School for Young Ladies before going to the local high school and then graduating from a Rhode Island teaching college. As was common at the time, students who wished to teach gained extra training by attending a normal school. Annie graduated from the Rhode Island Normal School in 1872. The Rhode Island Normal School had opened in 1854. Since the first normal school in the United States started in 1823 in Vermont, Rhode Island’s Normal School was one of the first in the nation—schools in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Michigan preceding it. Annie’s program was a teacher preparation curriculum, but the school eventually developed into a teaching college and then later into a comprehensive higher education institution when it became Rhode Island College.
After receiving teaching training, Annie moved (in the mid 1870s) to Saginaw, Michigan—a lumber town—to teach high school courses. While in Michigan, Annie decided to pursue further education. In 1870, the prestigious University of Michigan had opened its doors to women. With the first class of women graduating from U of M, Annie enrolled in the Classical Languages program (specializing in Greek). She graduated with honors in 1878. Annie then pursued a master’s degree in Greek, which she received in 1881. From Michigan, she ventured off to Europe to obtain further training. Annie was reportedly the first woman to attend the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece. (“Annie Smith Peck,” Dr. Russell Potter faculty page, Rhode Island College, accessed 12/21/2017)
It was in Europe that Annie discovered the thrill of mountain climbing and her aptitude for it. She scaled mountains in Italy, Switzerland, and Greece. She became the third woman ever to reach the summit of the Matterhorn in the Alps. Social convention required women to wear skirts or dresses at all times, but Annie donned trousers for the climb—scandalizing everyone I’m sure. Mountain climbing was a male sport, so there wasn't equipment available for women. Annie had to engineer or adapt the necessary implements...even her shoes. After climbing the Matterhorn in 1895, Annie set her sights on the Americas. She scaled Mount Orizaba in Mexico in 1897 and tried to climb Mount Illampu in Bolivia, but failed.
In 1908, after several attempts, and at the age of 58, Annie Smith Peck was the first person to scale Peru’s Mount Huascaran. It was a major achievement that was fraught with danger. At the time, she thought she had climbed the highest peak in the Americas. It would turn out not to be the highest, but it was still a record-breaking climb of 22,205 feet. A year later, she promoted suffrage by planting a “Votes For Women” flag at the top of Mount Coropuna in Peru.
Throughout her life, she continued mountaineering, exploring, and travel writing. Although she climbed until right before she died, she included exploring by plane to her adventuring ways. She explored South America by flight and wrote about it in her 1932 book, Flying Over South America: Twenty Thousand Miles by Air. Annie Smith Peck died in 1935 at the age of 84 having set new records for men and women alike.