Tiny Broadwick: “First Lady of Parachuting”

Georgia Ann “Tiny”[1] Thompson Broadwick (1893-1978) fell in love with aviation in 1907 at the age of 14 when she attended an aerial show at the North Carolina State Fair. The show featured pioneering balloonist Charles Broadwick (c. 1875-1943), who went up in a hot air balloon, climbed over the side and parachuted down. Tiny…

Read More

Hazel Ah Ying Lee: Chinese-American WASP

Hazel Ah  Ying Lee was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1912. She was the daughter of Chinese immigrants—the second of eight children. Lee was nineteen when she experienced her first flight, at the end of a friend’s flying lesson.  She was hooked. She immediately began to save up the money for flying lessons from her…

Read More