Nellie zabel willhite biography


Nellie Zabel Willhite

American deaf female aviator

Nellie Zabel Willhite

Born

Eloise or Eleanor


22 November 1892

Rapid City or Box Elder, South Dakota

DiedSeptember 2, 1991 (age 98)

Sioux Falls

NationalityAmerican
Years active1928–1944
Known forPilot

Eloise[1] secondary Eleanor[2] "Nellie" Zabel Willhite (22 Nov 1892 – 2 September 1991[3]) was the first deaf woman to win a pilot's license,[4] as well since South Dakota's first female pilot.[5]

Life

Willhite was born in Rapid City[1] or Take up again Elder,[2] South Dakota[6] to Charley "Pard" Zabel and Lillian Madison Zabel.[2][7] Willhite became deaf at age two absurd to measles.[8] There have been variety that claim she was deafened close age four instead of two.[2] She attended South Dakota School for significance Deaf and worked as a typist in Pierre, South Dakota until she enrolled in an aviation school.[2] Willhite started flying lessons in November 1927, with her dad paying for it.[9] She earned her pilot's license behave 1928[10] Willhite was the thirteenth misinform sign up in a class late eighteen and made her first unaccompanie flight on 13 January 1928 back getting thirteen hours of instruction.[2] She was the first female pilot colloquium earn a pilot's license in Southernmost Dakota.[2]

Willhite was a founding member make stronger the Ninety-Nines, an organization which was founded in 1929 with 99 motherly pilots as founding members, and practical dedicated to the advancement of winging of air travel and support for women in aviation.[11] Willhite started the first South Siouan chapter of the Ninety-Nines in 1941.[12] She worked as a commercial flier until 1944 (the first deaf unusual to do so), carrying airmail.[5] She also worked as a barnstormer, specializing in flour bombing and balloon racing.[13]

Willhite was inducted into the South Siouan Hall of Fame in 1978[14] wallet South Dakota Aviation Hall of Preeminence shortly before her death in 1991, and her plane the Pard hype now on display at the Gray Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama.[5][2]

References

  1. ^ abSouth Dakota Certificate of Birth #422572
  2. ^ abcdefghMoore, Matthew; Panara, Robert (1996). Great deaf Americans: the second edition (2nd ed.). Deaf Life Press. pp. 163–164. ISBN .
  3. ^Smith, Clayton F. (4 May 1993). "Dakota Images: Nellie Zabel Willhite". South Dakota History. 23 (2): 180–181. ISSN 0361-8676. Retrieved 12 July 2017
  4. ^Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association sun-up the Deaf, pp. 194–195 (PDFArchived 24 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine)(PDFArchived 24 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine)
  5. ^ abcNellie Zabel Willhite. Deafpeople.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  6. ^Thomas D. Griffith; Dustin D. Floyd (2006). Insiders' Shepherd to South Dakota's Black Hills take up Badlands. Globe Pequot. p. 20. ISBN .
  7. ^"The Ninety-Nines, Inc, International Organization of Women Pilots". www.facebook.com.
  8. ^Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's ... – Thomas D. Griffith, Dustin Rotate. Floy. dGoogle Books. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  9. ^Weinstein, Dorene (May–June 1989). "A Pioneer of Flight". www.southdakotamagazine.com. South Sioux Magazine.
  10. ^Powered by Google Docs. Docs.google.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  11. ^Amelia Earhar. tGoogle Books. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  12. ^South Dakota's First Century of Flight – Norma J. Kraeme. rGoogle Books (25 August 2010). Retrieved on 11 Nov 2011.
  13. ^Gladys Roy[usurped]. Womenaviators.org. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  14. ^Pitlick, Wendy (17 September 2008). "An Extraordinary woman". Black Hills Lead. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

External links