Harriet Quimby (May 11, 1875 – July 1, 1912) was the first female to get a pilot license in the United States. In 1911 (August 1, 1911), she earned the first US pilot's certificate issued to a woman by the Aero Club of America, and less than a year later flew across the English Channel, the first woman to do so. Although Quimby lived only to age 37, she had a major impact on women's roles in aviation. Image File history File links Harriet_quimby. ... Louis Blériot Louis Blériot (July 1, 1872 – August 2, 1936) was a French inventor and engineer, who performed the first flight over a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Arcadia Township is a township located in Manistee County, Michigan. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Quincy is a city located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts and bears the nickname The City of Presidents. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 88,025. ... For other uses, see Aviator (disambiguation). ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Aero Club of America issued the first pilots licenses in the US. It was founded in 1905, and had many sister organizations. ... For the Thoroughbred racehorse of the same name, see English Channel (horse). ...

Early career

Harriet Quimby in the Moisant monoplane she learned to fly on.

A historical marker has been erected near the remains of the farmhouse in Arcadia, Michigan where she was born. After her family moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1900s, she became a journalist. She moved to New York City in 1903 to work as a theatre critic for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, which published over 250 articles of hers over a nine year period. She became interested in aviation in 1910, when she attended the Belmont Park International Aviation Tournament on Long Island, New York and met Matilde Moisant and her brother John, a well-known American aviator and operator of the flight school. On August 1, 1911, Quimby took her pilot's test and became the first U.S. woman to earn a pilot's certificate. Matilde Moisant soon followed and became the nation's second certificated female pilot. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2285x1515, 358 KB) Harriet Quimby, 1911, in the Moisant monoplane she learned to fly in. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2285x1515, 358 KB) Harriet Quimby, 1911, in the Moisant monoplane she learned to fly in. ... Arcadia Township is a township located in Manistee County, Michigan. ... San Francisco redirects here. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in the hamlet of Elmont, New York in Nassau County on Long Island (just outside of New York City). ... This article is about Long Island in New York State. ... Matilde E. Moisant (born September 13, 1878 – died February 5, 1964), was an American pioneer aviatrix. ... John B. Moisant (25 April 1868 - 31 December 1910) was a United States aviator. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Hollywood

In 1911 she authored five screenplays that were made into silent film shorts by Biograph Studios. All five of the romance films were directed by director D.W. Griffith with stars such as Florence La Badie, Wilfred Lucas, and Blanche Sweet. A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ... The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (also known as the Biograph Company) was founded in 1895 and is the oldest movie production company in the United States. ... While most films have some aspect of romance between characters (at least as a subplot) a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the storys protagonists. ... David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 - July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ... Florence M.L. La Badie (born possibly April 27, 1888 - October 13, 1917) was the daughter of Joseph E. La Badie and his wife Amanda from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Wilfred Lucas, born January 30, 1871 in the Province of Ontario, Canada - died December 5, 1940 in Los Angeles, California, United States, was a stage and film actor, a film director, and a screenwriter. ... Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 [1] – September 6, 1986) was a silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. ...

Vin Fiz

The Vin Fiz Company, a division of Armour Meat Packing Plant of Chicago, IL, after Calbraith Perry Rodgers death April 1912, recruited Harriet as the spokesperson for the new grape soda, Vin Fiz. Her distinctive purple aviatrix uniform and image graced many of the advertising pieces of the day. The Vin Fiz Flyer was an early Wright Brothers Model EX pusher biplane, that in 1911 became the first to cross the North American continent by air. ... Calbraith Perry Rodgers (1879-1912) Calbraith Perry Rodgers (1879 - April 3, 1912) was a pioneer American aviator who died in a crash Family Rodgers was related to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. ...

English Channel

On April 16, 1912, Quimby took off from Dover, England, en route to Calais, France and made the flight in 59 minutes, landing about 25 miles (40 km) from Calais on a beach in Hardelot-Plage, Pas-de-Calais. She had become the first woman to fly the English Channel. Her accomplishment received little media attention, due to the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15. is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Arms of Dover Borough Council This article is about the English port. ... This article is about the French city. ... Neufchâtel-Hardelot is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département of northern France. ... Pas-de-Calais is a département in northern France named after the strait which it borders. ... For other uses, see Titanic (disambiguation). ...

Death

The wreck of her plane after her fatal accident

Quimby's career ended on July 1, 1912. She was flying in the Third Annual Boston Aviation Meet at Squantum, Massachusetts. As a passenger was William Willard, the event's organizer, in her brand-new, two-seat, Bleriot monoplane. The plane unexpectedly pitched forward for reasons that are still unknown. Both Willard and Quimby were ejected and fell to their deaths. Harriet Quimby was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. The following year her remains were moved to the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Image File history File links Quimby-Harriet_23. ... Image File history File links Quimby-Harriet_23. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Quincy is a city located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts and bears the nickname The City of Presidents. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 88,025. ... Louis Blériot Louis Blériot (July 1, 1872 – August 2, 1936) was a French inventor and engineer, who performed the first flight over a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft. ... A monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. ... Located in The Bronx, Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City. ... For other uses, see The Bronx (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ... Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, Westchester Co. ... Valhalla is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, USA. The population was 5,379 at the 2000 census. ...

It is not known for certain, but the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's restored and flyable Anzani-powered Blériot XI, which bears the Blériot factory's serial number 56, and is still on the US FAA national registry with registration number N60094, could possibly be the aircraft that Quimby was flying in 1912 during the Boston Aviation Meet. The previously wrecked aircraft that is now flying at Old Rhinebeck was found, stored in a barn in Laconia, New Hampshire in the 1960s, and fully restored to flying condition, most likely by Cole Palen, ORA's founder. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles. ... Laconia is a city located in Belknap County, New Hampshire. ...

A 1991 postage stamp featured Quimby. This article lists people who have been featured on United States postage stamps. ...

She is memorialized in two official Michigan historical markers, one in Coldwater, and one at her birthplace in Manistee County, Michigan.^[1] Coldwater is a city located in central Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Manistee County is a county located in the state of Michigan. ...

Timeline

See also

• Newspaper report from the Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 2, 1912
• Related Article: Harriet Quimby & the Revolution in the Sky

Airplane

• Blériot XI monoplane

Designed by Louis Blériot and Raymond Saulnier (of Morane-Saulnier) the Blériot XI was a light and sleek monoplane constructed of oak and poplar. ... A monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. ...

Selected coverage in The New York Times

• The New York Times, May 11, 1911, page 06, "Woman in trousers daring aviator; Long Island folk discover that miss Harriet Quimby is making flights at Garden City"
• The New York Times, August 02, 1911, page 07, "Miss Quimby wins air pilot license"
• The New York Times, September 05, 1911, page 05, "Girl flies by night at Richmond fair; Harriet Quimby darts about in the moonshine above an admiring crowd"
• The New York Times, September 18, 1911, page 07, "Women aviators to race; the Misses Moisant, Quimby, Scott, and Dutrieu at Nassau meet"
• The New York Times, September 28, 1911, page 02, "Miss Quimby's flight"
• The New York Times, April 17, 1912, page 15, "Quimby flies English Channel"
• The New York Times, June 21, 1912, page 14, "Woman to fly with mail; Miss Quimby Plans Air Trip from Boston to New York"
• The New York Times, July 02, 1912, page 01, "Miss Quimby dies in airship fall"
• The New York Times, July 03, 1912, page 07, "Quimby tragedy unexplained"
• The New York Times, July 04, 1912, page 07, "Services for Harriet Quimby to-night"
• The New York Times, July 05, 1912, page 13, "Eulogizes Harriet Quimby"
• The New York Times, July 07, 1912, magazine, "When aviation becomes not only dangerous but foolhardy"

Notes

External links

• Centennial of Flight: Harriet Quimby
• PBS: Harriet Quimby
• PBS NOVA: "Queen of the Channel Crossing" by Peter Tyson
• Eyewitness History: Harriet Quimby
• FIU: Harriet Quimby
• Harriet Quimby Organization