Family Day Activities Celebrate 100 Years Of Women As Pilots

In September 1910, Blanche Stuart Scott became the first American woman to pilot an airplane.  On Saturday, March 13, 2010 the International Women's Air & Space Museum in Cleveland will celebrate her achievements and 100 years of American women in flight with the museum's fifth annual free family day. The event will take place from 1000 - 1600. For those of you who might be able to attend, parking is available in the Burke Lakefront Airport terminal municipal parking lot.

The museum will be celebrating Women's History Month throughout the day with the help of several area organizations. Free activities will be provided by NASA, the Children's Museum of Cleveland, and the USO. The museum will be giving visitors a sneak peek at its new Aviation Education Center, scheduled to open later this spring with hands-on aviation activities.

Also scheduled that day is a demonstration by the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Aircraft Rescue & Firefighters, planetarium shows, and a military encampment with an exhibit on women in the armed forces.  The museum is partnering with the USO to offer visitors an opportunity to make cards for troops overseas throughout the day.  Students from Beaumont School will be on hand with activities and to perform as famous women in aviation, including Blanche Stuart Scott. Families and youth groups are encouraged to attend this free special event.

The public celebration of women's history in this country began in 1978 as "Women's History Week" in Sonoma County, California. The week including March 8, International Women's Day, was selected. In 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming a national Women's History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration to a month, and March was declared Women's History Month.

FMI: www.iwasm.org