On The American Magazine Cover
Women air pilots -- United States
Pictured here is a black and white copy of the cover of the March 1932 edition of contemporary popular magazine The American Magazine. The front features famed female pilot Ruth Nichols. Ruth Nichols' story appears inside: "Behind the Ballyhoo" by Neysa McMein. In the colored print, Ruth is wearing a bright red jumpsuit. This cover was printed slightly different in Canada.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
Woodhouse, P. G., Octavus Roy Cohen, Faith Baldwin, and C. B. Kelland, Eds. The American Magazine. Springfield, Ohio: Crowell-Collier Publishing Company (March 1932).
March 1932
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN27
Springfield, Ohio
Relief Wings
Women air pilots -- United States
World War II
Ruth Nichols, pioneer female pilot and future lieutenant colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, uses the back end of a plane as a hard surface to write. On either side of her or two men in suits. On the plane is the logo for Relief Wings, a civilian air service that Nichols headed in 1939. This service assisted the Civil Air Patrol during the second World War and went out on emergency relief flights. It was due to her service with Relief Wings that Nichols earned her lieutenant colonel ranking.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
1939
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN26
Ruth Nichols Steps Down From Plane
Women air pilots -- United States
Female pilot Ruth Nichols stands on the wheel of a plane surrounded by a group of men, most of them wearing suits. Nichols herself is dressed nicely with a dress and 1930s hat. One of the suited men lends his hand to Nichols as she steps down from the plane.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
1930s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN25
Wings for Peace
Women air pilots -- United States
A smiling Ruth Nichols, well-known female pilot, stands dressed in a white flight jumpsuit with her arm over the back end of a plane. This early plane has either the name or the advertisement "Wings for Peace" scrolled across it.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1930s-1940s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN24
Ruth Nichols Fancily Dressed
Women air pilots -- United States
Famed and record-breaking aviatrix Ruth Nichols stands smiling with her hands clutched in front of her for a picture. She is wearing a long velvet dress, white pearls, and a small broach.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1920s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN23
Portrait of Ruth Rowland Nichols
Women air pilots -- United States
Pioneer female pilot Ruth Rowland Nichols poses for her portrait wearing a leather, high-collared coat.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1924-1960
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN22
Seaplane Pilot
Women air pilots -- United States
Air pilots
Pictured here is Captain Sanders, the pilot of the seaplane behiind him that Ruth Nichols and her hunting party, including her two brothers, used when going to and from Ontario, Canada for a moose hunting expedition in October 1929. Visible to the right is a large pile of the famous aviatrix, Nichols' and her friends' luggage.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. 21
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols' Hunting Lodgings
Women air pilots -- United States
Ruth Nichols stands at the door of her Bear Lake Camp cabin in which she stayed during her moose hunting trip to Ontario, Canada in October 1929. Beside her stands her brothers.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN20
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols with Hunting Buddies
Women air pilots -- United States
Early, record-breaking pilot Ruth Nichols stands garbed in hunting attire between two male hunting friends. Nichols had traveled to Canada in October 1929 to experience Moose Hunting season.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN19
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols Hunting Camp
Women air pilots -- United States
Pictured here is a log cabin reflecting in a lake. This scene was from the hunting camp at which famed aviatrix Ruth Nichols stayed during her hunting trip to Canada in 1929.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN18
Ontario, Canada
Nichols About to Go Hunting
Women air pilots -- United States
Famous early pilot Ruth Nichols gathers with members of her hunting party outside of log cabins in Ontario, Canada. Nichols had gone out searching for moose in the month of October 1929. The handwritten caption on the back of the photograph reads, "Setting off for a 'trek' (not tump line)."
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN17
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols with Moose Head
Women air pilots -- United States
While hunting in Ontario, Canada in October 1929, either the well-known pioneer female pilot, Ruth Nichols or one of her hunting party managed to take down a rather large moose. The reverse side of the photograph claims the moose head, which is being held between Nichols and either other individuals, to be 69 1/2 inches.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN16
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols by Seaplane
Women air pilots -- United States
While visiting Ontario, Canada in October 1929, record-breaking aviatrix Ruth Nichols stands with an unknown individual beside a seaplane.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN15
Ontario, Canada
Ruth Nichols with Hunting Riffle
Women air pilots -- United States
This photograph of Ruth Nichols shows the famed aviatrix standing in hunting attire holding a hunting riffle. Nichols spent October 1929 hunting in Ontario, Canada.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
October 1929
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN14
Canada
Ruth Nichols and H.A. Starks
Women air pilots -- United States
This photograph, published in Ruth Nichols' 1957 autobiography Wings for Life, shows Nichols standing between two gentlemen. The information on the back of the photograph identifies one of the men as H.A. Starks; the other man is unidentified.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
Nichols, Ruth. Wings for Life: The Life Story Of the First Lady Of The Air. Ed. Dorothy Roe Lewis. J.B. Lippincott Company: Philadelphia, 1957.
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN13
Sitting on Large Wheels
In this faded photograph a group of seven men and a woman sit on and stand by the wheels of a large, possibly commercial, plane.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1920s - 1930s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN12
Ruth Nichols Fan Mail
Women air pilots -- United States
Air pilots -- United States
Found in the IWASM's Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection was a picture from apparently included in a piece of fan mail. The picture shows a man named Roland P. Prickett in a flight suit standing in front of a Kitty Hawk 1046 at the Springfield Airport in Massachusetts.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN11
Massachusetts
Postcard to Ruth Nichols
Women air pilots -- United States
This postcard to famed female pilot reads "Merry Christmas from Valtiughan Field, Fredericksburg and Elijaheaa M. Pillips." It was addressed to Ruth Nichols who was currently living on Grace Church St. Rye New York. The postmark reads December 18, 1939, Fredericksburg, PA.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
December 18, 1939
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN10
Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania
Nichols in Pilot's Uniform
Women air pilots -- United States
On 29 December 1931, successful aviatrix Nichols became the first woman to work for a commercial passenger airline as a pilot. She stands in her uniform here.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1931
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN9
Airplane in the Distance
Women air pilots -- United States
A plane, most likely one piloted by well-known aviatrix Ruth Nichols, is visible past a chain-link fence. Mechanics seem to be working on and around the aircraft.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN8
Nichols and Child in Front of Plane
Women air pilots -- United States
Famous female pilot Ruth Nichols poses for a photograph with her arm around a little girl. Behind them sits a Curtiss aircraft.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1930s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN7
Postcard of Unknown Man
Women air pilots -- United States
Found within the IWASM collection of Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection is this postcard of a mysterious unknown man in glasses named Ivan Mauni. Handwritten, cryptic messages written in Latin appear under the man's picture: Inventus, meaning found or discovered; Immortalis, meaning immortal; and Le Bedux et Ivall, most likely family names or locations. The back reads "Post Card," "Special by R. Torres Studios," "224 West 116th St., New York, 101 Lenox Ave."
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN6
Ruth Nichols About to Travel Photograph Negative
Women air pilots -- United States
In this photograph negative Ruth Nichols shows off of her impressive pile of luggage as she stands in front of a plane, presumably about to take off. On the back of the photograph is written "All of this luggage went into the poor fledgling."
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1930s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN5
Ruth Nichols About to Travel
Women air pilots -- United States
Ruth Nichols shows off of her impressive pile of luggage as she stands in front of a plane, presumably about to take off. On the back of the photograph is written "All of this luggage went into the poor fledgling."
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
ca. 1930s
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN4
Ruth Nichols Before Transatlantic Flight Attempt
Women air pilots -- United States
Ruth Nichols sits high in the cockpit of a white Crosley Radio Plane before her attempt be the first woman to cross the Atlantic. She started on June 22, 1931 at the Floyd Bennet Airport in New York. Unfortunately her flight was short lived. Later that evening Nichols crashed at St. John Airport in Nebraska. While attempting to land for the night, the setting sun shone in Nichols' eyes and caused her to overshoot the runway. She suffered only minor injuries.
IWASM
Ruth Nichols Photograph Collection, International Women's Air and Space Museum
22 June 1931
Heidi Fearing
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests contact the International Women's Air & Space Museum at info@iwasm.org
Photo No. RN3
New York