Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a scrapbook, compiled by McFadden, relating to the founding and history of the WFA, as well as with McFadden's role with the WFA. The scrapbook includes WFA convention programs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, patches, and 'The Women Flyer - Official Bulletin of the Women Flyers of America, Inc.' This donation also included a small cosmetic case with the WFA logo and McFadden's aviation pins. There is also material relating to the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund, Inc., in which McFadden participated as part of the Grants Review Panel during the 1980s.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
The Women Flyers of America (WFA), established in July 1940, invited any women over the age of 18 to join their organization if they were interested in flying 'for sport, profession, or national emergency.' This organization helped to guide and prepare women in the various phases of aviation, and local chapters could be found in major cities across the United States. Mattie F. McFadden, an aeronautical engineer who worked for Chance Vought Aircraft Company, served as the Bridgeport, Connecticut, chapter president of the WFA and later became the national president of this organization. The organization folded in 1954.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Mattie F. McFadden Estate, gift, 1998, 1998-0041, NASM
National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu
