1911 – Harriet Quimby takes her pilot's test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate. Harriet Quimby (May 11, 1875 – July 1, 1912) was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. Although Quimby only flew for one year, and died at the age of 37 in a flying accident, she strongly influenced the role of women in aviation. Harriet Quimby was born on May 11, 1875, in Michigan, to Ursula (née Cook) and William Quimby. With no official birth certificate, her exact place of birth is not known. After her family moved to San Francisco, California, in the early 1900s, Quimby initially tried her hand at stage acting, using the stage name "Hazel Quimby". She is known to have appeared in at least two plays: as Romeo in a production of
Romeo and Juliet opposite Linda Arvidson's Juliet (before Arvidson married film director D.W. Griffith), and a minor role in a production of
Sappho. Ultimately concluding that acting was not for her, Quimby chose to pursue a career in journalism. In 1902, Quimby began writing for the
San Francisco Dramatic Review as well as contributing to the Sunday editions of the
San Francisco Chronicle and
San Francisco Call. In 1903, she moved to Manhattan, New York City to work as a theater critic for
Leslie's Illustrated Weekly. She published more than 250 articles over a nine-year period. Quimby became interested in aviation in 1910 when she attended the International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. On August 2, 1911, Quimby passed her pilot's test and became the first North American woman to earn a pilot's license, receiving Fédération Aéronautique Internationale certificate No. 37, issued by the Aero Club of America. She completed the requirements after 33 flight lessons and two test flights. After earning her pilot's license, Quimby acted to capitalize on her new status. The press called her the "Dresden China Aviatrix" or "China Doll", because of her petite stature and fair skin. Pilots could earn as much as US$1,000 per performance, and prize money for a race could go as high as $10,000 or more. Quimby joined the Moisant International Aviators, an exhibition team, and made her professional debut in 1911, earning $1,500 in a night flight over Staten Island before a crowd of almost 20,000 spectators. Quimby continued her work as a writer for
Leslie's while touring with airshows. In 1911 Quimby also wrote seven screenplays or scenarios that were developed as silent film shorts by Biograph Studios. All seven were directed by D. W. Griffith. On April 16, 1912, Quimby took off from Dover, England, en route to Calais, France, completing the flight in 59 minutes after landing about 25 miles from Calais on a beach in Équihen-Plage, Pas-de-Calais. She was the first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel. On July 1, 1912, Quimby flew in the Third Harvard-Boston Air Meet at the Harvard Aviation Field at Squantum Point, Quincy, Massachusetts. William A. P. Willard, the event organizer and father of aviator Charles F. Willard, was a passenger in her brand-new two-seat Blériot XI monoplane. At an altitude of 1,000 feet, the aircraft unexpectedly pitched forward for reasons unknown and Willard was ejected. Unable to rebalance the plane, Quimby was also ejected. Both fell to their deaths, while the unpiloted plane "glided down and lodged itself in the mud," flipping over.
