Born: 1875, United States
Died: 11 April 1932
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Bessie Medlar
The following is republished from the Federal Aviation Administration and was written by Theresa Kraus, Ph.D. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
“. . . when the plane was ready for flight it did not occur to me that my trip skyward might be my passport to eternity. Adventure was calling me and I readily obeyed.”
On September 16, 1910, Bessica Faith Curtis Medlar Raiche, M.D., having had no training, made a solo flight in an airplane that she and her husband had built at their home in Mineola, NY. The New York Aeronautical Society presented her an award on October 13 to recognize her as “the nation’s first intentional solo by a woman.”