WASP Collection to Soar with Anonymous Donation

WASP (L-R) Frances Green, Margaret Kirchner, Ann Currier and Blanche Bross in their flight gear--with the B-17 "Pistol Packin' Mama" in the background--after training at Lockbourne AAB, Columbus, Ohio. From the Women Airforce Service Pilots Digital Collection of Texas Woman's University.

Texas Woman's University Libraries recently announced it has received a $100,000 gift from an anonymous donor to continue the digitization and preservation of its WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Collection.

During World War II the WASP became the first women to fly military aircraft for the United States armed forces. In 1992, the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II honored the Woman’s Collection of Texas Woman's University by designating it as its official national archive.

In addition to containing over 1 million historical documents, the WASP collection includes over 35,000 photographs, approximately 700 oral histories and over 700 personal collections--as well as uniforms, artifacts, memorabilia, letters and diaries.

Class 43-W-4 members (Nancye Ruth Lowe Crout, Eileen Marjorie Roach Kesti, Mary Edith Engle, Isabel Madison Van Lom (Center), Virginia Malany Meloney, Virginia Hill Wood and Ruth Florey Underwood) with their instructor. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, 1943. From the Women Airforce Service Pilots Digital Collection of Texas Woman's University.

This recent gift is from a generous benefactor who donated $100,000 once before--in 2009--to support the WASP collection.

This gift will assist in the preservation and digitization of the WASP collection, enabling access to a worldwide audience--as well as ensuring that degradation of historical documents is minimized through reduced handling. Digitization initiatives will also enable TWU Libraries to include the achievements of these women after--as well as during--the war.

The gift will also help to support continued public outreach and programming. The Woman’s Collection supports nearly 100 exhibits annually, many of them focused on women’s military and aviation history.

With this anonymous act of generosity TWU Libraries will continue to honor and promote the legacy and history of the WASP--the first women to fly for our country.

--Kimberly Johnson