CWU Recalls 'The Powder Puff Derby Of 1929'

April 26, 2004

Contact: Amy Hoover (509-963-2300/fax 509-963-2377/e-mail: hoovera@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- Amelia Earhart is generally regarded as America's first aviatrix, blazing the trail for a generation of pioneers in the field of female aviation that would follow her. Gene Nora Jessen is among them.

A former Beech aircraft company pilot, Jessen will come to Central Washington University on Tuesday, May 4, to talk about her new book about the first all-women's air race, the "Powder Puff Derby of 1929."

The soft-cover 320-page book is a non-fiction account of the nine-day air race, which featured 20 female pilots who planned and executed the first major female cross-country event of its kind, stretching from Santa Monica, Calif., to Cleveland.

Her presentation, slated for 7 p.m. in Hebeler 121, will be followed by an informal session and book signing.

"I have known and admired Gene Nora as a mentor and leading figure in women's aviation for more than 15 years," Amy Hoover, CWU flight technology professor, says. "We are honored to have her speak at Central about the trials and triumphs of these women aviators as they struggled to carve their place in aviation history."

Jessen, a former president of the Ninety-Nines (an international women pilots' association), was also selected for "Mercury 13" - a group of women picked to become astronauts for the space program. However, that program was cancelled in 1961, before any of them made it into space.

For more information about Jessen's free, public presentation, call (509) 963-2300, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.