Why is Canada's First Female Pilot being ignored by Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame?

Because March is Women's History Month I wanted to share with my readers the story of strong and courageous women in my life. You will be able to follow along as you wish by choosing the label "Women of Courage" in the right side bar. I encourage my readers to join me in honoring women of courage in your own families.
 
I want to tell you about my third cousin twice removed, Eileen Vollick (1908-1968) who became the first Canadian woman to obtain a pilot's licence in March 1928. Eileen was related to me in two ways, and was also my 7th cousin twice removed.

"Canada’s first licenced woman pilot was born in Wiarton, Ontario. By the age of 19, she was a textile analyst at the Hamilton Cotton Company and had also won a local beauty contest. She was a spirited girl who had parachuted into Burlington Bay before taking flying lessons. It was 1927. Charles Lindbergh had just flown the Atlantic and Amelia Earhart was beginning to capture the public’s imagination. The diminutive Beach Boulevard resident had already set her sights much higher than anyone could have imagined!

She enrolled in the Flying School owned by Jack V. Elliot at Ghents Crossing on Burlington Bay. The only reservation that her instructor, Len Trip had, was that she was only 5' 1"s and had to use pillows to see out of the cockpit of the ski-equipped Curtiss JN-4 Bi-plane (affectionately known as a "Jenny")

The Comptroller of Civil Aviation issued Eileen a private pilot’s licence #77 on March 13, 1928, the first woman in Canada to qualify as a pilot.

After passing her flight test, she flew in the U.S. and Canada, often demonstrating aerobatic flying which she enjoyed immensely. Shortly afterwards she became Mrs James Hopkin, moved to New York State and raised a family, where she lived until her death in 1968."

A historical plaque in honour of Eileen Vollick, our first licenced woman pilot was unveiled by three members of Eileen’s family, including her husband Mr. James Hopkin. The plaque can be seen at the entrance to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Hamilton Airport.

The First Canadian Chapter had previously (posthumously) awarded Eileen with an Amelia Earhart Medallion in 1975 at the occasion of their 25th Anniversary and East Canada Section Fall Meeting.

Eileen is also featured in the 99s East Canada Collection Display at the Toronto Aerospace Museum in Downsview.

In 2005, a several of us who are related to Eileen campaigned to have her admitted to Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. We were joined in our efforts by thte Canadian 99s and Wiarton Musuem. Although we presented all our research with supporting documentation our nomination of Eileen was denied as:

"The names for the 2006 inductees have been published on our website (www.cahf.ca) under the "What's New!" heading. My apologises [sic] for not being successful this year with Eileen Vollick's nomination, but it will be reconsidered for next year."

Ten years later, Eileen's name is still not found. Why is this amazing Canadian female being ignored by Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame?

My Fearless Female Blog Post featured on FamilySearch

I'm excited to announce that the blog post I wrote about Eileen Vollick was chosen by FamilySearch as their lead story about Fearless Females. 

Eileen was the first woman in Canada to qualify and receive her pilot's licence in 1928.

Read all the FamilySearch stories at Find Stories of Women Relatives with Inspiration from Fearless Females.  


 My previous stories about Eileen are

Carnival of Genealogy: Famous Canadian Ancestor Eileen Vollick, first licenced female pilot in Canada

Women's History Month: A Pioneer Female Pilot

 

 

Women's History Month: Set a Female Ancestor in History

Affidavit re Anna Maria Vollick

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  


I will write my own stories each Friday from the 5 prompts I came up with at Celebrate Women's History Month! Time for Stories I hope you'll join in with your own:

Here is my last entry for

 Choose one female ancestor and the historical context during her life. Pick one historical event that would have impacted on her life. Perhaps she lived through the Spanish influenza in the early 1900s or she was widowed during the Civil War, or lived through the Depression? Every ancestor has a story to tell and this is a great opportunity to tell about one of your fearless female ancestors! 

This was an easy choice for me. I often think about my 5th great-grandmother Anna Maria Warner. Anna Maria was born to a Palatine family in Schoharie New York in 1735. At the age of 22 she married Isaac Van Valkenburg who later took the surname Vollick.

Shortly after the American Revolution broke out, Maria's husband Isaac took the side of those loyal to the King and joined Butler's Rangers. He was arrested on three separate occasions and sent to prison in Albany. The family was living near North River in northern New York, and when Isaac was released from prison he left with the Rangers and Maria was left alone with ten children.

Maria continued to aid the British, and in 1779 she and her  children (the youngest only four years old) were taken from their home in North River and made prisoners by American patriots. Their home was burned and Mary and the children were marched 80 miles north through the forest and left in destitute circumstances. With the help of Indians from Canada, Mary and family made their way to Canada and reached Montreal Quebec by July of 1779.

How she managed to keep going with seven young children is a testimony to her strength and courage. Her oldest child was her 19 year old daughter, her youngest only 4. She had no way of knowing where her husband and older sons were, nor even if they were alive or dead. And she had no family support except her children.

Once in Quebec Mary and her children received minimal food rations,  and were provided with lodging and blankets from the British Government. They had nowhere to go and with other refugees lived under these crowded conditions for three years. Finally in 1782 Maria reunited with Isaac and they settled in the Niagara area as impoverished Loyalists.

Ontario was a wilderness at that time and the Niagara area had no settlements until the disbanded Rangers were sent there.  They arrived with nothing, all their lands in New York having been confiscated. Can you imagine living and working the land for over 20 years and suddenly you are tossed out, your home burned in front of you and with only a few blankets you are marched into the woods and left to either die or make your way to a land you have never seen?

Then you live for  3 years in hardship and finally reunite with your husband, only to be sent out to the wilderness with only a few Government promises, most of which were never kept.

The following submission to the House of Commons in 1786 describes the grave situation in which Loyalists found themselves.

"It is impossible to describe the poignant distress under which many of these persons now labour and which must daily increase should the justice of Parliament be delayed until all claims are liquidated and reported. Ten years have elapsed since many of them have been deprived of their fortunes, their helpless families reduced from independent affluence to poverty and want."

To top it off, five years after arriving in the Niagara area, the disbanded Loyalists faced starvation in what became known as "The Hungry Year" , the winter of 1787/1788.  Settlers faced  crop failures, shortage of food and a severe winter.  Game was scarce and many people died. With the coming of  spring new leaves on trees were gathered and eaten. Roots were dug out of the ground and eaten. Bark of certain trees was stripped off and consumed as food. Those were the conditions Maria and her family faced some 12 years after being forced out of their home in New York. Did her suffering never end? What a strong brave woman she must have been. And I am so proud to call her one of my Fearless Female Ancestors.

Women's History Month: A Pioneer Female Pilot

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  

I will write my own stories each Friday from the 5 prompts I came up with at Celebrate Women's History Month! Time for Stories I hope you'll join in with your own:

This is my entry for my 4th prompt

4.  Do you have a  female relative (direct ancestor or collateral lineage) who played an active role in women's issues? Perhaps one who was a Suffragette or was a pioneer in a male-dominated role or occupation?  Perhaps she sailed to the New World to start a new life in the 1600s or was a refugee from a war-torn or religious-intolerant location. Tell her story in a blog post or comment here on this blog.

So many to choose from! There are my Palatine female ancestors who fled the Palatinate area of Germany over religious differences and sailed to New York in 1710.  Out of approximately 3,000 who fled to a new land, almost 500 died on the way. Once in New York their mistreatment continued, this time at the hands of the British who forced their husbands and sons to work on British Tar Ships in situations not unlike slave labour. Their children were taken from them and given into indentured servitude to wealthier families. 

Or my Irish female ancestors who left Ireland during the Potato Famine in the 1840s? My 2nd great grandmother Fanny McGinnis (nee Downey) was one of those women. The hardships many of my female ancestors endured is beyond imagination and I admire their courage and resilience.

But I'm going to talk about my cousin Eileen Vollick (1908-1968) who became the first Canadian woman to obtain a pilot's licence in March 1928. Yes she was just 20 years old. Eileen was related to me in two ways, and was also my 7th cousin twice removed.





Eileen received numerous honours over the years, including the Amelia Earhart medallion in 1975. In August 2008 over 250 people gathered to mark her contribution to aviation on the 100th anniversary of her birth in Wiarton. 

She also was honoured with a Canada Post stamp and the naming of an airport terminal after her. 

You can read more about Eileen and her historical contribution as a pioneer in a male-dominated world at Carnival of Genealogy: Famous Canadian Ancestor Eileen Vollick, first licenced female pilot in Canada

Women's History Month: Have You Tested Your mtDNA?

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  

I will write my own stories each Friday from the 5 prompts I came up with at Celebrate Women's History Month! Time for Stories

I also plan to participate in as many of Lisa's 31 Prompts as I can! I hope you'll join in with your own:

This is my third prompt for Women's History Month:

3. Make a list of your direct female line ancestors starting with your mother.  Write about your mtDNA findings. If you haven't been tested yet, order an mtDNA kit!  There are several companies offering DNA tests - Family Tree DNA, Ancestry DNA, 23andMe.com

You can read about my mtDNA results at mtDNA Test Results Arrived!

I am still struggling to understand my mtDNA results and hope that when my 23andMe test results arrive I will have a better grasp on what it all means.

Women's History Month: Pattern of Children of Your Female Ancestors

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  

Meanwhile, because there are 5 Fridays in March, I have written 5 Blogging Prompts for Women's History Month. I will write my own stories each Friday (and participate in as many of Lisa's 31 Prompts as I can!) I hope you'll join in with your own.

Here is my second blog post for the topic Make a list of your female ancestors beginning with your mother. Go back as far as you can. Now figure out how many children each female ancestor had. Did the females in your direct maternal line tend to have the same numbers of children each generation? Did they have more? Less? Were they prolific or are there few children born to each woman? Is there a pattern emerging? 

My mom: 4 children - 2 boys, 2 girls
Maternal grandmother: 3 girls
Paternal grandmother: 6 boys
Great grandmother Simpson: 6 children - 4 boys, 2 girls
Great grandmother Fuller:5 children - 4 boys, 1 girl
Great grandmother McGinnis: 5 children - 3 boys, 2 girls
Great grandmother Peer: 9 children - 5 boys, 4 girls

Of a total of 38 children, there were 24 boys and 14 girls. Statistically there were almost double the number of boys than girls each generation. 

I was curious about the ages of the above ancestors when they had their children. My great grandmother Peer was the youngest, only 17 when her first child was born. The others were aged 19, 21, 22, 23, 26 and 29. There's certainly no consistency there, which makes sense because it would depend on when they fell in love and married.

Four of my female  ancestors above had  late-in-life babies - my Grandmother McGinnis who was 45 when her last child was born, and my great-grandmothers Fuller who was 42, Peer who was 44 and McGinnis who was 40.  I suppose the quality of birth control at the time may have factored into those later children for my great-grandmothers.

What about your female ancestors? How do they compare?
 
 

Women's History Month: My Favourite Female Ancestor

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  

Meanwhile, because there are 5 Fridays in March, here are my 5 Blogging Prompts for Women's History Month. I will write my own stories each Friday (and participate in as many of Lisa's 31 Prompts as I can!) I hope you'll join in with your own.

Here is my first Friday post for Women's History Month:

1. Choose your favourite female ancestor and write a brief biography of her life. Add it as a short comment here or as a blog post on your own blog. Add a photo if you have one. 

This was an easy one. It has to be my maternal grandmother, Ruth Simpson Fuller Richardson Bates. Here's a blog post bio I wrote about her a few years ago called Happy Birthday Grandma Ruth!
and another one I wrote for Sharing Memories called Sharing Memories (Week 47): Thinking of Grandma

I miss her!

Celebrate Women's History Month! Time for Stories

My friend and fellow Blogger Lisa Alzo has a Meme for March - Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month

I encourage readers to join in. Lisa has some terrific blogging prompts for each day of Women's History Month.  

Meanwhile, because there are 5 Fridays in March, here are my 5 Blogging Prompts for Women's History Month. I will write my own stories each Friday (and participate in as many of Lisa's 31 Prompts as I can!) I hope you'll join in with your own:

1. Choose your favourite female ancestor and write a brief biography of her life. Add it as a short comment here or as a blog post on your own blog. Add a photo if you have one.

2. Make a list of your female ancestors beginning with your mother. Go back as far as you can. Now figure out how many children each female ancestor had. Did the females in your direct maternal line tend to have the same numbers of children each generation? Did they have more? Less? Were they prolific or are there few children born to each woman? Is there a pattern emerging?

3. Make a list of your direct line female ancestors starting with your mom. You will list your mother, her mother, her mother's mother and so on.  Write about your mtDNA findings. If you haven't been tested yet, order an mtDNA kit!  There are several companies offering DNA tests - Family Tree DNA, Ancestry DNA, 23andMe.com

4.  Do you have a  female relative (direct ancestor or collateral lineage) who played an active role in women's issues? Perhaps one who was a Suffragette or was a pioneer in a male-dominated role or occupation?  Perhaps she sailed to the New World to start a new life in the 1600s or was a refugee from a war-torn or religious-intolerant location. Tell her story in a blog post or comment here on this blog.

5. Choose one female ancestor and the historical context during her life. Pick one historical event that would have impacted on her life. Perhaps she lived through the Spanish influenza in the early 1900s or she was widowed during the Civil War, or lived through the Depression.