Learn about the history of women in aviation at Mentor Library

Queens of the Air: Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols and Louise Thaden

What better way to celebrate Women's History Month than to recognize women who defied gravity.

Mentor Library is celebrating the women of aviation during a special program at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 2, at the library’s Main Branch.

And Northeast Ohio houses one of the greatest resources in the world for learning about the history of female pilots, the International Women’s Air & Space Museum (IWASM) at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland.

The museum also has stories, photos, memorabilia and artifacts from more than 6,000 women who have done some amazing things. IWASM Board President Connie Luhta, who is both a pilot and a flight instructor, will share some of these stories at the library on Monday.

She will talk about some of the women who have soared—both local and international, famous and less familiar—including a hot-air balloonist who performed at Napoleon Bonaparte’s wedding and Marge Hurlburt, an English teacher at Harvey High School in Painesville who set a speed record for women before dying during an air show in Iowa. Hurlburt also served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) in World War II.

Luhta’s talk is free and open to everyone. To sign up for the program, call Mentor Library at 440-255-8811 ext. 216 or register on the library's online event calendar.