Women have broken boundaries in the realm of air and space as pilots, astronauts, astrophysicists and scientists. The 25 women featured in Dreams of Flight: A Journey through Air and Space demonstrate remarkable resilience, strength and character in the face of opposition. This exhibition highlights the women, from the earliest pioneers of flight including Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman and Jaqueline Cochran, to science and space innovators such as Barbara Askins, Patricia Cowings and Jerrie Cobb.

Dreams of Flight represents the personal sacrifices and professional fortitude of 25 women who have made unparalleled contributions to the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an effort to advance these fields in America.

Dreams of Flight: A Journey through Air and Space will feature items on loan from museums and collections across America, including uniforms, artifacts, images, videos, and interactive activities.

The exhibit is broken down into areas where women had the most impact in aeronautics.
• FIRST IN FLIGHT - the first women in America to fly planes, perform aeronautic acrobatics, and pave the way for future women
• FLY GIRLS - During WWII women would given the chance to serve their country and through the development of the WAFS and WFTD, the WASP were created, and became the first women to serve as pilots and fly military aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
• TURBULANT TIMES - Although women had been flying since the early 1900s, were still not accepted into aeronautics. The FLATS (or Mercury 13) went through rigorous training to be accepted into NASA
• LIFT OFF - Women began to make their mark in aeronautics and space flight, as well as commercial flight and unique piloting careers. Women worked as both pilots, astronauts, and in supporting roles such as scientists, engineers, and on ground commanders.

The Women's Museum collaborated with other institutions to bring exciting and interesting artifacts and images in for this exhibit. The lending institutions include: the Gee Library Special Collections, Texas A & M University-Commerce; The Women's Collection of the Blagg-Huey Library at Texas Woman's University; Johnson Space Center; National Air and Space Museum; Wings Across America; Patty Wagstaff; International Women's Air and Space; and many others.

In conjunction with Dreams of Flight, the Museum opens two exhibits Fly Girls and Women and Flight. Fly Girls is a traveling exhibit created by Texas Woman's University (TWU). Texas Woman's University completed the exhibit, FlyGirls, in 2000 for the WASP Reunion, which was held, in part, on the TWU campus in Denton, Texas. The exhibit consists of 9 cloth panels that share the history of America's Fly Girls.

Women and Flight, images by Carolyn Russo, is an exhibit of selected images from the Women and Flight collection, which originally toured as a SITES traveling exhibition and was created by photographer Carolyn Russo. Photographs include images of Jean Ross Howard-Phelan, Shannon Lucid, Patty Wagstaff, Susan Still, Eileen Collins, and many others.

Presenting Sponsor: