Nellie Zabel Willhite

Eloise[1] or Eleanor[2] "Nellie" Zabel Willhite (Born 22 November 1892 – 2 September 1991[3]) was the first deaf woman to earn a pilot's license,[4] as well as South Dakota's first female pilot.[5]

Nellie Zabel Willhite
Born
Eloise or Eleanor

22 November 1892
Rapid City or Box Elder, South Dakota
DiedSeptember 2, 1991 (age 98)
Sioux Falls
NationalityAmerican
Years active1928-1944
Known forPilot

Life

Willhite was born in Rapid City[1] or Box Elder,[2] South Dakota[6] to Charley "Pard" Zabel and Lillian Madison Zabel.[2][7] Willhite became deaf at age two due to measles.[8] There have been sources that claim she was deafened at age four instead of two.[2] She attended South Dakota School for the Deaf and worked as a typist in Pierre, South Dakota until she enrolled in an aviation school.[2] Willhete started flying lessons in November 1927, with her dad paying for it.[9] She earned her pilot's license in 1928[10] Willhite was the thirteenth to sign up in a class of eighteen and made her first solo flight on 13 January 1928 after getting thirteen hours of instruction.[2] She was the first female pilot to earn a pilot's license in South Dakota.[2]

Willhete was a founding member of the Ninety-Nines, an organization which was founded in 1929 with 99 female pilots as founding members, and is dedicated to the advancement of aviation and support for women in aviation.[11] Willhite started the first South Dakota chapter of the Ninety-Nines in 1941.[12] She worked as a commercial pilot until 1944 (the first deaf person to do so), carrying airmail.[5] She also worked as a barnstormer, specializing in flour bombing and balloon racing.[13]

Willhete was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1978[14] and South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame shortly before her death in 1991, and her plane the Pard is now on display at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama.[5][2]

References
  1. South Dakota Certificate of Birth #422572
  2. Moore, Matthew; Panara, Robert (1996). Great deaf Americans: the second edition (2nd ed.). Deaf Life Press. pp. 163–164. ISBN 0-9634016-6-1.
  3. Smith, Clayton F. (4 May 1993). "Dakota Images: Nellie Zabel Willhite". South Dakota History. 23 (2): 180–181. ISSN 0361-8676. Retrieved 12 July 2017
  4. Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 194–195 (PDF Archived 24 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine)(PDF Archived 24 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine)
  5. Nellie Zabel Willhite. Deafpeople.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  6. Thomas D. Griffith; Dustin D. Floyd (2006). Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands. Globe Pequot. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7627-4192-2.
  7. "The Ninety-Nines, Inc, International Organization of Women Pilots". www.facebook.com.
  8. Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's ... – Thomas D. Griffith, Dustin D. Floy. dGoogle Books. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  9. Weinstein, Dorene (May–June 1989). "A Pioneer of Flight". www.southdakotamagazine.com. South Dakota Magazine.
  10. Powered by Google Docs. Docs.google.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  11. Amelia Earhar. tGoogle Books. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  12. South Dakota's First Century of Flight – Norma J. Kraeme. rGoogle Books (25 August 2010). Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  13. Gladys Roy. Womenaviators.org. Retrieved on 11 November 2011.
  14. Pitlick, Wendy (17 September 2008). "An Extraordinary woman". Black Hills Pioneer. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
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