Ellen Church (1904 – 1965) dreamed of working as a pilot, but being born a woman, her options were very limited. She was also a registered nurse, having graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1926. She moved to San Francisco to teach nurses at a hospital there, and began flying lessons. Despite being a trained pilot, she was barred from flying as a commercial pilot, like other women of her time. When Ellen was turned down for flying by manager Steve Stimpson at Boeing Air Transport, she proposed another idea. Ellen convinced Stimpson that nurses would be ideal candidates to work as flight stewardesses. With their medical backgrounds, nurses could better care for those who became airsick and would provide reassurance to help calm the public’s fear of flying. Commercial air travel had only begun in 1926 and flights typically were rough rides. Planes flew at about 5,000 feet, and the bumpy ride often causes air sickness and fear.
Ellen was hired as head stewardess in 1930, and she recruited seven other nurses for a three-month trial period. In addition to being registered nurses, the women had to be single; younger than 25 years old; weigh less than 115 pounds; and stand less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall. The height and weight restrictions existed due to commercial plane weight capacities, narrow aisles, and low ceilings. The flight stewardesses took tickets, served food, and cleaned the inside of the planes. They also screwed down loose seats, fueled the planes, and on occasion helped the pilots push the planes into hangars. The duties were great, but so was the pay. The monthly salary was $125 when the average wages for women was $525 a year.
Ellen’s first flight was on May 15, 1930, a 20-hour flight from Oakland to Chicago on a Boeing Model 80A with14 passengers and 13 stops. Following the success of nurse flight stewardesses with Boeing Air Transport, other airlines began implementing Ellen’s system as well. Ellen worked as a flight stewardess for 18 months before an automobile accident forced her to step down. She went on to earn a bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Minnesota and served as the supervisor of pediatrics at Milwaukee County Hospital in 1936.
During World War II, Ellen returned to the sky as a captain and flight nurse with the Army Nurse Corps. She helped evacuate soldiers wounded in Italy and Africa by air. Due to her past experiences, she trained evacuation nurses for the D-Day invasion of France in 1944. For her service, Ellen was awarded an Air Medal, the Victory Medal, and the American Theatre Campaign Metal. After the war, she served as director of nursing and later an administrator at Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana. Today, the municipal airport in her hometown of Cresco, Iowa, is named Ellen Church Field in her honor.
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