Gwendolyne Cowart
Gwendolyne Cowart | |
|---|---|
 Cowart in 1940 | |
| Born | Gwendolyne Elizabeth Cowart April 24, 1920[1] |
| Died | February 28, 2003 (aged 82)[1] Houston, Texas, US |
| Other names | Gwendolyne Cowart Hickerson, Elizabeth Gwendolyne Hickerson |
| Occupation | Pilot |
| Known for | WASP during World War II |
| Awards | Congressional Gold Medal (2009) |
Gwendolyne Elizabeth Cowart (April 24, 1920 – February 28, 2003) was an American pilot who served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) during World War II.
Early life[edit]
Gwendolyne Elizabeth Cowart was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1920, the daughter of James Monroe Cowart and Louie Leonie Lester Cowart.[2] Her father was a locomotive engineer; her parents were divorced in 1928.[3] She was raised by her mother in Georgia, and as a young woman performed on roller skates in shows.[1] She attended Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, Georgia.[4]
Career[edit]
Cowart was "the youngest girl in the South to get a commercial flying license,"[4] and was an officer in Atlanta's Southeastern Aviatrix Association in 1940.[5][6] That year, she made news for landing a plane in a cow pasture after it ran out of fuel.[7]
During World War II, Cowart first served as an assistant instrument instructor for the U.S. Navy at Camp Gordon, before she became a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP).[8] She trained to fly pursuit fighter aircraft at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas,[1] and was assigned to New Castle Army Air Base in Delaware.[9][10]
She was a member of the Women's Flight Training Detachment headed by Jacqueline Cochran.[4][11] She ferried P-38s and P-47s across the United States. "You know, you can pick up a nice 350 miles an hour in those ships," she told an interviewer in 1944.[8] Later in life, she worked as an artist for the Corpus Christi Independent School District.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Cowart married fellow pilot James Hickerson. She had a son, Gary Hickerson. She died in 2003, in Houston, Texas, aged 82 years.[1] She was named in the listing of WASPs awarded a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f "Elizabeth Gwendolyne Hickerson". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. March 8, 2003. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Legacy.
- ^ "Untitled news item". The Atlanta Constitution. August 12, 1943. p. 15. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bigamy Charged in Divorce Suit Against Engineer". The Atlanta Constitution. December 13, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Four Georgia Girls Get Ferry Pilots' Wings". The Atlanta Constitution. August 12, 1943. p. 6. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McKenzie, Carolyn (August 11, 1940). "Women Pilots Wear Little and Look Good In It". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 12. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Two Members of Aviatrix Unit Fly to Carnival". The Atlanta Constitution. June 3, 1940. p. 3. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Girl Descends into Pasture as Gasoline Fails". The Atlanta Constitution. April 17, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Two Ex-WASPs to Continue as Girl Fliers". The Atlanta Constitution. December 24, 1944. p. 4. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Gwendolyne Cowart". International Women's Air & Space Museum. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "Gwendolyne E. Cowart Hickerson, 43-W-4 Classbook Photograph". Women's Collection, Texas Women's University. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "WWII WASP Graduates". Women Airforce Service Pilots – Remembered By Those who Knew Them. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11 – Honoring the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
External links[edit]
- A photograph of Cowart with fellow WASPs Nancy Batson and Shirley Haugan, in uniform during World War II. In the Women's Collection, Texas Women's University.