Harriet Quimby

Harriet Quimby was born on May 11, 1875, in Michigan, They moved to Arroyo Grande, California, between 1887 and 1890. After her family moved to San Francisco, California, in the early 1900s, Quimby initially tried her hand at stage acting, using the stage name "Hazel Quimby". She is known to have appeared in at least two plays: as Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet opposite Linda Arvidson's Juliet (before Arvidson married film director D.W. Griffith), and a minor role in a production of Sappho. Ultimately concluding that acting was not for her, Quimby chose to pursue a career in journalism. In 1902, Quimby began writing for the San Francisco Dramatic Review as well as contributing to the Sunday editions of the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Call. In 1903, she moved to Manhattan, New York City to work as a theater critic for ''Leslie's Illustrated Weekly''. She published more than 250 articles over a nine-year period. ==Aviation==

Quimby became interested in aviation in 1910 when she attended the International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. where Alfred Moisant, John Moisant's brother, was her flight instructor. issued by the Aero Club of America. After earning her pilot's license, Quimby acted to capitalize on her new status. The press called her the "Dresden China Aviatrix" or "China Doll", because of her petite stature and fair skin. Pilots could earn as much as US$1,000 per performance, and prize money for a race could go as high as $10,000 or more. Quimby joined the Moisant International Aviators, an exhibition team, and made her professional debut in 1911, earning $1,500 in a night flight over Staten Island before a crowd of almost 20,000 spectators. As one of the country's few female pilots, she capitalized on her femininity by wearing a plum-colored satin blouse, necklace, and antique bracelet, with more practical trousers and high-laced boots. She drew crowds whenever she competed in cross-country meets and races. As part of the exhibition team, Quimby showcased her talents around the United States and traveled to Mexico City at the end of 1911 to participate in aviation activities held in honor of the inauguration of President Francisco I. Madero. Despite her knowledge of the risks, and committed to her new passion of flying, she promoted the economic potential of commercial aviation and touted flying as an ideal sport for women. ==Hollywood==

In 1911 Quimby also wrote seven screenplays or scenarios that were developed as silent film shorts by Biograph Studios. All seven were directed by D. W. Griffith. Stars in her films included Florence La Badie, Wilfred Lucas, and Blanche Sweet. Quimby had a small acting role in one movie. == Vin Fiz ==

The Vin Fiz Company, a division of Armour Meat Packing Plant of Chicago, used Quimby to advertise the new grape soda, Vin Fiz, after the death of Calbraith Perry Rodgers in April 1912. She appeared in advertisements in her distinctive purple aviator uniform. ==English Channel flight==

) for her historic English Channel flight. (left) and Harriet Quimby, the first two women in the United States to obtain pilot certificates (photo c. 1911–1912) On April 16, 1912, Quimby took off from Dover, England, en route to Calais, France, completing the flight in 59 minutes after landing about from Calais on a beach in Équihen-Plage, Pas-de-Calais. She was the first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel. "Her instrumentation consisted of a watch and a hand-held compass, and pilot comfort entirely in the hot water bottle she had strapped to her middle." Brian Flood, chairman of the Dover Transport Museum Society. Her accomplishment received little media attention however as it occurred the day after news broke of the sinking of the Titanic ocean liner on April 15. To complete her flight across the English Channel she had purchased a Bleriot 50 monoplane. ==Death==

and flipped over in the mud. (Image source: WGBH/NOVA, Courtesy of Louis Blériot) On July 1, 1912, Quimby flew in the Third Harvard-Boston Air Meet at the Harvard Aviation Field at Squantum Point, Quincy, Massachusetts. Although she had obtained her ACA certificate to participate in ACA events, the Boston meet was an unsanctioned contest. Quimby flew out to the Boston Light lighthouse in Boston Harbor at about , then returned and circled the airfield. William A. P. Willard, the event organizer and father of aviator Charles F. Willard, was a passenger in her brand-new two-seat Blériot XI monoplane. At an altitude of , the aircraft unexpectedly pitched forward for reasons unknown and Willard was ejected. Unable to rebalance the plane, Quimby was also ejected. Both fell to their deaths, while the unpiloted plane "glided down and lodged itself in the mud," flipping over. Harriet Quimby died at age 37 and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. The following year her remains were moved to the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. == Filmography==

Source: As actress As writer ==Legacy==

fountain dedicated to Quimby at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood A cenotaph to Quimby, the Harriet Quimby Compass Rose Fountain, was erected at Pierce Brothers/Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, California. It is located close to the cemetery's Portal of the Folded Wings, a shrine containing the ashes of aviation pioneers. In 1991 the United States Postal Service issued a 50 cent airmail postage stamp featuring Harriet Quimby. Written on these stamps was "Harriet Quimby: Pioneer Pilot." The other was erected near the now abandoned family farmhouse in Arcadia Township where Quimby lived from 1875 to about 1888. In 2004 Quimby was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2012 Quimby was inducted into the Long Island Air and Space Hall of Fame. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome possesses a flyable Anzani-powered one-seater Blériot XI, which bears the Blériot factory's serial number 56, showing that it was manufactured in 1909. Since Quimby's plane that she flew in 1912 was a brand new two-seater, the idea that the former was the aircraft that she was flying at the time of her death seems to be an urban legend. Quimby Road at Reid–Hillview Airport in San Jose, California, is named in her honor. There are also streets named after her in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (near its airport), Saint-Laurent, Quebec (a suburb of Montreal) and Opfikon, Switzerland. ==Film and television portrayals==

In 2015, American media reported that plans were under way for a biographical film entitled Aeroplane Angel that would dramatize Quimby's life. As of 2024, no production has as yet eventuated. ==See also==