Cronan was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey and was Jewish. Her mother had taken her on an airplane ride in the 1920s in
Asbury Park, New Jersey, and it inspired her as a young girl to want to be a pilot. Cronan earned her commercial pilot's license in 1941. She was personally invited by
Jacqueline Cochran to join the
Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in 1943. She joined the pilots' organization, the
Ninety-Nines, in 1944. In 1948 she was unable to participate in an air race because she could not find anyone to watch her twin sons. She eventually taught her husband, Walter Cronan, to fly, but when he had an accident in an airplane, the couple decided that only one of them should fly. They decided that Selma should continue to pilot airplanes. Cronan was inducted into the
Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey in May 1994. Cronan died on August 5, 2002, and was interred at
Arlington National Cemetery. == References ==