Manion's International Auctions - BOOK-`ON SILVER WINGS` W/SIGNATURE OF HELEN RICHEY ON 1ST DAY COVER

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Manions Live Bidding
Time Remaining To Bid: 15 days 1 hours 32 mins. 16 secs.
Item Will Close On Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 8:30:00 PM CST

Lot Number: 5927622

Category: O23 - Histories Books

BOOK-`ON SILVER WINGS` W/SIGNATURE OF HELEN RICHEY ON 1ST DAY COVER

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1933 dated Air Mail envelope with stamps for the 15th Anniversary of first regular government operated airmail route in the US with signature of Helen Richey.
Helen Richey (1909 – 1947) was a pioneering female aviator and the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the United States. 
Richey was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Her father, Joseph B. Richey, was superintendent of schools in McKeesport from 1902 to 1935.
During her teens, Richey was one of the few girls in McKeesport who wore pants.
She learned how to fly a plane at age 20. Her father bought her a plane when she obtained her pilot`s license. 
In 1932 Richey partnered with another female pilot, Frances Marsalis, to set an endurance record by staying airborne for nearly 10 days, with midair refueling. 
Richey won the premier air race at the first National Air Meet for women in Dayton, Pennsylvania in 1934. 
Central Airlines, a Greensburg, Pennsylvania–based carrier that eventually became part of United Airlines, hired Richey as a pilot in 1934. She eventually was forced to step down from the cockpit by the all-male pilots union. 
In addition to being the first female commercial airline pilot, Richey also was the first woman sworn in to pilot air mail and one of the first female flight instructors. 
After leaving Central Airlines, Richey continued to perform at air shows. In 1936 she teamed with Amelia Earhart in a transcontinental air race, the Bendix Trophy Race. Richey and Earhart came in fifth, beating some all-male teams. 
Richey flew with the British Air Transportation Authority during World War II. 
Richey died in her apartment in New York City, apparently from a pill overdose. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Also includes newspaper clipping about Richey.
Book is hard bound with dust jacket, medium format, by Marianne Verges, 1991 dated 1st edition, 255pgs, photo illustrated. The Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII.

 For more information on this collection go to http://www.manions.com/block.htm.  Condition: 7

Opening Bid Amount: $35

Current Bid Amount: $35 Total Bids: 1
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Manion’s International Auction House understands some of the artifacts listed in our catalog may be deemed sensitive by some. Manion’s does not support or glorify Nazism, fascism or any other dictatorial regime or destructive ideology. We present all artifacts in their original historical context to historians, private collectors, museums, archives, and re-enactors.

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