IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Sitter
Emily Howell Warner, 30 Oct 1939 - 3 July 2020
Date
1973
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 17.8 × 22 cm (7 × 8 11/16")
Sheet: 18 × 22.3 cm (7 1/16 × 8 3/4")
Topic
Exterior
Vehicle\Airplane
Equipment
Emily Howell Warner: Female
Emily Howell Warner: Science and Technology\Aviator\Airline pilot
Emily Howell Warner: Science and Technology\Aviator\Flight instructor
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through the generosity of David C. Ward
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.2016.129
Exhibition Label
Emily Howell Warner, the first woman hired as a permanent pilot by a U.S. scheduled commercial airline, helped open doors for women in an industry still heavily dominated by men.
Born Emily Joyce Hanrahan in Denver, Colorado, Warner aspired to become a flight attendant before she had ever set foot on an airplane. During her first flight, the pilot invited her to visit the cockpit, an experience that inspired her to pursue flying lessons instead. Within a year she earned her pilot license, and by age twenty-one she was a full-time flight instructor.
Warner continued to climb the ranks and began seeking pilot positions with commercial airlines in the late 1960s. Even though she was well qualified, having logged more than four times the minimum number of flight hours required to apply, Warner faced repeated rejection until Frontier Airlines offered her a job as second officer in 1973. This portrait, taken that year by an unknown photographer, shows Warner standing in front of an airplane and gazing into the distance with a bright smile that suggests the pilot’s confidence and optimism.
Warner achieved many more “firsts” in aviation history over the course of her long career, becoming the first woman promoted to captain by a major US airline (1976) and the first commander of an all-women commercial flight crew (1986), among other accomplishments. Toward the end of her life she observed of her unwavering love of flying, “You don’t lose that—looking out and seeing that world in a different way.”
