WARREN — The Harriet Taylor Upton House hosted its final 2025 First Wednesday lecture series on Wednesday morning, with Alexandra Lauson, the interim director of the International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM), presenting a history of women in World War II aviation.

Lauson discussed the duties of women pilots and ways in which they facilitated the war effort.

IWASM was founded 50 years ago by a group known as the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots. They were given that name because that is the number of women who initially joined the organization at its inception.

“They realized all they had worked for over the years and they didn’t want this history to fall away, whether it be about themselves personally or about their fellow women pilots,” Lauson said.

“Our main goal is to preserve, educate and to inspire young girls, older girls and girls of all ages and demographics about all areas of aviation and aerospace. We do that by telling unique stories about women in aviation and aerospace,” she said.

“There were so many women in World War II aviation, I could not possibly touch on all the ways they served. I will give you a snapshot of what was happening in that time period,” Lauson said.

Lauson began by describing a group in England called the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), a civilian organization of women pilots whose members were from the elite classes, some of whom were Americans. Women were considered by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to be unworthy of military status, privilege and honors. The organization was similar to the WAFS and the WAVES in the United States.

“They had to assure the RAF that they would never have to fly with the women. The ATA also had to have 500 hours of flying time logged before joining the organization, which was way more than was required of the RAF,” Lauson said.

Lauson explained that the Soviet Union, in contrast, used large numbers of women in combat. The women dropped bombs and engaged in air combat. A group of Soviet women who dropped bombs at night, using secondhand planes, were called “The Night Witches.” The mechanism in these planes that operated the bay doors did not always work properly, so women had to be in the back of the plane operating the doors manually when dropping bombs.

“During both World Wars and their own Civil War, the Soviet women fought on the frontlines,” Lauson said.

Willa Brown was a member of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and the first African American woman to become a commissioned officer. She later opened a flight school for African Americans, which had been a lifelong dream of the first African American woman aviator to earn her pilot’s license, Bessie Coleman, a contemporary of Amelia Earhart. Coleman was not accepted into U.S. flight schools because of her gender and race, so she went to France to get her license.

Another group of women pilots during WWII were the Women Approved for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES).

“In 1942, WAVES became preferred as Air Traffic Controllers because the ideal candidate had to be able to communicate clearly and work well under pressure. During the war, they actually restricted the air tower positions to WAVES because they realized that they performed extremely well under pressure, and knew how to communicate concisely and clearly,” Lauson said.

A significant group of women aviators during WWII were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). They were civilian pilots who supported the U.S. military, delivering aircraft to various bases across the country. The WASPs were relegated to support roles. They performed test drives of the planes, and had ferrying and training roles. They also took the risks associated with those duties. The WASPs were not granted military status.

Lauson explained that although WASPs died in service, they were denied military benefits and burials because of their civilian status.

The IWASM is located inside Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport. It is open seven days a week and admission is free.