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On The Record

"Fly With Me" shows how 'stewardesses' helped propel the women's and labor movements

By Melissa Gerr
Published February 9, 2024 at 10:33 AM EST
Four stewardesses, circa 1970. Photo: San Diego Air & Space Museum
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Four stewardesses, circa 1970. Photo: San Diego Air & Space Museum

Group of Delta stewardesses in front of plane, circa 1944. Photo: Delta Air Lines
2 of 5  — Delta stewardess graduation class, Atlanta, July 1944
Group of Delta stewardesses in front of plane, circa 1944. Photo: Delta Air Lines

Four stewardesses posed on wing of airplane, circa 1965. Photo: United Airlines
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Four stewardesses posed on wing of airplane, circa 1965. Photo: United Airlines

 

TWA stewardess stands on tarmac, 1955. Photo: Alamy
4 of 5  — 1960s, advertising still promoting the new modern transport for women, the motor scooter...a glamorous TWA air stewardess outside on an airport runway posing with a scooter beside an aircraft's boarding steps.. Image shot 1960. Exact date unknown.
TWA stewardess stands on tarmac, 1955. Photo: Alamy

Allan Cash Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock Photo / https://www.alamy.com
Stewardess stands in front of mirror with list of appearance standards, 1951. Photo: United Airlines
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Stewardess stands in front of mirror with list of appearance standards, 1951. Photo: United Airlines

To reassure passengers who might feel that flying was dangerous, the first flight attendants were nurses. But as air travel grew safer, the industry promoted ‘lovely hostesses of the air’ as part of the travel package. How did these young women fight sexist labor practices and power the women’s movement? We talk with Kathleen Barry, an academic advisor to the new PBS documentary that tells the story: "Fly With Me."

Links: "Fly With Me" trailer, "Fly With Me" airs Feb. 20, check local listings.

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On The Record WYPR ProgramsOn the RecordPBSworking women
Melissa Gerr
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'
See stories by Melissa Gerr