Ninety-Nines Receive $1M Donation

The bequest honors Josephine Wood Wallingford, who was the youngest woman to hold a pilot certificate when the organization was created in 1929.

Friday, August 30, 2024 at 11:40 AM ET

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The Ninety-Nines received a trove of documents for the Museum of Women Pilots, including Josephine Wood Wallingford’s 1931 Ninety-Nines membership card and 1929 logbook. [Courtesy: The Ninety-Nines]

Key Takeaways:

The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots, received a $1 million bequest from the late Bill Wallingford.
The donation honors Wallingford's mother, Josephine Wood Wallingford, who was a founding member of the Ninety-Nines in 1929 and the youngest woman to hold a pilot certificate at that time, having been invited by Amelia Earhart.
This significant and unexpected gift, the largest in the organization's history, will fund education outreach, leadership programs, and building maintenance for their headquarters and the Museum of Women Pilots.

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The Ninety-Nines, the international order of women pilots, is celebrating a $1 million bequest from the late Bill Wallingford, whose mother Josephine Wood Wallingford was the youngest woman to hold a pilot certificate when the organization was created in 1929.

According to Ninety-Nines historians, Josephine Wood and her sister Francis took flying lessons in Santa Monica, California. After Josephine earned her private pilot certificate, she received a letter from famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart asking her to join an organization that was forming to promote and encourage women pilots.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.