The University of Dubuque is marking its place in preparing women for careers in the male-dominated field of aviation.
The school has launched a digital collection that includes oral histories, photos and news clippings — all of women who have graduated from the program and gone on to aviation careers. Christopher Doll, director of the university’s Charles C. Myers Library, says the centerpiece is interviews with a dozen women.
Doll says, “One of them is an airline mechanic, we have professors, we have commercial pilots, we have corporate pilots, air traffic controllers, someone is working in the Coast Guard right now.” The site also includes an essay and timeline that provides the history of women in aviation. The digital collection will be permanently hosted by the library. Reading about these women is one thing, but Doll says hearing from them in their own words in the oral history section really has an impact.
“For our collection, we interviewed about a dozen women and we’re going to continue to interview graduates from the program,” Doll says. “They come from various backgrounds. One of the people we interviewed came from Kenya.” The University of Dubuque is one of the few schools nationwide to offer a degree program in aviation.
(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)