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      • Natural History
      • First Peoples
      • Forging a Nation
      • The Civil War and Reconstruction
      • Change and Challenge
      • Tennessee Transforms
    • Temporary Exhibitions
      • A Better Life for Their Children (Opens Feb. 24, 2023)
      • STARS: Elementary Visual Art Exhibition 2023
      • Early Expressions: Art in Tennessee Before 1900
      • In Search of the New: Art in Tennessee Since 1900
      • Why Do Museums Collect
    • Online Exhibitions
      • Tennessee at 225
      • Ratified! Statewide!
      • Canvassing Tennessee: Artists and Their Environments
    • Past Exhibitions
      • Painting the Smokies
      • Tennessee at 225
      • Best of Tennessee Craft
      • Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote
      • Tennessee and the Great War: A Centennial Exhibition
      • STARS: Elementary Art Exhibition 2022
      • Cordell Hull: Tennessee's Father of the United Nations
      • Lets Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food
      • The State of Sound: Tennessee’s Musical Heritage
      • Red Grooms: A Retrospective
      • Between The Layers: Art and Story in Tennessee Quilts
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      • On-Site Field Trips
      • On-Site Field Trip Request Form
      • Virtual Field Trips
      • Virtual Field Trips Request Form
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      • Daily Life on the Tennessee Frontier
      • Cherokee in Tennessee: Their Life, Culture, and Removal
      • The Age of Jackson and Tennessee’s Legendary Leaders
      • The Life of a Civil War Soldier
      • The Lives of Three Tennessee Slaves and Their Journey Towards Freedom
      • The Three Rs of Reconstruction: Rights, Restrictions and Resistance.
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Each week on the Junior Curators blog, we travel back in time to a different place in Tennessee history. Stories may be about a famous person, place or event from Tennessee’s past. They will include things like priceless artifacts, pictures, videos, and even some games. Be sure to better understand the story by answering the questions at the end of each post.

After learning the story, be sure to share what you've learned with your parents, family, or friends. Try making your own exhibit about it, shooting a movie, or writing a story about it. Let your creativity run wild!


 

5-5-20

The WASP That Doesn't Sting

by Lauren Grizzard

Doris Brinker Tanner was a WASP. No, not the insect that flies around and stings. WASP stands for Women Airforce Service Pilot. During World War II, most men were needed as soldiers. Because of this, the military turned to women for help. One of these ways was to become a pilot!

Doris Tanner

Doris Tanner


Many women in Tennessee served as WASPs. One of them was Doris Tanner. Doris learned to fly planes in college. She went to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. When World War II started, the WASPs recruited women to join. Over 25,000 women applied to be a WASP. Only 2,000 were chosen. Doris was one of them. The women pilots had to go through a very difficult training before graduating.               

From 1942 until 1944, just over 1,000 women earned the title of a WASP.

WASP Training

WASP Training


As a WASP, pilots like Doris had many jobs. Some of the jobs were even dangerous. They would test aircraft for safety. Sometimes they had to pull a target behind their plane so soldiers could practice shooting! They also would fly supplies where they were needed.

“I flew everything the US Airforce had that had wings on it,” Doris said. Although Doris and the WASPs did not fly in battles, they paved the way for future women to serve in the military.

As Doris said, “the gutsy women of the World War II Army Air Forces at last occupied their rightful place as the first female military pilots in American history.”

The WASPs helped the war effort by flying important supplies around the country. They also helped expand opportunities for women. Would you like to become a pilot someday like Doris Tanner? 



   Doris Tanner Uniform

Doris Tanner Uniform

Doris Tanner Uniform


Vocabulary

Aircraft – Something that flies like a plane or helicopter
Applied – Asked to do a job
Pilot – Someone that flies a plane or helicopter
Recruited – Sign someone up
WASP – Women Airforce Service Pilots were a group of trained pilots to help during World War II
Gutsy - Brave

Think About It

Who could be a WASP?

What were some of the jobs a WASP would do?

How do you think the United States changed by letting women help in the war effort?

 

Now You Try It

Watch Doris Tanner talk about her experience as a pilot.

 

Learn More:

PBS: The War Stories from the Northwest WWII WASP Women Air Force Service Pilots

Tennessee Sate Museum: Change and Challenge

 

Tennessee State Social Studies Standards: 

5.49 Describe Tennessee’s contributions during World War I and World War II, including: the conversion of factories to wartime production, the importance of Oak Ridge, and the influence of Tennesseans (i.e., Cornelia Fort, Cordell Hull, and Alvin C. York). 

US.52 Examine and explain the entry of large numbers of women into the workforce and armed forces during World War II and the subsequent impact on American society.


Lauren Grizzard is the Scheduling Coordinator at the Tennessee State Museum

Sources:
https://youtu.be/tPrDIi6N_3k
https://www.army.mil/women/history/pilots.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Women-Airforce-Service-Pilots
https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/421731/wasps-reflect-on-roles-as-aviation-pioneers/
https://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2008/march/i_history.pdf
https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/2016/05/27/wings-over-wwii/85005170/
https://www.nwtntoday.com/2019/02/12/doris-tanner/

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11:38
Tennessee in the 20th Century Women's History
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