The first female stewardess in the world: Who is Ellen Church?

Church was born on September 22, 1904, in Cresco, Iowa. Educated and graduating from Cresco High School, Church then studied nursing and went to work at a San Francisco hospital. Church was both a pilot and a registered nurse. Steve Stimpson, director of the San Francisco office of "Boeing Air Transport" (BAT), offered Church the job of placing nurses on planes to allay the public's fear of flying. So in 1930, Church was hired as chief stewardess.

Conditions were sought so that stewardesses or nurses, called "sky girls" in the words of BAT airline, must be 'single, less than 25 years old, weighing less than 52 kg and at least 1.63 cm tall'. She started with taking care of passengers, handling luggage, refueling when needed, and helping pilots push aircraft into hangars. Church, who did many jobs, had a good salary at $125 a month.

On May 15, 1930, Church became the first stewardess to fly aboard a Boeing 80A for the 20-hour flight from Oakland/San Francisco to Chicago. Elrey Borge Jeppesen, who is considered one of the most important names in the civil aviation industry, took part as the pilot in this flight. At the same time, this flight took 14 passengers and was completed with 13 stops at different places. Although other airlines saw this innovation as a 'bad experiment', a flight attendant "hostess" service was established. In addition to physical characteristics, foreign language knowledge, politeness and knowledge about aircraft technology were also among the required qualifications.

This innovation was a huge success for Church, and other airlines followed suit in the future. After her first voyage, she was a flight attendant for nearly all American airlines for the next three years. Their emergence also led to the popularity of passenger aviation. The company soon appointed Church as stewardess manager for the first time, in charge of other stewardesses. After this appointment, she managed to write her name in history for the second time as the 'first senior executive woman' of an airline company.

Later, airlines began hiring young women who were not nurses and made a commitment that these women would not marry or have children. In fact, that's why Church's tenure could last for three years.

Despite this innovation and success, Church decided to end her career after 18 months as a result of injury from an automobile accident. Following the end of her stewardess career, she enrolled at the University of Minnesota and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing education. Later, she continued her nursing career. Continuing her career, she took a position as chief of pediatrics at Milwaukee County Hospital in 1936. Later, Church served as captain and flight nurse in the Army Nursing Corps during World War II. For this task, she was honored with the Air Medal.

Moving to Indiana, Church continued her career as a director of nursing there. Later, she became a manager at Union Hospital. In 1964, Church married Leonard Briggs Marshall, a bank president. The following year, she died in a riding accident in Indiana. In honor of Church, Cresco's municipal airport was named "Ellen Church Field" (KCJJ).