Meet the Trailblazing Women of Boeing

Everett-based author Betsy Case worked as a marketer at Boeing for several decades. Years ago, she heard about an all-male Boeing meeting in Chicago where the topic of conversation turned to the history of women at Boeing. Someone in attendance remarked that Betsy should put together a book about the topic. “It’s about damn time,” she said when she heard the news. She said it in a joking tone, but she wasn’t joking.

Ms. Case secured a deal from the aerospace giant: she had ninety days to write the outline of a book about the women of Boeing. Once the outline was approved, she received a budget and a timeline. Then she headed to the Boeing Historical Archives.

After several years of research and writing, Betsy had completed the manuscript of “Trailblazers: The Women of the Boeing Company.” It’s a remarkable book.

A remarkable book by Betsy Case // Courtesy of Boeing

“Trailblazers” tells some incredible stories -- incredible because they had been untold for so many decades. In some cases, she was able to extract narratives out of single sheets of yellowed and torn newspapers. Ms. Case followed clues, interviewed living Rosies (as in, female riveters of World War 2), and collaborated with museums to recreate true tales of women who simply wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Skygirls were basically the first airline attendants, but tougher -- they fueled airplanes and threw luggage // Courtesy of Boeing

Women were a part of Boeing since the founding of the company in 1916. In the beginning, women seamstresses sewed the linen wings of biplanes in the first Boeing factory on the Duwamish River.

Annabella Morgan B-17 WWII Rosie // Courtesy of Boeing

Throughout the twentieth century, a wave of women pioneers began to branch out among the company’s ranks. Draftsman Helen Holcombe set up a desk among her male counterparts in the Boeing offices. A talented architect, she ended up designing several buildings in downtown Seattle as well as her own home in West Seattle. Ellen Church wanted to pilot airplanes in the 1910s. She was told that women couldn’t be pilots. So she came up with the idea of “Skygirls.” Skygirls were basically the first airline attendants, but tougher -- they fueled airplanes and threw luggage.

Betsy Cases’s book covers a century of female innovation in airspace: from riveters to women who flew 8,000 miles in 5 days, to engineers, to pilots, to executives. As you read “Trailblazers” you see glass ceiling after glass ceiling being shattered.

Bessie Marie Dempsey was a Hollywood starlet who hung up her dancing shoes to become Boeing’s first female engineer in 1946 // Courtesy of Boeing — *Bessie Marie Dempsey was a Hollywood starlet who hung up her dancing shoes to become Boeing’s first female engineer in 1946 //* Courtesy of Boeing

I recently saw Betsy Case present her book at one of Boeing’s Tech Talks at the newly-reopened Boeing Future of Flight. She ended her talk by noting that there’s still a lot of work to be done to bring female equality to the fields of science and technology. Today women only make up about seven percent of pilots around the world.

Ms. Case notes that many women who have had success at Boeing are passionate about visiting elementary schools and sharing with young girls the importance of STEM studies. It’s not too early to pique their interest! This resonated with me as a father of three daughters.

Author Betsy Case // Courtesy of Boeing — Author Betsy Case // **Courtesy of Boeing**

So, where to start? Conveniently, the recently-reopened Boeing Future of Flight will launch STEM workshops for kids starting in May. They also offer educational experiences like drone cages and offer coding classes where kids can program robots.

The trailblazing stories of Boeing’s women are powerful. But there are more stories to be written still, by the girls of tomorrow.

As Betsy Case said it best: it’s about damn time.