Ninety - Nines Hold Annual Conference in Washington, DC

By Barbara Harris-Para

U.S. Senator John Glenn and his wife, Annie Glenn, are shown at the Ninety-Nines Conference, where Mrs. Glenn was honored for her many years of support for her husband, a former astronaut.

Editor’s Note: The Ninety-Nines is a woman’s flying organization that was started by Amelia Earhart, in 1929, at Curtiss Field Valley Stream, Long Island, NY. Invitations were sent out to the 117 licensed women pilots at the time, and 99 women responded - thus the name of the organization was born. It now has more than 5500 members worldwide on every continent. 

This year’s conference was quite different from last year’s in New Zealand, but Washington, DC is a perfect place to convene in the U.S. Washington is always bustling, no matter what time of the year you visit, and summer is no exception. This year’s early July date allowed us to see the fireworks over the capitol for the Fourth of July celebration on the dinner cruise.

During our meeting schedule we spent an evening with former Senator Bob Dole in the Watergate complex, and veterans from various organizations including Women Auxiliary Service Pilots (WASPs). Senator Dole gave a wonderful accounting of what it meant to him to have so many experienced pilots in the room from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He also gave a short talk about his own experiences during World War II.

U.S. Senator John Glenn is shown chatting with some of the attendees at this year’s Ninety-Nines Conference in Washington, DC.

At each conference, members of the group are recognized during the Amelia Earhart Scholarship Dinner for advancements in their aviation careers. This year was no exception. Many of these ladies already fly for commercial companies but want to get a new type of rating or other advancement. There is also a scholarship that helps with research projects that concern aviation. In the past, scholarships to study such topics as career training, physiological effects on pilots, and history events have been awarded.

The Awards Banquet dinner is the completion of the conference, and during this time awards are presented to individuals who have shaped aviation history or events. This year U.S. Senator John Glenn’s wife, Annie Glenn, received the Katharine B. Wright Award for her many years of support of an aviation career individual. The George Palmer Putnam 49 ½ Award (husbands of 99s are called 49 ½s) went to husbands of dynamic women who have supported and moved the 99s into worldwide acclaim. The winners were Bob Feigenbaum, whose wife worked tirelessly at Amelia Earhart’s Birthplace (Atchison, Kansas) and Ed Sharp, whose wife Beverley Sharp was president of the group from 1998-2000 and was extremely active in many areas.

The Technical Center has a few 99s that participate in many of these events. They are Dot Buckanin, Garden State Chapter Chair, Rosanne Weiss and Barbara Harris-Para, a former chapter chair, and now Governor of the New York / New Jersey Section of the 99s.