Lauretta Schimmoler
| Lauretta Schimmoler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 17, 1900 Fort Jennings, Ohio |
| Died | January 1981 Glendale, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bliss Business College |
| Aviation career | |
| Known for | First woman in the United States to establish an airport in the United States, first woman to command an American Legion post, founder of the Aerial Nurse Corps of America |
| Flight license | September 8, 1930 |
| Rank | Post commander |
Lauretta M Schimmoler (September 17, 1900 Fort Jennings, Ohio - January 1981 Glendale, California) was an aviator who was the first woman in the United States to establish an airport in the United States, the first woman to command an American Legion post and was the founder of the Aerial Nurse Corps of America the predecessor of the flight nurses of the United States Air Force.
Schimmoler graduated from the Bliss Business College in Columbus, Ohio and began studies in law after working as a court stenographer. She left the study of law to become a secretary in a chicken hatchery in Bucyrus, Ohio that led her to become the owner of her own poultry business.
Her life changed when she witnessed a test flight in Dayton. She began an intensive study of flight through working various jobs with the United States Air Mail, Lockheed Aircraft where she studied the manufacture of aircraft and the US Weather Bureau earning a student pilot licence on August 10, 1929 and becoming the advertising manager of her flight school. She became the first woman to establish and maintain an airport that was located in Bucyrus. She received her full pilot's licence on September 8, 1930.
In 1932 in recognition of her works in aviation, she was inducted into the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots.
After witnessing the results of a tornado in Ohio in 1930, Schimmoler saw the necessity of evaucating medical patients by air and created what today is recognised as the forerunners of the flight nurse. In 1933 she formed the Emergency Flight Corps. In 1936 it was reformed as the Aerial Nurse Corps with 78 nurses.
Initially, both the American Red Cross and the United States Army Air Forces took a dim view of the Aerial Nurse Corps. However, during World War II a medical air ambulance evacuation squadron was formed in May 1942. During this time Shimmoler became the technical advisor to and played a role in the Columbia Pictures film Parachute Nurse that was released in August 1942.
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