Ruth Law Oliver
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Ruth Law Oliver (May 21, 1887 - December 1, 1970) was a pioneer American aviator during the 1910s.


Biography

She was born Ruth Bancroft Law on May 21, 1887 to Sarah Bancroft Breed and Frederick Henry Law in
Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...
. She was inspired to take up flying by her brother, parachutist and pioneer
movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
stuntman
Rodman Law Rodman Law (January 21, 1885 – October 14, 1919) born Frederick Rodman Law was a career parachutist, building climber and later silent movie stuntman and actor. Biography He was the older brother of pioneering aviatrix Ruth Law Oliver. Law ...
(1885–1919), with whom she challenged herself to physically keep up during their childhood. She was instructed by Harry Atwood and Arch Freeman at Atwood Park in Saugus, Massachusetts, having been refused lessons by Orville Wright because, according to Law, he believed that women weren't mechanically inclined, but this only made her more determined, later saying "The surest way to make me do a thing is to tell me I can't do it." She was an adept mechanic. She received her pilot's license in November 1912, and in 1915 gave a demonstration of aerobatics at Daytona Beach, Florida, before a large crowd. She announced that she was going to "loop the loop" for the first time, and proceeded to do so, not once but twice, to the consternation of her husband, Charles Oliver. In 1915 she participated in a publicity stunt for baseball's Grapefruit League. Dodgers manager
Wilbert Robinson Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1864 – August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals ...
and outfielder
Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...
heard that Law had been dropping golf balls from the sky for a nearby golf course and decided that a similar stunt would be good for publicity. On March 13, 1915, Law flew with Stengel on board (though, later, Stengel would recant his role in the tale, saying it was team trainer) ready to drop the baseball to Robinson's waiting mitt. But instead of a baseball, a grapefruit was flung out the plane, either as a prank or by mistake. The fruit shattered on impact, covering Robinson in the "ooze and goo" and making him believe he was injured and covered with blood. Fortunately, this was not the case, but a popular legend is that this incident was how the Grapefruit League earned its nickname. In the spring of 1916, she took part in an altitude competition, twice narrowly coming in second to male fliers. She was furious, determined to set a record that would stand against men as well as women. Her greatest feat took place on 19 November 1916, when she broke the existing cross-America flight air speed record of 452 miles (728 km) set by
Victor Carlstrom 1st Lieutenant Victor Carlström (April 13, 1890 – May 9, 1917) was a record-holding Swedish-American pioneer aviator. He set a cross-America flight air speed record until the record was beaten by Ruth Bancroft Law. Biography He was born i ...
by flying nonstop from
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to
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, a distance of 590 miles (950 km). The next day she flew on to
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. Flying over
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, her fuel cut out, but she glided to a safe landing on
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and was met by
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
Captain Henry "Hap" Arnold (who changed her spark plugs in the Curtiss pusher), who would one day become Commanding
General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
of the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
.
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Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
attended a dinner held in her honor on 2 December 1916. After the United States entered
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in April 1917, she campaigned unsuccessfully for women to be allowed to fly military aircraft. Stung by her rejection, she wrote an article entitled "Let Women Fly!" in the magazine ''
Air Travel Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.
'', where she argued that success in aviation should prove a woman's fitness for work in that field. After the war, she continued to set records. After
Raymonde de Laroche Raymonde de Laroche (22 August 1882 – 18 July 1919) was a French pilot, thought to be the first woman to pilot a plane. She became the world's first licensed female pilot on 8 March 1910. She received the 36th aeroplane pilot's licence issue ...
of
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set a women's altitude record of nearly 13,000 feet (3,962 m) on 7 June 1919,Pawlak, p. 17. She broke Laroches record on 10 June, flying to 14,700 feet (4,481 m). Laroche, in turn, broke Olivers record on 12 June, flying to a height of 15,748 feet (4,800 m). On a morning in 1922, Law woke up to read with surprise an announcement of her retirement in the newspaper; her husband had tired of her dangerous job and had taken that step to end her flying career, and she acquiesced to his demand. She attributed a 1932 nervous breakdown to the lack of flying, having settled down in Los Angeles, spending her days gardening. In 1948, Law attended a Smithsonian event in Washington, D.C. celebrating the donation of the Wright brothers' Kitty Hawk plane, despite Orville Wright's earlier refusal to teach her. Notwithstanding her accomplished career in aviation, she traveled by train. She died on December 1, 1970, in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. She is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts.
File:Miss Ruth Law on the Daytona Beach, Florida. - NARA - 518854.jpg, Law at Daytona Beach with her first plane, a Wright Model B File:Ruth Bancroft Law in 1915.jpg, Ruth Law in 1915: Her aircraft is a
Curtiss Pusher The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") was an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era ...
, but has Wright Brothers control levers. File:Ruth Law 1917.jpg, Ruth Law at the Hotel McAlpin, 1917


References


Further reading

* Pawlak, Debra Ann. "The Baroness of Flight". ''Aviation History'', July 2008, pp. 16–17.


External links


Short biography

Image of Ruth Law in uniform



Hill Air Force Base factsheet
* – hosted by
LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...
, read by
Linda Lavin Linda Lavin (born October 15, 1937) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the title character in the sitcom ''Alice'' and for her stage performances, both on and off-Broadway. After acting as a child, Lavin joined the C ...
*
Chicago-to-New York flight

''Smithsonian Magazine'', 22 March 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Ruth Members of the Early Birds of Aviation 1970 deaths 1887 births Aviation pioneers American aviation record holders American women aviation record holders Aviators from Massachusetts People from Lynn, Massachusetts