Ruth Elder (September 8, 1902October 9, 1977) was an aviation pioneer and actress. She carried private pilot certificate P675, and was known as the "

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

of Aviation." She was a charter member of the

Ninety-Nines The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Foun ...

. In October 1927 she took off from New York in the

Stinson Detroiter The Stinson Detroiter was a six-seat cabin airliner for passengers or freight designed and built by the Stinson Aircraft Syndicate, later the ''Stinson Aircraft Corporation''. Two distinct designs used the Detroiter name, a biplane and a monopla ...

''American Girl'', with George Haldeman as pilot, in an attempt to become the first woman transatlantic airplane flyer. Mechanical problems caused them to ditch the plane 360 miles from the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, but they established a new over-water endurance flight record of 2,623 miles. It was also at the time the longest flight ever made by a woman. Rescued by a ship, she and George were honored with a ticker-tape parade upon their return. After her flight, she embarked on a series of lucrative speaking engagements and was given a movie contract. She starred in ''

Moran of the Marines ''Moran of the Marines'' is a lost 1928 American comedy silent film directed by Frank R. Strayer and written by Ray Harris, Agnes Brand Leahy, George Marion Jr., Sam Mintz and Linton Wells. The film stars Richard Dix, Ruth Elder, Roscoe Karns, ...

'' (1928) and '' The Winged Horseman'' (1929). In 1929 she entered the first

Women's Air Derby The Women's Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States, taking place during the 1929 National Air Races. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most commonly know ...

, flying in her

Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

, NC8730, and placed fifth. She married six times. She married Walter Camp, Jr., son of the early football innovator, on August 29, 1929, but filed for divorce in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, Nevada, on November 14, 1932. Her final union was with Ralph P. King, to whom she was married for 21 years and who outlived her. She had suffered

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

for several years before she died. She had one son, William Trent Gillespie (1940-2008), from her marriage to movie effects pioneer

A. Arnold Gillespie Albert Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie (October 14, 1899 – May 3, 1978) was an American cinema special effects artist. Biography He was born on October 14, 1899, in El Paso, Texas. Gillespie joined MGM as a set designer in 1925, a year after it was ...

. She appears on the 29 May 1952 edition of ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...

'' under the name of Ruth King, where she mentions that she is writing her autobiography. She worked as an executive secretary in the aviation industry in her later career, hired by

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

who had initially forgotten who she was. In 2013, an inspirational juvenile book titled ''Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America's Heart'' was published, written by Julie Cummins and illustrated by Malene R. Laugesen. The title character of the Ruth Darrow Flying Stories book series is said be based on Ruth Elder. In 2016, her story was told in novelized version in ''Crossing the Horizon'' by

Laurie Notaro Laurie Notaro (born October 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American writer. She co-founded ''Planet Magazine'', and was a senior editor at ''Tucson Monthly'', a full-color city magazine. Notaro was a columnist for ten years at The Arizona Re ...

.Crossing the Horizon: A Novel
Simon and Schuster

References

External links

* Audi

by John H. Lienhard on

The Engines of Our Ingenuity ''The Engines of Our Ingenuity'' is a daily radio series produced jointly by KUHF-FM, Houston, Texas, and the University of Houston. The series tells the story of human invention and creativity in 3 minute essays. The stories center on engineeri ...

* 1927 Pathé newsreel footage:
The Amazing Atlantic Airwoman

The End Of A Wonderful Flight

New York's Welcome
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Ruth American film actresses Aviators from Alabama 1902 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American actresses American women aviation record holders