Elaine Danforth Harmon Collection
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Oral history interview with Elaine Danforth Harmon
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Primarily documents Elaine Danforth Harmon's service with the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) in 1944; and her life after the war, including her involvement in efforts to gain military status for the WASP in the 1970s. Harmon recalls how she found out about the WASP; her husband's support when she joined; her mother's refusal to speak to her about it; and new opportunities for women during World War II. She provides an overview of her training at Sweetwater, including living arrangements and conditions; uniforms and zoot suits; paying for expenses; the daily schedule; Jacqueline Cochran; Dorothy Swain Lewis; social life and recreation; singing; riding in cattle wagons out to the field; Link training; flying at night; buzzing Munday, Texas; and several anecdotes about fellow WASP trainees. " Harmon briefly describes her assignment at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November and December 1944. She talks about helping male pilots practice instrument flying; working with men; and being stationed with a classmate from Sweetwater. Other general topics about the WASP include changing requirements for the branch; sabotage; WASP jobs; flying the B-29 and a jet; washing out; differences between male and female pilots; the defeat of the bill to militarize the WASP in 1944; Drew Pearson; and the disbandment of the WASP in December 1944. " Harmon explains her involvement in efforts to gain veteran status for members of the WASP in the 1970s, including working with Hap Arnold's son, Bruce Arnold, and comments on receiving veterans benefits and participating in WASP reunions. Other personal topics include traveling with her father during his baseball career; her interest and participation in the Civilian Pilot Training Program; the difficulties she had moving to California by herself following the WASP disbandment and her job as an air traffic controller; being in San Francisco on V-J Day; and her later career in real estate appraisal.
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Portrait of Elaine Harmon
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Portrait of Elaine Harmon, in 1944, in WASP A2 leather jacket with Fifinella patch and a flight helmet with goggles.
