Photo By Master Sgt. Nancy Goldberger | U.S. Air Force Capt. Andrea Lewis, E-8C Joint STARS pilot with the 116th Air Control...... read more read more
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The first African American female pilot of the Georgia Air National Guard, rated for the E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, is one of the prominent faces of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s newly-opened exhibit, “Women in the Air Force: From Yesterday into Tomorrow” on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Capt. Andrea Lewis attended the official opening ceremony held during Women’s History Month on Mar. 5 at the museum.
“It’s my honor to be here,” Lewis said. “But it’s really about celebrating the legacy of all the women who were firsts.”
The exhibit presents female pioneers along with cultural shifts and legal changes over the course of women’s path in aviation and the Air Force.
The date of the ceremony was six years to the day after Lewis had re-enlisted in as a staff sergeant and flight attendant. The museum display reminded her of her own path to being a “first” in aviation, she shared.
Her trailblazing journey was full of obstacles, according to Lewis. She pulled through potential physical limitations such as her height; she coped with emotions of grief and worth as the daughter of her late father, a Marine Corps pilot; and she bested others’ perceptions of her abilities.
“Being in the exhibit, I know there are others who overcame things, too,” Lewis said. “They know what I know, what it took to get here.”
Although the stories of women changing Air Force history are many, it was a feat to bring it all together in the course of two and a half years, according to Air Force Museum Curator Christina Douglass, the project’s lead curator.
As the museum staff began materializing the concept, there was a distinct lack of female aviator artifacts in their repository, including photos, Air Force Museum Curator Krista Dunkman shared during the ceremony.
The exhibit is unique to other exhibits as the various displays within it are located in each of the museum’s four buildings. The story of Jacqueline Cochran, the founder and director of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, is highlighted along many of those displays.
“I know that through this exhibit, young women will be able to see positive role models and want to continue the legacy that is women in aviation,” Lewis said
Women breaking ground in other fields have spots along side the aviators’. Women in Air Force civil engineering are displayed across from the flight suits of the first ten female graduates of the undergraduate pilot program. The first women who could serve in combat — medical personnel — are highlighted in yet another area.
“My hope is that those who come to visit this exhibit will gain a better understanding about the sacrifices that were made by women in the past; never take what we have for granted; and are inspired to continue to advocate for equality,” Douglass said
The message to learn and influence the future was re-iterated several times during the ceremony.
“While the powerful exhibits throughout this museum perfectly capture and tell amazing stories of so many firsts and so many trailblazers, they fulfill a higher purpose — inspiring the current and next generation of servicewomen,” said Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of the Air Mobility Command.”
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2021 17:49 |
| Story ID: | 390751 |
| Location: | WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 330 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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