Harriet Quimby

According to a long-standing Quimby family tradition, early aviatrix Harriet Quimby was born in the Coldwater area on May 1, 1875, to Ursula (Cook) and William Quimby. She spent her childhood in Arcadia, Michigan, and Arroyo Grande, California. In 1902 Harriet became a journalist for the San Francisco Dramatic Review. She later wrote features for the San Francisco Chronicle and worked for the Call-Bulletin. In 1903 she went to New York where she wrote drama reviews and features for Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. At the October 1910 Belmont Park Aviation Meet she became fascinated with flying and met aviator John Moisant. She soon took lessons at the Moisant School of Aviation in Mineola, New York. She later toured the U.S., Mexico, and Europe with the Moisant Fliers. On August 1, 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first woman in the United States to obtain a pilot’s license when she successfully completed the requirements of the Aero Club of America. On April 16, 1912, Harriet became the first woman to fly solo over the English Channel, journeying from Dover, England, to Hardelot, France. After being celebrated on the Hardelot beach by the local French people, Harriet returned to the U.S. and began a busy exhibition schedule. In June she went to Boston for the upcoming Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet. On July 1 she flew meet manager William A. P. Willard around Boston Light. During the flight, her Bleriot plane nose-dived, plummeting both Willard and Quimby to their deaths in Dorchester Bay. In 1991 the U.S. Post Office issued an air mail stamp to honor Harriet as an aviation pioneer.