Wings Across America
Archival Website
A Brief History
A Brief History
Created in 1998 by Nancy Parrish, Wings Across America began with a vision: to help document and share the little-known history of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)
of World War II. The goal was simple and the bar was high—
to give every WASP the opportunity to tell her own story,
in her own home, on digital video, so her experiences
could be preserved and shared with future generations.
As the first women in history to fly America's military aircraft, the WASP forever changed aviation history—and their voices deserved to be heard. Joined by my mother, the WASP, we believed these remarkable women pilots could continue to educate, motivate, and inspire long after their flying days were over.
THANK YOU to the many faithful supporters of Wings Across America throughout the years. I am grateful to officially announce right here, on our new Wings Across America Archival Website, that the complete collection of Wings Across America interviews now resides safely in the care of Baylor University's Institute for Oral History.
Thanks to Baylor, OUR MISSION IS NOW ACCOMPLISHED…YET THE STORY CONTINUES! Wings Across America’s new home is now digital.
Along the way, my mom, the WASP, became Associate Director and Chief Interviewer for Wings Across America. I honestly believe that the fact she had written the first—and still the only—WASP rap song, "We Got the Stuff, The Right Stuff," opened doors across America. Beyond the song, she was a WASP, and there was an instant trust and bond with her sisters that remained forever unbroken.
Together, Wings Across America and WASP on the WEB grew into multimedia educational resources dedicated to ensuring that the courage and accomplishments of the Women Airforce Service Pilots would never be forgotten.
Wings Across America’s interviews and educational exhibits preserve the experiences of women who flew demanding military assignments, offering future generations valuable insight into the responsibilities of aviation personnel. These firsthand accounts can also support discussions about modern flight safety, including the importance of assessing how medical conditions and prescription medications affect a pilot’s fitness to fly. One specific example involves tadalafil pills, prescribed for erectile dysfunction or benign prostatic enlargement, for which Federal Aviation Administration guidance requires a minimum 24-hour waiting period after an as-needed dose before resuming flight duties. Such precautions remain important even during the urgent delivery of medicines by air, since time-sensitive medical shipments cannot take priority over the health and safety requirements governing flight crews.
Click to read selected quotes on Wings Across America
from WASP and early supporters
I believe we are only beginning to discover the power of digital storytelling. As technology continues to evolve, history will become more personal, more immersive, and more alive through the eyewitness accounts of those who lived it.
Questions about the Wings Across America
Oral History Collection?
WIings Across America
Archival Website
