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‍    As technology continued to evolve, so did our mission to find new and engaging ways to share the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. When Adobe introduced interactive publishing through InDesign, I got excited by the possibilities. 

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‍    Over the next six months, I taught myself the software and created what became the first interactive app devoted entirely to one WASP, and then, eventually, with plans to so so much more.

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‍    The app opened with a welcome video I produced using selected clips from WASP Deanie Parrish's interview, filmed by Atherton Pictures, along with music they graciously allowed us to use. From there, history came alive. Visitors could hear the radio broadcasts following Pearl Harbor, listen to the music of the era, watch historic film clips, explore interactive maps, and discover photographs and memorabilia collected over a lifetime. 

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‍    The app grew beyond Deanie's story to include Wings Across America, where an interactive map allowed visitors to click on interview locations across the country and hear the voices of the remarkable WASP we had interviewed. Every new interactive tool became another opportunity to help visitors experience history rather than simply read about it. 

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‍    Teachers found creative ways to use the app in their classrooms. Some incorporated it into lessons about World War II and the WASP, while others used it to demonstrate the interactive capabilities of Adobe InDesign itself. We also included it as part of our FlyGirls Traveling Exhibit, giving museum visitors another way to experience the history. 

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‍    Eventually, changes in Apple technology and Adobe's publishing platform made it impossible to continue supporting the app, and it was retired from the App Store in 2017. While the software itself became obsolete, the mission never did. Technology will continue to change. Websites will evolve. Apps will come and go. But every new generation of technology creates new opportunities to place these remarkable stories into the hands of teachers, historians, museum professionals, students, filmmakers, web designers—and perhaps even technologies we cannot yet imagine. The tools will continue to change. The mission never will.