Part of the Mission Statement of The Ninety-Nines is to preserve the unique history of women in aviation. The Resource Center at our headquarters in Oklahoma City maintains an oral history collection of women involved in aviation to further this goal.

An oral history is a person's reminiscences of their life. Their stories go beyond the constant stream of dates, places, and events that we normally associate with history. Oral histories bring forth another dimension of reality. If we listen, we can hear what it was like for others to face life's challenges. We can imagine hearing the wires that are stretched between the wings of a biplane sing to us as we fly; or smell a freshly cut field from above; or see the world upside down in a jet; or feel the narrator's disappointments and rewards in aviation. Those thoughts and more can be saved and passed on to others.

What is the process?

Once permission has been received to videotape an oral history, an appointment is made for the interview which is a relaxed, informal conversation based upon a planned set of questions using preliminary research of the person's background. Once the cameras and recorders are in place the interview can begin. It can be conducted as a question/answer session or the narrator may choose to just tell their story. Either way, the interviewer is there to facilitate the memory of the narrator and make it as enjoyable as possible.

Along with the video taped interview, sometimes photographs and memorabilia are collected. All of those items, along with the video tapes, are donated to the Resource Center in Oklahoma City. The Southwest Section also maintains a library of oral histories.

The value of every individual is appreciated. Each life is important for what it happens to be. What a person saw, how they felt, how they were touched by others, their motivations and impressions are means of enriching us all through the oral history they chose to leave with us.