Visiting The International Women’s Air & Space Museum In Cleveland, OH

I love small museums.

Don’t get me wrong, a nice Smithsonian is always welcome, but nothing beats a small museum packed full of cool and interesting facts. They usually have a reasonable entry fee, exhibits you can get nice and close to and friendly staff who love to tell you about all the things.

An example of a nice small museum in Cleveland, OH is the International Women’s Air & Space Museum (IWASM). Tucked away in a small regional airport, you can see other planes taking off and landing and it’s right down the street from the USS Cod. There’s a ton of information about the women who took to the skies before it was a common role for women, with a lot to read and things to see.

There are the women you’d expect to see like Sally Ride (the first American woman in space) and Amelia Earhart (the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean), but there are so many more women most of us have never heard about.

One woman I didn’t know much about was Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license. She was also the first black person to hold an international pilot’s license. She participated in air shows and became known for her dangerous displays. Sadly, she died at the age of 34 while testing a new aircraft.

Pam Melroy was first in the US Air Force and then piloted three missions for NASA, becoming the 2nd woman to command a mission after Eileen Collins.

Women were a large part of the Mercury projects as well. They wanted to see if women could stand up to the tests provided to male pilots in astronaut training. It paved the way for Sally Ride to become the first American woman in space.

What about Connie Wolf? Have you heard of her? I hadn’t. She was first a pilot, her husband taught her to fly, and then went ballooning in Europe and fell in love with being in the silence that a balloon afforded her. She kept her pilot’s license active and was still flying at 85.

There’s a display about Katharine Wright. Yes, of “those” Wrights. She was the younger sister to Wilbur and Orville Wright. She was a teacher and an important part of their support system.

Harriet Quimby was the first American woman to earn her pilot’s license. She was also the first woman to fly the English Channel solo.

There are a few airplanes on exhibit at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum as well, including The Green Link (army training plane), The Purple Puddy Tat built by Tracy Pilurs and a flight simulator. Here’s a video I made as the Traveling Teach with information from the museum about Mrs. Pilurs plane.

There is also a section about women in space. There are some great interactive displays when COVID-19 sanitation and distancing rules have passed.

There are also many tributes to women who gave their lives serving their country or expanding women’s participation in the field of aviation, like Captain Jennifer Harris.

As always, this is but a small taste of what you can expect to see and learn at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland, OH. I took over 400 unique photos while I was there. So plan a day in Cleveland to visit the IWASM and the USS Cod since they’re right next to one another and you won’t be disappointed.

International Women’s Air & Space Museum Ticket Price

At this time of this post – August 2020 – the museum is free to visit.

Address

International Women’s Air & Space Museum, 1501 N Marginal Rd Ste. 165, Cleveland, OH 44114