Louise Moisant

People Buried Here

Description

Matilde Moisant: Second licensed woman pilot Aug. 13, 1912; Early Bird - Past Pres. W.I.A.A.

Matilde E. Moisant (September 13, 1878 – February 5, 1964) was an American pioneer aviator. She was the second woman in the country to get a pilot's license.

Early life

Moisant was born in Earl Park, Indiana to Médore Moisant and Joséphine Fortier. Both parents were French Canadians. Her siblings include George Moisant, John Moisant, Annie M. Moisant, Alfred Moisant, Louisa J. Moisant and Eunice Moisant. John and Alfred were also aviators. In 1880 the family was living in Manteno, Illinois and her father was working as a farmer.

Aviation career

Moisant learned to fly at Alfred's Moisant Aviation School on Long Island, New York. In 1911, a few weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby received her pilot's certificate, Matilde Moisant became the second woman pilot certified by the Aero Club of America. She pursued a career in exhibition flying. In September 1911 she flew in the air show at Nassau Boulevard airfield in Garden City, New York and, while competing against Hélène Dutrieu, Moisant broke the women's altitude world record and won the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy by flying to 1,200 feet.

Retirement from flying

Moisant stopped flying on April 14, 1912 in Wichita Falls, Texas when her plane crashed (the same day that the Titanic sank). Less than two months later her friend Harriet Quimby was killed when she fell from her plane. Although Moisant recovered from her injuries, she gave up flying, and moved to the family plantation in San Salvador.

Death

Matilde Moisant died in 1964 in Glendale, California, aged 85, and was interred in the Portal of Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

Timeline

1878 Birth in Indiana

1880 Living in Manteno, Kankakee, Illinois

1880 US Census in Manteno, Illinois

1900 US Census in California

1910 Death of John B. Moisant, her brother

1911 Received pilot's certificate

1911 Won Rodman-Wanamaker altitude trophy

1912 Crash in Texas on April 14

1920 Living in Los Angeles, California

1920 US Census in Los Angeles, California

1930 US Census in La Crescenta, California

1964 Death in California

1964 Burial In Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Source: Wikipedia 19 June 2012