Katherine Stinson Otero
This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
Object Details
- Date
- c. 1919
- Artist
- Unidentified Artist
- Sitter
- Katherine Stinson, 14 Feb 1891 - 8 Jul 1977
- Exhibition Label
- Born Fort Payne, Alabama
- Katherine Stinson, the fourth American woman to obtain a pilot’s license, was internationally famous for performing daring stunts and setting aviation records during the 1910s. In 1913, she became the first woman to transport U.S. airmail and, two years later, the first woman to execute a “loop the loop” maneuver and the first to skywrite with fireworks.
- While touring Japan and China (1916–17), Stinson attracted huge audiences, including 25,000 people to one airshow in Tokyo. She set a duration record in 1918 when she completed a ten-hour-and-ten-minute flight between Chicago and Binghamton, New York. Since women could not serve as military pilots during World War I, she flew humanitarian missions and drove ambulances in France for the Red Cross.
- Stinson’s aviation career ended after contracting tuberculosis while working for the Red Cross. She convalesced in New Mexico, where she began a second career as a successful interior designer and architect.
- Katherine Stinson 1891–1977
- Nacida en Fort Payne, Alabama
- Katherine Stinson, cuarta mujer estadounidense que obtuvo una licencia de piloto, alcanzó fama mundial por sus audaces maniobras aéreas y sus récords de aviación durante la década de 1910. En 1913, fue la primera mujer que transportó correo aéreo en EE.UU. Dos años después fue la primera mujer que ejecutó una maniobra de “giro vertical” y la primera que escribió en el cielo con fuegos artificiales. Su gira por Japón y China (1916–17) atrajo públicos enormes, llegando a reunir 25,000 personas en Tokio. En 1918 estableció un récord de duración al completar un vuelo de 10 horas y 10 minutos entre Chicago y Binghamton, Nueva York. Como las mujeres no podían ser pilotos militares durante la 1a Guerra Mundial, hizo vuelos humanitarios y condujo ambulancias en Francia para la Cruz Roja.
- La carrera aérea de Stinson acabó cuando contrajo tuberculosis colaborando con la Cruz Roja. Convaleció en México, donde inició una segunda carrera como exitosa diseñadora de interiores y arquitecta.
- Topic
- Costume\Headgear\Hat
- Exterior
- Costume\Outerwear\Coat\Fur
- Vehicle\Airplane
- Equipment\Goggles
- Katherine Stinson: Female
- Katherine Stinson: Science and Technology\Inventor
- Katherine Stinson: Science and Technology\Aviator
- Portrait
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Object number
- NPG.97.113
- Type
- Photograph
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 24.8 × 17.3 cm (9 3/4 × 6 13/16")
- Mat: 55.9 × 40.7 cm (22 × 16")
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.97.113