Evelyn Howren

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Evelyn Howren
Atlanta, Georgia
, U.S.
Known forWoman aviator
SpouseHillman V. Howren

Evelyn Greenblatt Howren (July 28, 1917 – February 9, 1998) was an American woman aviator. She helped organize the first all-woman squadron of the

Atlanta, Georgia
.

Biography

Evelyn Greenblatt was born in Atlanta in 1917, the daughter of Samuel Robert Greenblatt and Bessie (Shear) Greenblatt.[1] She graduated from North Avenue Presbyterian School[2] in 1934 and attended Vanderbilt University.[1]

It was while at Vanderbilt she took her first flying lesson in 1939. After graduation she took flight instruction at Atlanta's airport (then called

Candler Field)[3] Her parents had refused to pay for pilot classes, so she had to do it in secret, sometimes pawning items to come up with cash.[2] (She later recalled once selling the spare tire on her car in order to fund a repair of her Aeronca Chief[2]). She had her first solo flight in a Piper J-3 Cub in early 1941.[4] It was only after the solo flight that she told her parents what she had done.[5]

Greenblatt received her private pilot licence on November 3, 1941.[3] The next month she joined the then just-formed Civil Air Patrol and helped organize[4] its first all-woman squadron. She remained active in the organization for years after.[3] In June 1942, she was among three pilots named to a class of eight women air traffic control trainees,[4] becoming one of the first women air traffic controllers in the United States.[2]

Military career

With an excellent record and over 300 flying hours

Peterson Army Air Base in Colorado Springs.[3]

Greenblatt spent 16 months ferrying various planes from their manufacturers to military training centers and elsewhere.

Colorado Springs to become a flight instrument instructor. "Most of the boys didn't seem to resent being instructed by a woman," she recalled in 1994.[5]

She was honorably discharged on December 20, 1944.

Veterans Administration benefits.[6]

Civilian career

In 1947, she founded Flightways, Inc.[4] in Atlanta[3] with another aviator, Hillman V. Howren.[6] The aviation company offered charter service, flying lessons, aerial photography classes and other services. The couple ran an airline refueling business called Air Refuel, as well.[3] They sold their businesses to Lockheed in 1968.[4] It was only after they retired from the business that the two got married.[6]

She was a member of the

United States Air Force Reserve that same year.[4] At that time it was still rare for women to be pilots - there were only seven women licensed pilots in Atlanta in 1951.[7]

Howren served as secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Aviation Trade Association from 1950 to 1965.[4] She was "instrumental" in promoting state legislation to enhance aviation in Georgia[8] as an aviation lobbyist.[5]

Later life and legacy

Plaque of Howren at the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame

After retiring, she and her husband moved to South Florida[6] and spent their time traveling, sailing and deep-sea fishing.[2]

In 1994, she became only the third woman named to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.[5] She died on February 9, 1998, aged 80, of lung failure at Emory University Hospital and was buried at Crestlawn Memorial Park in Atlanta.[2] Her husband had died the year before.[9]

The William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum in Atlanta holds a collection of her papers[1] and other artifacts related to her.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mss 099, Evelyn Greenblatt Howren Papers". The Breman Museum. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  2. ^
    newspapers.com
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Evelyn Greenblatt, WASP". WASP on the Web. Wings Across America. February 13, 2008. Archived from the original on April 14, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  4. ^
    OCLC 36827041. Retrieved December 12, 2018 – via Google Books
    .
  5. ^
    newspapers.com
    .
  6. ^
    newspapers.com
    .
  7. newspapers.com
    .
  8. ^ "Evelyn Greenblatt Howren". Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. May 7, 1994. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  9. newspapers.com
    .
  10. ^ "Howren, Evelyn Greenblatt (1918 - 1998)". The Breman Museum. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
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