BWI Event Celebrates Women's History; Program to Honor Achievements of Baltimore's 'Rosie the Riveters,' Mary Feik, First Woman to Earn FAA Master Mechanic Award 3/29/2004
From: Cheryl Stewart or Tracy Newman, 410-859-7027, both of the Maryland Aviation Administration News Advisory: The Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) will celebrate Women's History Month with "Aprons to Airplanes: Rosie the Riveter Does Double Duty During World War II," a look at the ground- breaking achievements of female aviation pioneers during World War II. This event will be held Tuesday, March 30, at 10 a.m. in the Upper Level of the Observation Gallery (located between concourses B and C) at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI). The program features members of the Baltimore chapter of the Rosie the Riveter organization, whose members built airplanes during World War II. During the war, many men were away fighting combat missions leaving many factory jobs unattended. The nickname "Rosie the Riveter" is a result of aggressive government campaigns used to lure women into the workforce. The featured speakers include: Julia Yoder, former Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company Assembly Line worker; Mary Nichols, who also worked at Glenn L. Martin in the drafting department; Jean R. Meyers Levitas, a riveter assembler at General Motors Aircraft Factory on Broening Highway in Baltimore. The event will also feature a presentation by Mary Feik, who became an expert on several fighter aircraft during WWII and is credited with becoming the first woman engineer in research and development in the Air Technical Service Command's Engineering Division at Wright Field. She is also credited with becoming the first woman to receive the Federal Aviation Administration's Charles Taylor "Master Mechanic Award." ------ NOTE: Please RSVP at 410-859-7949. Media are advised to park in BWI's hourly garage, located directly in front of the terminal. Parking tickets will be validated. |