While the 1930s in the United States was a decade shaped by economic depression, it was also a time of opportunity and innovation, especially in flight. Known as Oregon’s “golden age of aviation,” technological advancements led to the creation of faster, more efficient, and affordable aircraft, testing the limits of what was possible. New career opportunities emerged for men and women as flight schools sprang up in the region and commercial passenger service lifted off.

Amidst much national uncertainty, the wonder of flight brought hope and promise, connecting communities quite literally through the building of new small airports and the popularity and excitement of airshows. The optimism of the era is captured in the Oregon Historical Society’s newest exhibition, She Flies with Her Own Wings: Oregon’s Golden Age of Aviation.

Oregon has a long history in the field of flight. Milton Wright, the father of aviation pioneers Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright, was a missionary in Sublimity, Oregon, from 1857 to 1859. Many years later, William C. Crawford and John C. Burkhart constructed a plane using the Wright brothers’ drawings. Their plane was one of the first to fly in Oregon, taking off from Albany in 1910.

Many aviators found their way to Oregon thanks to John Gilbert “Tex” Rankin, who owned and operated one of the most notable flight schools in the country. In operation for 16 years, the Portland-based school trained hundreds of diverse students, using a method of instruction that would soon be used nationally. Rankin not only taught people how to fly, he was one of the first to provide standardized curriculum, making the process more academic and professional. His patented correspondence course provided instruction for pilots, navigators, and mechanics before any hands-on learning took place. 

Oregon had a robust community of woman pilots in the 1930s, and many were students at the Rankin School of Flying who participated in local airshows, regional airtours, and high profile air races. Several were outstanding pilots recognized nationally.

Among those woman pilots was Hazel Ying Lee, who in 1933 traveled to China for volunteer service in the Chinese Air Force yet was not allowed to fly for the military because she was a woman. In 1938 she returned to the U.S. and joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program during WWII, one of only two Chinese American WASPs.

Another noted woman aviator was Dorothy Hester, who held the women’s world record for consecutive outside loops from 1930 to 1989, as well as several other aerobatic records. Hester performed in traveling airshows across Oregon and was a regular performer in Portland’s Rose Festival Airshow, and in 1930 went on a national tour becoming the first woman to be a featured performer at the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio.

The exhibition also highlights those innovators whose passion for aviation built community in Oregon. One person was Charlie Bernard, who as a young child walked from his family farm in Beaverton to downtown Portland to watch Silas Christofferson fly off the Multnomah Hotel. The experience inspired a lifelong fascination with aviation. In the 1920s, Bernard turned his farmland into a flying field, using surplus materials to build airplane hangers and a small hotdog stand. He encouraged others to bring their own aircraft to fly, and attracted a community of pilots and amateur aircraft homebuilders to his field.

She Flies with Her Own Wings is on view at the Oregon Historical Society from March 7 through November 30, 2025. The Oregon Historical Society’s museum is open daily in downtown Portland, from 10am to 5pm Monday through Saturday and 12pm to 5pm on Sunday. Admission is free every day for youth 17 and under, OHS members, and residents of Multnomah County.

Learn more and plan your visit by accessing OHS’s free digital museum guide.