Toni Mullee
216-623-1111 (office)
440-655-1514 (cell)
tmullee@iwasm.org
www.iwasm.org

Exhibit Highlighting Flight Attendants Scheduled to Open June 5, 2006 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S AIR & SPACE MUSEUM TO HONOR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS WITH EXHIBIT

The International Women's Air & Space Museum (IWASM) is pleased to present a look back at the history of flight attendants in a new exhibit titled, Air Hostess - Honoring Flight Attendants Past & Present.  The exhibit is scheduled to open on June 5, 2006 and will run through August.  IWASM will display scrapbooks, uniforms, and other artifacts the museum has been collecting and will be exhibiting for the first time.  Museum admission is free.

The first female flight attendant was hired in 1930 as a way to show that flying was a safe and reliable form of transportation. Ellen Church, the first air stewardess, was a registered nurse, a job requirement at the time.  She and seven other women hired by Boeing Air Transport (later part of United Airlines), were responsible for the care of passengers during the flight but their duties also included carrying baggage, helping to push the airplane into the hangar, cleaning the plane's interior and refueling it.  The most important task assigned to early air stewardesses was to keep an eye on passengers who wanted to use the lavatory to make sure they did not use the exit door instead!  The use of air stewardesses was so successful for Boeing that the other airlines soon followed suit.

Air Hostess - Honoring Flight Attendants Past & Present examines the role of a flight attendant as it has evolved through the years since those first air stewardesses took to the sky. The exhibit is located in the west concourse of Burke Lakefront Airport.  Additional exhibits are located throughout the terminal building.  The museum's research center houses books and files on the many women who made and continue to make history as flight attendants.

The International Women's Air & Space Museum is located in the Burke Lakefront Airport, 1501 N. Marginal Road.  Museum admission is free and exhibits are open daily during regular airport hours.  The Fay Gillis Wells Research Center and Gift Shop are open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and by appointment.   Call (216) 623-1111 for more information or visit us on the web at www.iwasm.org.