Mercy From The Skies. Betsy Ross Corps of licensed women pilots and students. Join to learn. [caption title]

[Philadelphia]: N.P., 1940. 20 3/8" x 13". Broadside/small poster. Very good: several small chips and a few tiny tears at edges, lightly toned at extremities.

This is a striking poster for the Betsy Ross Air Corps, the first of several paramilitary women's aviation organizations that hoped to support the Army Air Corps and assist during times of national emergency. The Corps was founded in 1931 by Opal Kunz, a charter member of the Ninety-Nines organization of women pilots and the first woman to race men in open competition. The Corps had its own uniforms and was divided into nine regions across the country.

We think this poster was part of a membership drive ignited by the war in Europe. We list the place of publication as Philadelphia as it references Marcelle Warner Lower as the commander of the 3rd area and an address of 2601 [Benjamin Franklin] Parkway which was where the 3rd Area headquarters was located. Also, Lower was married near the end of 1940 and immediately began using her married name. Our date attribution is based on the fact that the Corps was initially only open to licensed pilots, but around 1940 it started a membership drive that offered flight instruction with the hopes of having 5,000 women pilots as a reserve force. The text at the bottom here encourages that "for every woman trained to do non-military, civilian air work, a man is released for military service."

According to contemporary newspaper reports, the Corps had 165 members as of 1940. The drive for 5,000 trained pilots faltered, the military never recognized the group, and it appears to have disbanded around 1941.

OCLC finds one copy and we see one presently online with significant staining.

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