Pioneer aviator Katherine Stinson and her family opened a flying school at San Antonio’s first airport in 1915. The fourth woman to ever earn a pilot’s license, Katherine flew in stunt planes, including planes she built herself, for crowds around the world. During WWI, she applied to train as a military pilot, but her application was rejected on account of her sex. Katherine served as an ambulance driver in France until the war’s end when she returned to America and continued her career in aviation as the first commissioned mail pilot.

Still an airport, Stinson Field is home of the Texas Air Museum. Memorabilia and restored and replica aircraft pay tribute to the flying Stinsons, along with military aviation during World Wars I and II, illustrating changes in aviation technology across more than a century of development.

Watch our Social Change in Texas During WWI video to learn more about Texas and Texans in WWI. This video was produced for inclusion in our Texas and the Great War mobile tour found in our Texas Time Travel Tours mobile app. Download the app for more videos and travel information: