"At the Twilight's Last Gleaming"
Written by Cornelia Fort, Women’s Home Companion Magazine posthumously published this article in 1943. She describes her experience on December 7, 1941, (Pearl Harbor) and her motivations for joining the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squad, or WAFS. Most of the article consists of explaining the purpose of her service and the positive contributions to the American war effort. She mentions the sexism the female pilots faced, noting the female pilots knew they had something to prove. Fort ends her article by expressing the pride she feels in helping the war effort and the men who were fighting. She encourages other women to join and contribute in the fight against tyranny overseas.
Cornelia Fort grew up in Nashville society, but turned away from the expectations of elite southern women, and joined the military in a role previously reserved for men. She was the first woman in Nashville to earn a pilot’s license. Additionally, she worked as a flight instructor in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. After the attack, Fort was the second woman to sign up for the WAFS; she later became the first woman to die in military service during WWII when her plane collided with another during a ferrying mission.
This source meets the 5.56 and US.64 Tennessee social studies standards.
