Interview conducted by Carol McLaughlin on March 29, 1999.
Final transcript
The interview describes the life and career of Irene Morgan Simon, who was part of the second group of women hired as stewardesses by United Air Lines in 1931; early life; education as a nurse; decision to work for United, the hiring process, and first flights; early days of the commercial airline industry, the passengers, and the turbulence; her work as a stewardess, including meal service, ticketing, and passenger care; flying conditions, including fainting from the lack of oxygen above 10,000 feet; flying on the Ford Tri-Motor and the Boeing 247; routes she flew from Chicago; meeting her husband, who was a pilot for United, and his subsequent death in an aircraft incident; encounters with Mary O’Connor, Ellen Church, William “Pat” Patterson, President of United, as well as Edwin Musick and the boxer Jack Dempsey; flying into Oakland Airport and San Francisco Airport, and her home base in Chicago.
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