{"id":2258,"date":"2012-08-15T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T04:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archives.nd.edu\/about\/news\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2012-08-15T00:00:39","modified_gmt":"2012-08-15T04:00:39","slug":"sister-mary-aquinas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/sister-mary-aquinas\/","title":{"rendered":"Sister Mary Aquinas, OSF"},"content":{"rendered":" <\/a>
<\/div>

Notre Dame celebrates 40 years of coeducation this fall.\u00a0 While the undergraduate women who arrived in 1972 were the first class to matriculate in the regular academic year, women had been earning bachelors’, masters’, and doctorate degrees since 1917 through the Summer School Program<\/a>.\u00a0 One of those women gained a bit of fame during World War II because she was an unlikely aviatrix and aeronautical expert.<\/p>\n

Sister Mary Aquinas Kinskey, OSF, earned a bachelor’s degree from Catholic University in 1926.\u00a0 She became a teacher and her interest in aviation stemmed from the enthusiasm for the subject from her students.\u00a0 In order to best teach her students, she wished to learn as much about the subject as possible.\u00a0 In 1942, she earned a Master of Science in Physics cum laude from the University of Notre Dame.\u00a0 Her dissertation was entitled “Electron Projection Study of the Deposition of Thorium on Tantalum.”\u00a0 Wanting hands-on aviation experience, Sister Mary Aquinas learned to fly in 1943.<\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/item\/owi2001030481\/PP\/\"<\/a>
“Washington, D.C. Sister Aquinas, ‘flying nun,’ applying a little glue to the model P-38 which hangs from the ceiling of her classroom at Catholic University. A veteran of fifteen years’ teaching experience, the Sister is giving a summer Civil Aeronautics Authority course for instruction,” June 1943.
Source: Library of Congress, FSA\/OWI Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That summer, she taught aviation at Catholic University and was involved in training through the Civil Aeronautics Authority.\u00a0 Below is an announcement regarding Sister Mary Aquinas’ activities published in Scholastic<\/em>, October 1, 1943:<\/p>\n

One of Notre Dame’s religious alumnae who is doing her part in the War effort is Sister Mary Aquinas, the “flying nun.” Sister Mary Aquinas, who received her master’s degree in physics from the University, is an educational adviser to the C.A.A. in Washington. Her aeronautics course at the Catholic University of America is one of the first, if not the first, sequence of such courses for Teacher Training in universities during the summer sessions. The Sister, who believes in practicing what she teaches, is a flier. She often takes her classes on inspection and demonstration tours through aircraft factories and airports. Her group of black-hooded nuns are a familiar sight in these places.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Washington, D.C. Sister Aquinas, ‘flying nun,’ exchanging trade secrets with an engineer at the Washington National Airport,” June 1943.
Source: Library of Congress, FSA\/OWI Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1957, “the Air Force Association gave her a citation for her ‘outstanding contributions’ to the nation’s security and world peace” [“No Glamor Girl”].\u00a0 As part of the honor, Sister Mary Aquinas had the opportunity to fly in a\u00a0T-33 jet trainer<\/a> and take the control for much of the flight, making her the first nun to fly a jet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Washington, D.C. Sister Aquinas teaching a lesson in practical radio operations to the Sisters attending her Civil Aeronautics Authority course for instructors at Catholic University,” June 1943.
The women with heart necklaces are Sisters of the Holy Cross<\/a>.
Source: Library of Congress, FSA\/OWI Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sister Mary Aquinas was the subject of a 1956 television program The Pilot<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em> Her moniker as “The Flying Nun” leads many to believe she was the inspiration of the 1967-1970 television show starring Sally Field<\/a>.\u00a0 Furthering the thought there might be a connection, the television show was based on a The Fifteenth Pelican<\/em>, a book by Tere Rios Versace, who also researched the life of Sister Mary Aquinas for an unpublished biography.\u00a0 Versace’s papers<\/a> can be found at\u00a0the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n

“The Fighting Irish at the Fronts,” By Jim Schaeffer, Scholastic<\/em>, October 1, 1943, page 9<\/p>\n

September 3, 1942 Commencement Program [PNDP 1300]<\/p>\n

“Sister Mary Aquinas, ‘The Flying Nun,’ Says Air-Minded Child Is a Happy Child<\/a>,” by Margaret Kernodle, AP Features Writer, Lewiston Morning Tribune<\/em>, Lewiston, Idaho, August 8, 1943<\/p>\n

“Navy Invites Nun to Pilot Jet<\/a>,” Lodi News-Sentinel<\/em>, Lodi, California, July 25, 1958<\/p>\n

“‘No Glamor Girl,’ Flying Nun Says<\/a>,” by Bob Considine, The Milwaukee Sentinel<\/em>, September 8, 1957<\/p>\n

“Three Sisters, Three Stories, Touching Lives<\/a>,” Silver Lake College New Directions<\/em>, Fall\/Winter 2008-2009<\/p>\n

“Sister Mary Aquinas Is Dead; Pilot Inspired TV ‘Flying Nun<\/a>,'” The New York Times<\/em>, October 23, 1985<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin Historical Society<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos of Sr. Mary Aquinas from the Library of Congress<\/a> are in the public domain<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/a>

<\/div>

Notre Dame celebrates 40 years of coeducation this fall.\u00a0 While the undergraduate women who arrived in 1972 were the first class to matriculate in the regular academic year, women had been earning bachelors’, masters’, and doctorate degrees since 1917 through the Summer School Program.\u00a0 One of those women gained a bit of fame during World … Continue reading “Sister Mary Aquinas, OSF”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":4516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[10,42,64,83],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic-history","category-nd-history","tag-alumni","tag-individuals","tag-science","tag-women"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-26 21:31:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}