The year was 1943, and the United States was now heavily engaged in WWII on both the European and Pacific fronts. It was also the year that Alberta Hunt Nicholson, a resident of Salt Lake City, joined the Women’s Airforce Service Project (WASP), aiding in the war effort.

Nicholson was born in Baker, Oregon, and found herself first flying at age 13 in a Ford Tri-Motor, a transport aircraft also known as the Tin Goose. After graduating from high school, she earned a degree in education and music from the University of Utah. While working in the U’s stenography department, a professor encouraged Nicholson to take a class in flying taught at West High. Of the 95 students taking the written exam, Nicholson finished 13th. She then applied for a federal scholarship for the flying classes but was denied because she was female. That wouldn’t stop her; she decided to take on extra work so she could pay for classes herself.

After receiving her pilot license, Nicholson signed up for the Women’s Airforce Service Project. Combat pilots were in high demand at this point in the war; having women cover domestic flights would free up the men to fly in the war effort. The women in WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft to and from different bases and trained other pilots—including men. Stationed at Luke Airforce Base in Arizona, Nicholson was assigned to test-fly repaired planes to make sure they were safe for male cadets heading into war. Nicholson served as a WASP from 1943 to 1944, when the war was coming to a close.

After returning to Salt Lake, Nicholson worked as a therapist in the VA Hospital. But her passion for flying stuck with her. She maintained her pilot license and also earned instructor and commercial licenses. She purchased a plane and became a member of Ninety-Nine’s International Organization of Women Pilots, which had been founded by Amelia Earhart. From 1955-1977, Nicholson competed in eight all-female transcontinental races, known as Powder Puff Derbies. Her contestant ribbons, programs and news articles related to these flying competitions are included in the collection at the library, along with photographs and papers that speak to her remarkable life.

Nicholson is included in the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame.

Included in the Alberta Hunt Nicholson Collection

• Official government documents
• Correspondence
• News articles
• WASP newsletters (1943-1944)
• Yearbooks regarding WASP and their activities
• Pilot’s log books chronicling Nicholson’s recreational and professional flying from 1940-1978
• Issues of “Lukomunique,” a newsletter published by and for the men of Luke Field (Phoenix, Arizona, 1944)
• “Alberta, A Few Recollections from the Personal History of Alberta Hunt Nicholson”

Photographs in the Hunt Collection (P0662) in the Digital Archive and in the Multimedia Department Hunt’s Papers are Contained in the Manuscripts Department (Accn 1017).

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Check out these additional resources for Women’s History Month.