Bessie Lee (Pittman) Cochran (1906 - 1980)

Born 11 May 1906 in De Funiak Springs, Walton, Florida, United States [uncertain]

Wife of Floyd Bostwick Odlum — married 11 May 1936 in Kingman, Mohave, Arizona, United States

Died 9 Aug 1980 at age 74 in Indio, Riverside, California, United States

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Biography

Jackie (Pittman) Cochran is Notable.

Personal Life

Born in the Florida panhandle ^[1], daughter of Mary "Molley" Grant and Ira Pittman ^[2]. In 1920 age the age of 13 or 14, she married Robert Cochran and had a son same year. Their son died before the age of 5 and her marriage soon ended. ^[3]

In 1936, she married financier Floyd Odlum, president of Atlas Corporation and one of the 10 richest men in the country.^[4] She flew around the country promoting her products; her makeup brand name was Wings of Beauty. ^[3].

Career

She was a pioneering aviatrix who held more speed, distance, or altitude records (at the time of her death) than any other pilot in aviation history ^[5] and helped form the WAAC and the WASP for Women in the military ^[3]. She was a contemporary and good friend of Amelia Earhart and her husband George P Putnam^[6]. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier and the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic.

She became a beautician at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and started taking flying lessons in the early 1930s.^[3]

In 1956 Jacqueline won the Republican nomination for US House in California's 29th Congressional District,^[7] but lost to the Democratic candidate.^[8]

Aviator/Military Career Highlight

• 1935 Cochran became the first woman to enter the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race.^[9]
• 1937 Cochran came in third in the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race.^[9]
• 1938 Cochran won the Bendix Trophy, flying a Seversky pursuit plane.^[9]
• "Wings for Britain" - first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic
• Rank of Flight Captain in the ATA (Royal Air Force - Britain)
• Lobbied for the creation of a women's flying division of the Army Air Forces
• 1942 Women's Flying Training Detachment was created with Cochran at its head
• 1943 Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) was created, merging WAFT and WAFS into one. Cochran was director.
• 1945 Received Distinguished Service Medal
• 1948 Cochran was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve.^[9]
• First woman to break the sound barrier
• Only woman president of the FAI (1958-1961)

Residence

• 1910 Census: Pine Barren, Escambia, Florida
  • Ira Pitimon, 44, Head; Mollie Pitimon, 38, Wife; Josfie Pitimon, 16, Son; Henry Pitimon, 13, Son; Momy Pitimon, 12, Daughter; Myrdle Pitimon, 7, Daughter; Bessie Pitimon, 4, Daughter; Wotter McAfee, 36, Boarder; William McAfee, 26, Boarder; Auther May, 22, Boarder; Annie Wilson, 7, Niece
• 1920 Census: Paxton, Walton, Florida
  • Ira Pittman, 54, Head; Mallie Pittman, 47, Wife; Bessie Pittman, 16, Daughter
• 1942 City Directory: Manhattan, New York City, New York
  • Chochran, Jacqueline - cosmtics - 630 5Av. CO lumbs 5-3034

Sources

1. ↑ Sources differ on where exactly in Florida she was born. Given locations include Pensacola, De Funiak Springs, or Muscogee. De Funiak Springs is the most commonly cited
2. ↑ Jacqueline Cochran Odlum in "Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965" [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Wikipedia: Jacqueline_Cochran, accessed 31 Dec 2016
4. ↑ "Jacqueline Chochran Marries Financier." The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada> Wednesday, July 08, 1936
5. ↑ Chakraborty, Deblina and Sarah Dowdey. "Four Flights of Female Aviators" Stuff You Missed in History Class (Podcast). 23 April 2012. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 31 December 2016
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Floyd_Odlum, accessed 31 Dec 2016
7. ↑ "Aviatrix and Hindu Win California Nominations." Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut). Thursday, June 07, 1956
8. ↑ "Democrats Still Controll Both Houses of Congress." Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut). Thursday, November 08, 1956
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jacqueline Cochran American pilot, ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, (30 July 2020).

• Find A Grave, database and images: accessed 18 February 2020), memorial page for Jacqueline Pittman Cochran (28 Aug 1906–9 Aug 1980), Find A Grave: Memorial #7691192, citing Coachella Valley Public Cemetery, Coachella, Riverside County, California, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
• "Jacqueline Cochran and Womens Airforce Service Pilots WASPS" National Archives," Dwight D. Eisenhower, Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home, (24 March 2020) .
• Landdeck, Katherine Sharp. The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II. (New York: New York City, Crown Publishing Group. 30 March 2021)
• Kali, Martin, interviewer. Interview of Katherine Sharp Landdeck author of "The Women with Silver Wings", Interview. (online: C-Span: National World War II Museum, hosting, 5 May 2020) Five minute audio from the book. ~45 minutes.
• Zackman, Gaba, audio. The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, read by Gabra Zackman (online: SoundCloud) Five minute audio from the book.
• Wikipedia: Jacqueline_Cochran
• National Women's Hall of Fame, inducted 1993
• Deanie Bishop Parrish, National WASP WWII Museum
• Dorothy Cochrane and P. Ramirez "Meet Jacqueline Cochran" for the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Oct 28, 2021
• Smithsonian National Postal Museum