Fly High On Wings Of

Our Pride In Service:

Women Airforce Service Pilots Stance for
Equality during World War II

Emilee Wilson
Junior Division
Individual Website
Process Paper Word Count: 483
Process Paper
I picked the topic of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, also known as WASPs, because I
felt it was an interesting topic that people do not know enough about. When I told my peers

about my topic, they proved me correct because they hadnt heard of it before. I feel that it would
good to inform people about a subject that had such a great impact in our country. Another
reason why I chose this topic was because, I have always had an interest in World War II. I knew
that when I started looking for my topics that I wanted to do something during World War II.
Women Airforce Service Pilots was one of the topics that stuck with me and I knew that it was
what I wanted to teach people about.
I chose to do a website for my project because I think it is a good way to present my
information and get it out to the community. An exhibit can be displayed in museums, but a
website can accessed by anyone at anytime. I think by doing a webiste I can also incorporate
things that I would not be able to in another way of presenting. By doing a website, I can
incorporate videos and audio. Those are things that I would not be able to include in an exhibit or
in another form of a presentation.
I did most of my research online at various museum websites and websites created in
memory of the organization. There was one specific website I used in particular. It was a website
that had a written interview with the niece of Mabel Virginia Rawlinson, a member of the
Women Airforce Service Pilots. The website included a large amount of first hand information
about what it was like to be a WASP. It also was a great story to use and to show how women
were taking a stand.
My topic relates to the 2017 National History Day theme Taking a Stand in History
because, men did not believe that women would be able to fly in the same conditions that men
could. The women of WASP proved them wrong. They were very successful in the jobs they did;
some were even better than some of the men. At the end of the war the men felt that the women
had done such a good job and proved themselves that they should stay. Another example of how

my topic relates to the theme is part of the Mabel Virginia Rawlinson story. When Mabel died,
the military would not pay for her funeral since WASP were technically not part of the army. The
other women decided that they would take a stand and all pay for her funeral. There are many
other ways that my topic relates to the theme.