Charter Members 

On November 2, 1929, twenty-six women gathered at Curtiss Airport, Valley Stream, New York. The weather wasn't favorable and most drove in or came by train. The first order of business was the selection of Neva Paris as temporary chairman, then the presentation of flowers to Viola Gentry, who was recovering from a crash following an endurance record attempt. The women conducted their business in a hangar above the din of a Curtiss Challenger engine running up as the work of the mechanics proceeded around them. Tea was served from a tool box wagon on wheels.

Eligibility and purpose were quickly decided upon. Membership would be open to any woman with a pilot's license, and the purpose was "good fellowship, jobs, and a central office and files on women in aviation". Choosing a name was a little harder. Some offerings were The Climbing Vines, Noisy Birdwomen, Homing Pigeons and Gadflies. Amelia Earhart and Jean Davis Hoyt put a stop to the nonsense proposing the name be taken from the sum total of charter members. Thus the group was momentarily the 86s, then the 97s and finally the 99s. The name/number stopped at 99, but the membership thereafter grew worldwide.

These first 99 women became our charter members.