Edith Ogilby Berg (born c.1868 - 1949) was the first American woman passenger on a controlled airplane flight, flown by

Wilbur Wright The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

in September 1908 and is considered a key influence in the

hobble skirt A hobble skirt was a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's Gait (human), stride. It was called a "hobble skirt" because it seemed to hobble the woman as she walked. Hobble skirts were a short-lived fashion trend th ...

as a fashion trend. For some years she was married to Hart O. Berg, who represented the Wright Brothers' business interests in Europe.

Early life

Edith Ogilby was born in California. She was a daughter of actress Louise Paullin and Robert Edwin Ogilby, who had immigrated from Britain or Ireland to California in the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

of 1849, then became a professor of drawing at the

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

. Her grandfather was Irish-born British military officer

Sir David Ogilby Sir David Ogilby (?1755-1834) was an Irish-born officer in the East India Company's Madras Army who was knighted for his service in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Birth and early life He was among the numerous children of Alexander Ogilby, "an eminent b ...

. Edith married Charles Bryant Titcomb in 1887 at age 19. They had a daughter, Grace Titcomb. The couple divorced in 1889. She became an actress under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Edith Paullin, adopting her mother's maiden name. She appeared in some of the same productions as her second husband, the actor and producer Hubert Druce. While married to Hubert, Edith went by Edith Alice Druce until they divorced in January 1905.

Life with Berg and aviation connections

Edith married Hart O. Berg in 1906 and thus met the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

described her as “a jolly woman and very intelligent”, and his sister Katharine said Edith was "about the best dressed woman I ever saw”. She saw Wilbur demonstrate the

Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Wrigh ...

airplane at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, France, and asked Wilbur for a ride in it. He agreed, and on 7 October 1908 Berg rode as his passenger in a two-minute flight at nearby Auvours, France, thus becoming the first American woman to fly in a

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

. On the aircraft, she tied a rope around her skirt at her ankles to keep it from blowing in the wind during the flight. A French fashion designer watching the flight noticed her walk away from the aircraft with her skirt still tied. This image is said to have influenced the subsequent hobble skirt fashion of the early 20th century.D. Cochrane and P. Ramirez
Mrs. Hart O. Berg
Women in Aviation and Space History pages,

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

web site Edith had another family connection to aviation. In 1905, her daughter Grace had married Paris lawyer Paul Foy. Foy conducted the first prosecution for “furious driving in the air” in October 1909, following the crash during an

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

Port-Aviation Port-Aviation was an airfield in the Communes of France, commune of Viry-Châtillon in Seine-et-Oise (now in Essonne), France. It operated as a popular air racing and aviation exhibition venue and hosted civilian flight schools from its opening in ...

(often called "Juvisy Airfield") in

Viry-Châtillon Viry-Châtillon () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Inhabitants of Viry-Châtillon are also known as ''Castelvirois'' in French. Sports The town is home to the wome ...

of a Blériot monoplane flown by

Alfred Leblanc Alfred Leblanc (13 April 1869 – 22 November 1921) was a pioneer French aviator. Early life He was born on 13 April 1869 in Paris. In 1888, he became the technical director of the Victor Bidault metal foundry. A keen sportsman, he was an ene ...

into a crowd of spectators, injuring more than a dozen people and killing a woman who became the first person on the ground in history to be killed by a falling airplane.

Later life

Edith and Hart Berg divorced in 1922. She then used the name Edith Ogilby Titmouse Druse. She was left with $5 of inheritance from her wealthy father, with her two sisters receiving sums in the thousands. She lived in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. She died in August 1949 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

.''Penrith Observer'', 5 November 1928, p. 6; ''New York Times'', 21 July 1940, p. 6.

Archives and photos

Photo of Edith Ogilby Berg with Wilbur Wright, in National Air and Space Museum archives

at Hargrave: the Pioneers: Aviation and Aeromodelling.
Photo of Mr. and Mrs. Hart O. Berg at Camp d'Auvours
Wright State University Libraries Archives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Edith Ogilby Wright brothers American aviation record holders American actresses 1949 deaths University of California, Berkeley faculty People from the San Francisco Bay Area Year of birth uncertain