Marvel Crosson (April 27, 1900 – August 19, 1929) was a pioneer aviator, and the first female pilot to earn a commercial license in the

Territory of Alaska The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an Organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The ...

. She worked in both California and Alaska and died in a crash during the first

Women's Air Derby The Women's Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States, taking place during the 1929 National Air Races. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most common ...

. She was inducted into the

Alaska Women's Hall of Fame The Alaska Women's Hall of Fame (AWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Alaska for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. It was conceived by the board of directors of the Alaska Women's Network (AWN) ...

in 2011.

Early life

She was born to Esler Crosson and his wife Elizabeth Wynant Crosson in

Warsaw, Indiana Warsaw is a city in and the county seat of Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. Warsaw has a population of 15,804 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Warsaw also borders a smaller town, Winona Lake. Etymology Warsaw, named after the capital of ...

, the hometown of Elizabeth Crosson. Her brother Joe was born in

Minneapolis, Kansas Minneapolis is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,946. History The community was originally called Markley's Mills, and under the latter name was l ...

, where the family lived on a ranch. Her sister Zelma was born later. The family relocated to

Sterling, Colorado Sterling is a home rule municipality and the county seat and most populous municipality of Logan County, Colorado, United States. Sterling is the principal city of the Sterling, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city population was 13,735 ...

Aviation career

In 1922, the Crosson family moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Marvel and Joe became fascinated with aviation and together bought their first airplane, a Curtiss N-9. Joe Crosson moved to the

to take a job as a pilot. Marvel followed soon afterward and earned her commercial pilot's license there, the first woman in the territory to do so. She joined her brother in his business, piloting and keeping the equipment in working order. She helped her brother transport a monoplane from San Diego to New York for

Hubert Wilkins Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross aft ...

. After working as a commercial pilot in Alaska, Marvel returned to California. She set an altitude record of on May 28, 1929, while piloting a

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. An early leader in single-engine, light-aircraft manufacturing, ...

J-5.

Death

Marvel Crosson died on August 19, 1929, when her

Travel Air Model 11 The Travel Air Model 11, also known as the Travel Air Model 11000 or the Curtiss-Wright Travel Air CW-11, was an American racing biplane developed from the general-purpose Travel Air 2000, and its derivative the Model 4-D.Pelletier 1995, p.44 ...

airplane crashed in the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

desert on the second day of the Women's Air Derby that had begun in California. Her body was found several hundred feet from her plane. Crosson's parachute had been released, but was unopened, possibly indicating that she was too near the ground for it to work properly after being released. She was entombed at Greenwood Memorial Park in

. Race sponsor

National Exchange Club The National Exchange Club – a service organization with 700 clubs and more than 21,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico – celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Michigan, by businessmen who w ...

held a nationwide moment of silence in all its clubs to commemorate Crosson's death. A vacant chair represented Crosson at a banquet for the Women's Air Derby in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...