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Olive Ann Beech

This is an informal portrait of the "First Lady of Aviation," Olive Ann Beech (1903-1993), co-founder and President of the Beech Aircraft Corporation, standing by a Beechcraft Bonanza (Model 35) airplane. Beech was born and raised on a farm south of Waverly, Kansas. She attended business college in Wichita and worked for the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita, before marrying Walter H. Beech on February 24, 1930. In 1932, they co-founded the Beech Aircraft Corporation. After her husband's death in 1950, Beech assumed the position of president of the corporation, and was named its chairman emeritus after her retirement in 1982. She brought the company through fifty years of growth from the Staggerwing Biplane to Skylab and from ten employees to ten thousand. Her other honors include: Woman of the Year (1951); Kansan of the Year (1958); and nomination to the NASA Space Shuttle Study Committee (1971).

Date: Between 1950 and 1955

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Curriculum Notes

Olive Ann Beech's portrait can be used to introduce students to her history, and her accomplishments as the president of the Beech Aircraft Corporation.

KS: 7th: 4.6.A.: Significance of the work of entrepreneurial Kansans in the aviation industry

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About this item

Item Number: 712
Call Number: B Beech, Olive *5
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 712

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