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Nell Stevenson Bright [2008]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots)
  • Location of Service: Sweetwater and Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas; Mather Field, California
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/60871

View full service history

"We felt like we had the best of both worlds, because we had so many different airplanes to fly and flew so many different kinds of missions." (Video Interview, 11:55)

Nineteen years old and a college graduate in 1940, Texan Nell Stevenson decided to take flying lessons in Amarillo. An article about the Army Air Corps recruiting women attracted her attention, and she was accepted into the seventh class of the WASP. She spent much of the war stationed in Texas, first training in Sweetwater, then flying a variety of planes out of El Paso on a variety of missions. Flying wasn't all work for her and her colleagues; they weren't above buzzing a group of skinny-dipping soldiers. An encounter with a group of Tuskegee Airmen gave her insight into prejudice. Married after the war, Nell Bright wanted to stay in the Reserves, but she wasn't allowed to fly, and once she had a child, she was forced out. She is proud of her pioneer status among current women flying in the military.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Nell S. Bright Collection

Names

  • Pierson, Jolene
  • Sedona Public Library, Sedona, Arizona
  • Bright, Nell S.

Home State

  • Arizona

Headings

  • -  Bright, Nell S.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots)
    • Location of Service: Sweetwater and Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas; Mather Field, California
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1944
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2008-07-23; 2006-09-01)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/60871

Cite as

  • Nell S. Bright Collection (AFC/2001/001/60871), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Pierson, Jolene, Sedona Sedona Public Library, and Nell S Bright. Nell S. Bright Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.60871/.

APA citation style:

Pierson, J., Sedona Public Library, S. & Bright, N. S. (1943) Nell S. Bright Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.60871/.

MLA citation style:

Pierson, Jolene, Sedona Sedona Public Library, and Nell S Bright. Nell S. Bright Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.60871/>.