Process Paper
From the beginning, when we were determining who would be our focus for the next several months, Jacqueline Cochran fascinated us. We admired her iconoclastic views of women and work, and motivation to let nothing impede her desires. As two young women ourselves, we revered how she stood up for women’s rights by shifting the perspective of Americans towards women during World War II (WWII). We were impressed that her form of protest was taking action instead of passively holding a sign. We were intrigued by Cochran because we had never heard of women pilots in WWII, as we assumed it was a man’s fight. When discussed, people might have a grandpa or great-grandpa that served in WWII, but having a grandmother? The thought had never crossed our minds! So when we discovered that this woman changed these dogmatic ways, we were touched.
We were able to find plentiful sources that made our website well rounded. We analyzed important documents, such as letters from General Arnold to Cochran, and used books like Vera Stone’s Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII. We found three former WASPs to interview, including Bee Haydu, Jean T. McCreery, and Lucile Wise. We also interviewed a daughter of a former WASP that specialized in the subject, Nancy Parrish, as well as a male naval pilot, Andy Hoekstra, and a woman naval pilot, Nicole Johnson, in order to understand their perspectives on women pilots today to demonstrate Cochran’s legacy. Finally, we interviewed a military veteran, Anton Stark, who lived during the war, to strengthen our Historical Context tab. Lastly, we were able to use the UC Santa Cruz Library and scour through limitless databases that were extremely beneficial for our knowledge and depth of our website.
We were able to develop our project through many various tasks. We began with the organization of key information. We bolded powerful sections to catch the viewer’s eye and added visuals and multimedia, including a heartwarming excerpt from a movie trailer on the WASPs, two songs following the time period of WWII, a song that the WASPs used to sing during training, a clip from FDR’s speech declaring war, a clip of Deanie Parrish receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the WASPs, and an excerpt from a video with an interview on the first woman Thunderbird Pilot- Nicole Malachowski. Another way we developed our website was by choosing a professional, organized theme with turquoise, black, and white colors to achieve the vintage look of Cochran’s time period. The turquoise also tied in with the animated character Fifinella that represents the WASPs because her wings have turquoise.
There is so much that can be learned from Jackie Cochran. She taught us about being a leader by tenaciously leading a group of over a thousand women to become military pilots, despite being faced with vicious criticism. Additionally, Cochran’s legacy taught us that anyone can fearlessly challenge the status quo, as long as one has the courage, dedication, and resolve.
We were able to find plentiful sources that made our website well rounded. We analyzed important documents, such as letters from General Arnold to Cochran, and used books like Vera Stone’s Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII. We found three former WASPs to interview, including Bee Haydu, Jean T. McCreery, and Lucile Wise. We also interviewed a daughter of a former WASP that specialized in the subject, Nancy Parrish, as well as a male naval pilot, Andy Hoekstra, and a woman naval pilot, Nicole Johnson, in order to understand their perspectives on women pilots today to demonstrate Cochran’s legacy. Finally, we interviewed a military veteran, Anton Stark, who lived during the war, to strengthen our Historical Context tab. Lastly, we were able to use the UC Santa Cruz Library and scour through limitless databases that were extremely beneficial for our knowledge and depth of our website.
We were able to develop our project through many various tasks. We began with the organization of key information. We bolded powerful sections to catch the viewer’s eye and added visuals and multimedia, including a heartwarming excerpt from a movie trailer on the WASPs, two songs following the time period of WWII, a song that the WASPs used to sing during training, a clip from FDR’s speech declaring war, a clip of Deanie Parrish receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the WASPs, and an excerpt from a video with an interview on the first woman Thunderbird Pilot- Nicole Malachowski. Another way we developed our website was by choosing a professional, organized theme with turquoise, black, and white colors to achieve the vintage look of Cochran’s time period. The turquoise also tied in with the animated character Fifinella that represents the WASPs because her wings have turquoise.
There is so much that can be learned from Jackie Cochran. She taught us about being a leader by tenaciously leading a group of over a thousand women to become military pilots, despite being faced with vicious criticism. Additionally, Cochran’s legacy taught us that anyone can fearlessly challenge the status quo, as long as one has the courage, dedication, and resolve.
