Kathryn (Kay) Lawrence: 1940-46

Kathryn (Kay) Lawrence of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was the first woman to graduate from the University of North Dakota’s Flight Training Program in 1942. After graduation she worked for Boeing Aircraft Company before joining the Women Auxiliary Ferrying Service (WAFS) in July 1943. On August 4, 1943, while flying a PT-19, Lawrence’s plane crashed near Sweetwater, Texas, causing her untimely death. Seventeen days after her death the WAFS and the Women’s Flight Training Detachment (WFTD) merged to form the Women Air force Service Program (WASP) on August 21, 1943. The material consists of an 8x10 photograph of Kay Lawrence deposited by Marcy (Gilbertson) Schoenecker, Denver, Colorado, on April 20, 2005 (Acc. #2005-2767). Also within the collection are photocopies from the Dacotah annual, Alumni Review, and information pulled from the World Wide Web, all of which were deposited by Special Collections staff.