Cornelia Clark Fort

(1919-1943) | Cornelia Fort became Nashville’s first female flight instructor. She was hired to teach flying when the Civilian Pilot Training Program was established and was aloft with a student pilot and first witness to the Japanese attach on Pearl Harbor. Fort was the second woman accepted into the newly formed Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Service. On March 21, 1943, her aircraft crashed and she became the first female pilot to die on active duty. A Nashville Airport bears her name.