Celebrating Black History Month
In the summer of 1956, when Patricia Banks was a nineteen-year-old psychology major at Queens College, she had her heart set on becoming a stewardess. Like the vast majority of Americans during this era, she had never flown, but Banks had always been captivated with airplanes and she dreamed of traveling the world. She was an excellent stewardess candidate—she was bright, college-educated, spoke Spanish and French, scored high on intelligence tests, and she was pretty. She was 5’6” tall, 120 pounds. Her measurements: 33-26-36 (nearly perfect according to airline standards). She was the ideal stewardess…or so she thought. There was just one problem—she was African American. In 1956, when Patricia Banks applied, no U.S. airline had ever hired a black stewardess. Find out more about Patricia Banks' story in The Jet Sex. .
Patricia Banks in Capital Airlines Uniform