Celia M. Hunter | |
---|---|
Born |
Arlington, Washington |
January 13, 1919
Died | December 1, 2001 | (aged 82)
Occupation | Environmentalist and conservationist |
Celia Hunter (January 13, 1919 – December 1, 2001) was an American environmentalist and conservationist. She was conferred the highest award by the Sierra Club, The John Muir Award, in 1991. She was presented the highest award by the Wilderness Society, The Robert Marshall Award, in 1998.
Celia M. Hunter was born in 1919 in Washington State and was raised a Quaker on a small farm during the Great Depression. Being raised a Quaker instilled values in her that she carried throughout her life. Celia's values also instilled in her the confidence to follow her dreams, regardless of whether they were conventional paths for women.
Environmentalist and conservationist are two words that are now strongly associated with Hunter, however when she first came to Alaska, she did not consider herself a conservationist or environmentalist.
Hunter trained as a pilot and eventually became a pilot during World War II, as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, also known as the WASPs, graduating with class 43-W5. Hunter flew planes from the factories to training centers and ports of embarkation throughout the USA. She successfully completed each upgrading until she was qualified to fly the most sophisticated fighter planes in the US military.
The US Ferrying Division ruled that women should not be allowed to ferry military fighter planes any farther north than Great Falls, Montana. "We ferried them from factories clear across the US, but 'sorry, gals, turn them over to the men here' and they got to fly them on the Northwest Staging Route through Edmonton, Fort Nelson, Watson Lake, and Whitehorse to Fairbanks," Hunter told students at Linfield College during a 1997 speech.