Leda Richberg-Hornsby

Leda Richberg-Hornsby
Leda Richberg-Hornsby, 1915
Born	November 1886 Chicago
Died	August 25, 1939 Chicago
Occupation	Pilot
Spouse(s)	Hubert Primm Hornsby
Parent(s)	Eloise Olivia Randall Richberg John Carl Richberg
Relatives	Donald R. Richberg (brother) Windsor V. Richberg (brother)

Leda Richberg-Hornsby (November 1886 – August 25, 1939) was an American pilot and suffragist. She was the first female graduate of the Wright Flying School in Dayton, Ohio, and the eighth woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license.

Leda Richberg-Hornsby was born in November 1886 in Chicago, the youngest of three children, to Eloise Olivia Richberg (née Randall) and John Carl Richberg. Her mother was a physician, professor, writer, and suffragist. Her maternal grandmother, Marenda Briggs Randall, was also a physician and suffragist. Her father was a lawyer who also served for four years as president of the Chicago Board of Education; his administration saw the establishment of equal pay for women educators and the elimination of bible readings from schools. Richberg-Hornsby's elder brother, Donald Randall Richberg, was a lawyer and member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.

Richberg-Hornsby received her early education at the Castle School in Tarrytown. Following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, she attended medical school for three years, though without completing a degree. In May 1912, while on a trip to Racine, Wisconsin, she met Hubert Primm Hornsby, whom she married on the 23rd of that month, to the surprise of her family. The marriage was unsuccessful and the two soon separated. On Feb. 1, 1915, she obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion, although her husband formally denied the charge.

Around 1913, Richberg-Hornsby became interested in flying. She began her studies with Max Lillie () while living with her parents in Chicago. Following Lillie's death in September 1913, she enrolled in the Wright Flying School in Dayton, where she studied both flying and airplane construction. In March 1914, she became the school's first female graduate. That June, she passed her licensing test under the supervision of Orville Wright (who described her performance as "The prettiest flying I ever saw a beginner do") and on June 24 she received license No. 301 from the Aero Club of America.

In her early career, Richberg-Hornsby made exhibition flights at Cicero Aviation Field outside Chicago. Throughout the summer of 1915, she flew at the Mineola aviation field in New York. When that airfield was taken over by the government that fall, she transferred to Staten Island where she was active through the end of 1916.