Nancy Batson Crews

Nancy Batson Crews was one of the original women to participate in the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) during WWII.

Personal life
Crews was born to Stephen and Ruth Batson in 1920 and she was one of four children. Crews considered herself very fortunate to be born into an upper-middleclass family, as well as, parents that allowed her to be outside the Southern belle ideal. Her mother instilled Southern values, but allowed Crews to be who she wanted to be. She wanted to fly since she saw Charles Lindbergh in Birmingham. Additionally, Crews was an excellent athlete during her youth, she participated in horseback riding and golf. During high school, Crews was on the cheerleading team. At the University of Alabama, Crews was elected to the highest coed office. In 1941, she graduated from University of Alabama. On February 1, 1946 she married Paul Crews and together they had three children, Paul, Radford, and Elinor. Finally, what was originally believed to be pneumonia was actually lung cancer which caused Crews' death on January 14, 2001.

Time in WAFS
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was created because Col. William H. Tunner commander of the Ferrying Division needed so many ferry pilots that he was willing to allow trained women to perform the job. In August 1943, WASP was changed to WAFS. In 1944, Crews graduated from pursuit school. Crews' assignment was to ferry P-47s from the factory to embarkation points to later be moved to war zones. She often would travel one coast to the other at heights up to four miles high at three hundred miles per hour. She was one of the first twenty-eight women to pilot a United States plane in WWII.

Life after WAFS
While Crews stopped flying between 1949 and 1959 because her children were young, she continued to fly for most of her life. During the 1960s, Crews and her Super Club created a flying business. Through her business, she learned to how fly gliders and later became an instructor. In her seventies, she created a land and home development business. She was the first president of WAFS post-war organization between the year 1972-1975. Additionally, she was elected mayor of California City for one term in 1978. Also, she served one term as the St. Claire County Airport Commissioner. At seventy-nine, Crews co-piloted a corporate turbo jet for almost eighty hours.

Awards and recognition
In 1989, Crews was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1997, a plague with her name was placed outside of Forest of Friendship. In 2004, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. Finally, on March 10, 2010 Crews and the WASPs as a whole received a Congressional Gold Medal. Crews' uniform, Mooney Mite, and first logbook are kept at the Southern Museum of Flight in Alabama.

Sexism and feminism
Crews did not experience much sexism because both men and women were comfortable around her. She enjoyed being around men and men enjoyed being around her. Crews was able to learn how to work well with men and had more male friends than female. Crews did not consider herself a feminist. She was able to use her abilities to advance within the current structure. Additionally, she was not afraid to ask for assistance and that usually came from men.

Additional Reading

 * Crews, Nancy Batson, Dawn Letson, and Patricia J. Williams. Nancy Batson Crews: An Oral History. 2000.
 * Gott, Kay. Women in Pursuit: Flying Fighters for the Air Transport Command Ferrying Division During World War II: A Collection & Recollection. McKinleyville, CA: K. Gott, 1993. ISBN 0-963-30750-9
 * Rickman, Sarah Byrn. Nancy Batson Crews: Alabama's First Lady of Flight. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009. ISBN 0-817-35553-7
 * Rickman, Sarah Byrn. The Originals: The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II. Sarasota, FL: Disc-Us Books, 2001. ISBN 1-584-44263-8
 * Turner, Betty Stagg. Out of the Blue and into History. Arlington Heights, IL: Aviatrix Pub., 2001. ISBN 1-928-76002-3