When you meet Virginia Mae Hope in the Minnesota A to Z exhibit, you will get to hear exciting stories of women flying airplanes and serving their country during World War II. So look for Virginia in her Santiago blue dress uniform, and don't forget to ask her about her silver wings.

Virginia Mae Hope, a native of Winnebago, Minnesota, was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. The WASP performed wartime duties in the United States, thus freeing male pilots for combat. Hope was one of only 1,074 women to recieve the WASP "silver wings" after completing rigorous training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. After graduation, she was assigned to the Weather Wing and stationed at Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio. She died on December 7, 1944, in Omaha, Nebraska, when the plane on which she was a passenger crashed after takeoff.

Virginia Hope was known to say, "Isn't it just wonderful!" about her WASP career, though she and other female pilots faced blatant discrimination simply because the were women. Not until 1977, 33 years after the program was disbanded, did Congress recognize the WASP as military pilots or grant them veteran status.

Funding for research and development for the Virginia Mae Hope History Player project has been provided by the Noel Foundation.