The First African American Flight Attendant

It looks very ridiculous but in the the first six decades of the 20th Century, the opportunities of becoming a flight attendant were shut down for the US population of African descent. This woman, Ruth Carol Taylor, broke the glass ceiling and became the first African American flight attendant in 1958, when she was hired by Mohawk Airlines.

 This is what  she said of her historic achievement: “…It irked me that people were not allowing people of color to apply… Anything like that sets my teeth to grinding,”

Taylor was dismissed after 6 months after she got married, violating another discriminatory barrier of that era, but ever the fighter, she went on to join the civil rights movement. Visit here to learn more about African American Flight Attendants.