Probably America’s Youngest Licensed Female Pilot

There’s more to life than being a passenger.”

Amelia Earhart

On Monday, April 23, 1956, Barbara Seroogy of De Pere proudly obtained her pilot’s license. Her sixteenth birthday was devoted to the skies, completing her first solo flight and illustriously earning her wings. The Sept 24, 1957 edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette headlined the determined girl “youngest licensed pilot in the United States”³. Her 1957 high school yearbook designated her the “youngest female pilot on record”¹.

So which was it? Originally, I published this post listing Barbara as the youngest pilot, male or female. Since then, I have come to discover the newspapers of this particular time period used the “youngest pilot” term rather loosely, meaning she was the youngest pilot at the moment. Hence, any pilot whom took the test on their birthday would be certainly dubbed the new “youngest pilot”. Officially, that very day she received her license she was, in fact, the youngest pilot (male or female). There were several other boys, however, whom also took their pilot’s license on their birthday’s prior to Barbara. Locally, Chuck Gunderson⁵ of Neenah passed his test in Feb of 1956, two months before Barbara.
Nonetheless, I have searched high and low to no avail for female pilots younger than our very own Barbara Seroogy. Elinor Smith⁷ of New York was declared the youngest pilot in 1928 at age sixteen, but she received her license only a month or two before her 17th birthday. Other girls after Elinor where newspapers declared the youngest were already age 17. Whereas, Barbara Seroogy received hers at 16 years and 0 days. In the 1980’s there were numerous female pilots traveling great distances at extremely young ages but these pilots were not yet licensed⁴.

I have reached out to various organizations (EAA, NAHF, WAI) to confirm that Barbara is still the youngest female pilot to obtain her license and have unfortunately received no response. Since 1956, other girls after Barbara have taken and passed their test on their sixteenth birthday tying Barbara’s notable feat. Nearby, Janice Wogsland⁶ of Green Bay received her license on her 16th birthday in 1960 (4 years after Barbara). Today, the minimum age for a pilot’s license in motorized flight is seventeen. Ensuring the sweet sixteen record will never be broken.

Sources
¹1957 Nicolet High School Phantom Yearbook
²Green Bay Press Gazette April 23, 1956, page 2
³Green Bay Press-Gazette Sept 24, 1957, page 25
⁴The Daily News (Lebanon, PA) Mar 24, 1994, page 30
⁵Appleton Post-Crescent Feb 10, 1956, page 22
⁶Appleton Post-Crescent Oct 1, 1960, page 16
⁷Brooklyn Citizen Jul 31, 1928, page 2