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Trans World Airlines' Hostess School Photographs

 Collection
Call Number: RH PH 541

Overview

This collection contains photographs from the Trans World Airlines' (TWA) headquarters and Breech Training Academy, located in and around Kansas City, Missouri. Images include hostesses in training and their class graduation photos, spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s. The collection also contains a scrapbook, newspaper clippings, and a few handwritten materials.

Dates

  • Creation: 1938 - 1973

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

History of Trans World Airlines (TWA)

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was an airline once headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to 1969, hostesses trained at the headquarters. In 1969, TWA opened the renowned Breech Academy, also known as Breech Training Academy, in Overland Park, Kansas. This academy trained hostesses, later broadened to flight attendants, in many facets, and even conducted training sessions inside airplane cabins located in the academy's facilities.

School applicants faced strict application requirements, especially in physical characteristics. However, the competition for a position in the program remained fierce due to the lack of comparable opportunities for working women in the 1930s through the 1970s.

TWA ceased operations in 2001.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes + 1 oversize box)

Language of Materials

English

Physical Location

RH PH 541

Physical Location

RH PH 541(f)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchase, Between the Covers. Rare Book, Inc., 2018.

Processing Information

Materials in this collection came in four scrapbooks or binders. Items were removed from most of these binders and placed in folders in order to aid access to the collection; the TWA-branded binders were kept, and one scrapbook due to its size was kept as a single unit.

Source

Subject

Title
The Guide to the Trans World Airlines' Hostess School Photographs Collection
Subtitle
Trans World Airlines' Hostess School Photographs
Author
Finding aid prepared by anm. Finding aid encoded by anm.
Date
2019-04-03
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/7440273090
Preferred citation
Trans World Airlines' Hostess School Photographs Collection, RH PH 541, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334