Yes-Ruth Carol Taylor was the 1st Black flight attendant. Hired in 1957 she worked for Mohawk Airlines breaking racial barriers. Taylor was also a Nurse, a journalist, a writer and an activist of womens rights and civil rights.
Born in Boston December 27, 1931 into a family of black, white, and Cherokee heritage she attended Elmira College and graduated as a registered nurse from the Bellevue School of Nursing in New York City.
Taylor made the decision to the first black “Stewardess” and applied to Trans World Airline better known as (TWA). Taylor was rejected and subsequently filed a complaint against the company with the New York State Commission on Discrimination. Mohawk Airlines hired Taylor in December 1957 and on February 11, 1958, she was one of 800 African American women interviewed for the position. Taylor was the flight attendant on a Mohawk Airlines flight from Ithaca to New York, the first time such a position had been held by an African American.
In a 1997 Jet interview, Ta…
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