LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 18, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio Plans were in the making for the third “Wings Over LeRoy” event this month at the DW Airport on Asbury Road but we all know why that isn’t going to happen. It is unfortunate, because with the celebration of the 19th amendment, I was gathering information about all the women aviators who participated in the airshows that were held in the late 1920s. I will be sharing that information in next week’s Pennysaver article. We also hoped to put together information about the new exhibit “The Changemakers” at the Rochester Museum and Science Center which will include the story of Dorothy Layne McIntyre of LeRoy. This exhibit, which opens on November 10 in Rochester, showcases over 100 women in the Rochester area who changed history. I have written about Dorothy Layne several times. She was a pioneer in women’s aviation and was included in the book, “Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science” published in 2002. Dorothy was born in LeRoy on January 27, 1917 and graduated from LeRoy High School in 1936. The yearbook mentions that she participated in tennis, track, hunting and swimming. She had a sister Ruth and a brother Clyde E. Layne and a step-brother Lewis Alexander. She was raised on a farm by her father Clyde and her grandparents after her mother died. It was her grandmother who told her to get an education so she would not have to work in “white folks kitchens.” Growing up, she remembered attending the airshows at the DWAirport on Asbury Road and going up for airplane rides. Dorothy attended West Virginia State College. When the Civilian Aeronautics Authority (CAA) began its program to train civilian pilots in the event of war, it included six (later ten) black colleges among the 200 colleges where training would take place. On September 11, 1939, West Virginia State became the first black college to be approved for the program. It was located next to Wertz Field at Charleston’s airport. The CAA required one woman to be admitted into each group of ten men in the training program. Dorothy applied, confident that her strong skills in math and science would give her an advantage. She also counted on her athletic abilities to pass the physical test. As she said, the test was “very strenuous and you had to be insured by Lloyd’s of London if you were accepted into the program.” Dorothy wrote that flying was exhilarating: “It’s such a peaceful feeling to be up there, especially when I’m alone. I say, ‘Dorothy, this is the closest that you’re going to get to heaven right now.” In order to receive her license, she had to know all the civil air regulations, flight instruments, radio operations, airplane engines, parachuting, meteorology and navigation and put in at least 35 hours in the air - - solo and cross country. She received her license on February 23, 1940. As soon as she received her license, she responded to a Baltimore newspaper ad calling for licensed pilots who wanted more training. She telephoned and received an enthusiastic response: “Where have you been? Come on down.” She showed up in person and the recruiter looked at her and said “We’re all filled up.” Dorothy later said, “In those days you heard a lot about ‘we’re all filled up.’” Dorothy graduated from college in 1941 and continued flying near Rochester and Cleveland. She married Francis “Benny” Benjamin McIntyre in 1942 in Cleveland and when he went into service during the war, she moved to Baltimore to live with her sister and taught aircraft mechanics at the War Production Training School, and at the same time worked as a secretary in the industrial department of the Baltimore Urban League. After the war, Dorothy and Benny lived in Cleveland and she became involved with social work and taught sixth grade in the Cleveland public school system. They raised two daughters, Dianne and Donna. I contacted Donna McIntyre Whyte, Phd. through the internet. She teaches courses in African-American history, African history, urban studies, black studies and comparative religion at Cleveland University. Donna put me in contact with her sister, Dianne who is the founder of a modern dance company, “Sounds in Motion.” Interestingly, Dianne created “Takeoff from a Forced Landing,” a dance to honor her mother’s achievements in aviation. On June 19, 1984, Diane presented her evening-length dance including a narration based on “Mrs. McIntyre’s on-nonsense memories and crisp flight instruction…” It was a metaphor of the obstacles and disappointments and success of her mother’s aviation experiences. “People who have always been on the ground would be surprised at what they don’t know. It’s only gravity that keeps us down, that pulls us to Earth. But you know, I’ve felt that if you could get a little air underneath your feet, you could just float.” Dorothy Layne MacIntyre died on August 30, 2015 at the age of 98. She was a member of the Tuskegee Airman's Alumni Association and was inducted into the Cleveland Educators and Alumni Hall of Fame. The LeRoy Historical Society is proud to be a sponsor of “The Changemakers” that will recognize Dorothy’s remarkable contributions as a woman, as an African American, as a pioneer in aviation and as a LeRoyan. Just as a side note, the annual “Golden Wing” award, which was awarded during the annual Wings Over LeRoy event at the airport, will be presented this year on Saturday October 24, to the restaurant serving the “best chicken wings.” Previous winners have been Mooney’s in 2018, with their peanut butter and jelly wings, and last year, Woody’s Deli on North Street won the coveted “Golden Wing” award. The judging will take place at LeRoy House, and because of group size restrictions, will not be open to the public. Results will be announced on LeRoy Then and Now. Dorothy Layne of LeRoy to be included in Exhibit in Rochester: “The Changemakers”