The World Wings International, Inc. Research Grant

The World Wings International, Inc. (WWI) Research Grant, is an annual grant which is open to advanced graduate students, independent scholars, and faculty members who are interested in conducting research on the organizational records of WWI, a historic association of former Pan Am flight attendants. Priority will be given to research proposals that will result in publication in any media. Up to $2,000 will be awarded annually to support scholarly research using the World Wings International, Inc. Records, housed at University of Miami Special Collections.

Since its first international flight in 1927, Pan Am positioned itself as a world leader in American commercial aviation. Formed in 1959, World Wings International, Inc. is an association of former Pan Am flight attendants that is now dedicated to charitable activities. The World Wings International, Inc. Records, currently housed at Special Collections in the Otto G. Richter Library, includes the administrative records of the organization, as well as scrapbooks, photographs, membership and annual meetings files, correspondence, and financial records.

Prospective researchers are encouraged to explore new areas of scholarship and inquiry within the World Wings International, Inc. Records. The vast collection supports research in the areas of history, geography, business, sociology, and gender studies, among others. We also encourage creative writers to use these materials to inspire short stories, poetry, novels, and even art work. The research should advance the image of World Wings International, Inc., and encourage further study into the role former Pan Am flight attendants had in the history of aviation, philanthropy, feminism, and women’s business history.

Grant awardees will be required to give a presentation to faculty, students, staff, and interested community members.

Application Procedures
Applicants must submit a proposal of no more than two pages describing their research project, include a curriculum vitae or résumé, and provide two letters of recommendation. A WWI Board Member will sit on the selection committee.

Application deadline May 15, 2018 (note: applications will be reviewed after deadline, and recipient will be announced one month after deadline. The successful applicant will have one year to fulfill their grant requirement. Any applicant failing to make arrangements to come to the University of Miami within the year allotted will forfeit their award).

Please send inquiries and applications to:

World Wings International, Inc. Research Grant
c/o Jay Sylvestre, Special Collections Librarian
University of Miami Libraries
PO Box 248214, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0320
j.sylvestre@miami.edu

About World Wings International, Inc. and the University of Miami Libraries

World Wings International, Inc. is the philanthropic organization of former Pan Am flight attendants who seek to maintain the historic Pan Am tradition of global humanitarian assistance, safeguard Pan Am’s place in aviation history, and promote friendship among its members through cultural and civic activities. For more information about the organization, visit the World Wings International, Inc. website.

Special Collections preserves and provides access to research materials focusing on the history and culture of Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America. The department also curates the official records of Pan American World Airways. For more information about the Special Collections of the University of Miami Libraries, visit our website.

Past Winners:

2015: Waleed Hazbun, “The Jet Set Frontier in the Middle East”
2016: Adelina Stefan, “Vacationing in the Cold War: Foreign Tourists to Socialist Romania and Francoist Spain in the 1960s-1970s”

*Images courtesy of the World Wings International, Inc. Records collection, University of Miami Special Collections