Ruth Nichols was one of a group of early flyers who dedicated their lives to make America "Air Minded." She helped to prove that aviation was not just a man's world, by demonstrating that women could do anything in the air that a man could do. Out of the many early records she set came new ideas and equipment, all of which helped to develop the far-reaching industry we know today. Admiral Richard Byrd once said, "There were a handful of women who shared in the hardships and perils of aviation pioneering. Two names that stand out as I look back upon the late 'twenties and early 'thirties, Amelia Earhart and Ruth Nichols."