Background
She was born on New Year"s Eve in 1878 in Salem County, New Jersey.
She was born on New Year"s Eve in 1878 in Salem County, New Jersey.
Elizabeth had two brothers: Doctor Jesse R. Diverty Lippincott. A physician; and Reverend Benjamin Crispin Lippincott, Junior.
Elizabeth married Ulysses Grant McQueen (1864-1937) in 1900. He was a wealthy inventor and manufacturer in New York City.
They lived in New York City until 1928, then moved to Beverly Hills, California.
During World War I, Mistress McQueen left her home and served in war relief work in Palestine under Field Marshal Allenby.
In 1919, she founded the Jerusalem News, the first English-language newspaper in Jerusalem. Interest in aviation
In 1920, she witnessed seven airplanes "take the place of two British regiments of soldiers" in routing a large number of rebel Arab cavalry in the desert near Aden.
This ignited her interest in aviation.
In September 1928, she organized the Women"s Aeronautic Association of California. Similar organizations were soon founded in New York, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. In May 1929, these various groups were merged into the Women"s International Association of Aeronautics (WIAA), and this organization became the principal focus of her activities for the rest of her life.
There was even a junior division of the WIAA, formed in 1931.
Members under 7 years old were called "tailwinds", and those from 7 through 20 years old were called "zoomers". In 1929, Mistress McQueen and Lady Heath approached the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Paris in order to have women"s air records recognized.
At the same time, in order to arouse greater interest in women"s flying, Mistress McQueen conceived the idea and was one of the principal organizers of the first Women"s Air Derby from Santa Monica, California, to the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland.
(This event would become known as the "Powder Puff Derby")
Later life
Ulysses Grant McQueen died in 1937, and about 1955 Mistress
McQueen married Doctor Irving Reed Bancroft, a prominent retired Los Angeles physician. Death
Her archive is at the University of Southern California, Doheny Memorial Library in the Rare Books & Manuscripts room.