Background
Steadman was born Bernice Trimble in 1925 in Rudyard, Michigan.
Steadman was born Bernice Trimble in 1925 in Rudyard, Michigan.
She graduated from Flint Central High School in Flint, Michigan.
Steadman was one of thirteen women chosen to train as astronauts during the early 1960s. The group later became known as the Mercury 13. However, Steadman and the other twelve women in the program were denied the opportunity to become astronauts due to their gender.
Steadman, a professional pilot, later co-founded the International Women"s Air & Space Museum in Ohio during the 1980s.
She took a job at Air Corps Spark Plug after high school to save money for flight lessons. She obtained her pilot"s license before she received a driver"s license.
She became a charter pilot and eventually opened her own flight school and charter company, Trimble Aviation, based in Flint, Michigan. Steadman trained more than 200 men who ultimately became airline pilots at her school.
Bernice Steadman became one of the first women in the United States to obtain a Airline Transport Rating (ATR), the highest rating a pilot can receive.
She also chaired the Airport Commission in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Steadman was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Michigan Women"s Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2001, Steadman published her autobiography, "Tethered Mercury: A Pilot"s Memoir: The Right Stuff — But the Wrong Sex," detailing her career and the Mercury 13 program
She noted that United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson had written "Stop This Now" across a document upon learning of the Mercury 13 project
Bernice Steadman died at her home on Traverse City, Michigan, on March 18, 2015, at the age of 89 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer"s disease.
Steadman was a charter member of the Federal Aviation Agency"s (Federal Aviation Administration) on women"s advisory committee on aviation.