Women's Oral History

Houston Pilot Holly Cooper

Houston Pilot Holly Cooper discusses how she came to be a pilot, following her father’s suggestion to turn her love for the water into a career. After attending Texas A&M in Galveston, she began sailing on foreign-flagged ships working her way up from third mate, second mate, chief mate, to captain with an unlimited master’s ticket. Often the only woman on board a ship, she discusses the challenges that women faced getting into the profession both at sea and as pilots. A pilot’s job is local knowledge of the waterway, and Captain Cooper describes in detail the uniqueness of working the Houston Ship Channel. For complete Interview: http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/houhistory/item/1533/show/1530

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