At one point during the cooperative’s history, there were up to 140 active clubs and associations operating in and around the Rochdale Village community. One group was so unique in its approach to activities that their main goal was to teach children how to fly. Not just have them believe that they could fly but to literally enter a plane’s cockpit, ascend to the heavens, take off and fly.

In 1967, Ida Van Smith, became founder and president of the Ida Van Smith Flight Clubs, Inc., which established its first location in Group 4, Building 15. Who was Ida Van Smith and why is she important to the legacy of Rochdale Village? Ms. Smith grew up in Lumberton, North Carolina and was exposed to the field of flying at a very early age. At roughly the age of three or four, her dad would bring her to a small airfield where they’d watch the planes together. Ida would marvel at the pilots, their ability to maneuver the crafts carefully into the sky and rest them safely back on the ground again. She became captivated by the miracle of flight and knew one day she too would pilot a plane.

In the case of Ms. Van Smith, a dream deferred was not a dream denied. Her goal to fly did not happen immediately although it did occur in appropriate time. Years after graduating Shaw College then Queens College with a Master’s degree, marriage, kids and a career, Ms. Van Smith at the age of 50 made the move to take flying instructions at an airport in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As she practiced, she noticed little children gathering along the airport fence to watch her. What she realized later was that they’d never seen a Black female pilot and they were just as enchanted by the idea of flight as she was when a little girl. At the end of each practice session, she’d engage the children in conversation to hear about their interest in flying. While her father accompanied her to the airport to watch planes in her formative years, she’d noticed that the children had no adult supervision with them. That’s when she decided to form the Ida Van Smith Flight Clubs for Children with the goal of introducing kids to the field of aviation.

Ms. Van Smith went on to open more than 20 flight clubs for African American children aged 13-19 to acquaint them with the field of aeronautics. Additionally, she taught introductory aviation at York College-CUNY and hosted a cable television access show in the 1970’s.

Ida Van Smith died in 2003 and is listed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives under Women in Aviation and Space History. In additional to numerous awards, Ms. Van Smith is also a member of the prestigious Tuskegee Airman’s Black Wings, Negro Airman International and the Ninety-Nines. Not a hidden figure but a shining star. We salute Rochdaler and pioneer Ms. Ida Van Smith.

Caption: Trainees Tretor, Gayle Holden and Mrs. Sylvia Holden from the Ida Van Smith Flight Clubs at Rochdale Village in front of Cessna Aircraft.

Community Curation

Rochdale Village, Inc., Jamaica Queens New York