U.S. Air Force Academy Ready to Accept Women, October 8, 1975
The U.S. Air Force Academy, the last of the U.S. military service academies to be founded, was established in 1954. The first Academy class entered in July 1955 as the class of 1959. Women were not allowed to be admitted to the service academies, whose mission was to produce career officers for the military. However, the U.S. Air Force Academy began to study the possibility of women cadets following the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment by the U.S. Congress in 1972. A further push came from a legal suit filed by a U.S. representative from California, whose female nominee was continually rejected. The judge supported the Academy’s argument for the exclusion of women, noting that “Lt. Gen. Clark’s references to the combat role of Academy graduates is persuasive.”
Congress responded by amending the fiscal year 1976 military appropriations bill to allow women to be admitted to the service academies. President Gerald Ford signed the law on October 7, 1975. This press release was issued by the Director of Information at the U.S. Air Force Academy on October 8, 1975, in response to media inquiries about the significant change. Women entered the Air Force Academy for the first time on June 28, 1976, as the class of 1980. The National Archives at Denver holds a collection of news releases following the progress of these women, and the women assigned to support them as they broke the glass ceiling.
Our office holds news releases, photographs, and correspondence that document the development and history of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.
U.S. Air Force Academy Press Release #328, October 8, 1975. National Archives Identifier: 431966321.
View and download this news release from the National Archives Catalog. This document is one example of the many records held at the National Archives at Denver. You can explore more of our holdings through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Denver in person. This record is located within Record Group 461: Records of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Series: News Releases, 1959–1987. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized.