Doctor Mom Chung

There’s little about Dr. Margaret “Mom” Chung’s story that you can call ordinary. From her status as the first known Chinese American woman doctor, to her secret mission to recruit pilots for the American Volunteer Group in World War II, to the ways she intentionally transgressed and presented both masculinity and femininity in her life in order to gain access and acceptance, to the thousands of soldiers and celebrities who gathered at her home, each new chapter in her life adds a fascinating dimension to her. In this episode of the podcast, part of our series on LGBTQ+ stories in aerospace, Dr. Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Professor of Asian American Studies and Associate Dean of the UC Irvine School of Humanities, sheds some light on this forgotten figure in aviation figure.

*Note from Sean* - The sound for this episode is a bit low quality due to a recording snafu on my part. Our guest sounds great, but I sound like I’m using a tin can for a microphone! The issue has been resolved for future episodes. Sorry about that!

Links after the jump.

Link to Judy Tzu-Chun Wu’s biography of Dr. Chung

Link to donate to The Museum of Flight

Link to The Flight Deck episode featuring Women Airforce Service Pilot Betty Dybbro