Bernice Blake Perry
{{Infobox person
| name = Bernice Blake Perry
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| birth_name = Bernice Gertrude Blake
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|3|2}}
| birth_place = Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-scholarship-fund-receiv/162843521/ |title=Scholarship fund receives $3m gift |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=2 NH |date=November 24, 1996 |accessdate=January 12, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1996|7|10|1905|3|2}}
| death_place = Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.{{cite news |title=Bernice Perry Dies at 91 |newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader |location=Manchester, New Hampshire |quote=Bernice Blake Perry, 91, of Milford, died July 10, 1996, at a Nashua hospital after a long illness. |date=July 13, 1996}}
| alma_mater =
| occupation = {{flatlist| Aviator, photographer, philanthropist}}
| years_active =
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| spouse = Winthrop Perry
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}}
Bernice Blake Perry (March 2, 1905 – July 10, 1996) was an American pilot and photographer. She was the first woman to earn a pilot's license in New Hampshire and the first female commercial pilot in New England.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-09 |title=Bernice Blake Perry Historic Marker |url=https://milfordhistory.com/perry-marker/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Milford Historical Society |language=en-US}} When she earned her license in 1929{{Cite web |last=The Cabinet |date=March 3, 2019 |title=Aviation trailblazer |url=https://www.cabinet.com/news/cabinet-news/2019/03/03/fast-news-11/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=cabinet.com |language=en-US}} she was one of only 117 female American pilots{{Cite web |last=The Ninety-Nines |first= |title=Our History (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.) |url=https://www.ninety-nines.org/our-history.htm |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=The Ninety-Nines, Inc. |language=en}} and was a charter member of the international female pilots' organization the Ninety-Nines.{{Cite web |last=The Ninety-Nines |first= |title=Our History Charter Members (The Ninety-Nines, Inc.) |url=https://www.ninety-nines.org/charter-members.htm |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=The Ninety-Nines, Inc. |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Pioneering female pilot subject of a NH Historical Highway Marker |url=https://www.dncr.nh.gov/news-and-media/pioneering-female-pilot-subject-nh-historical-highway-marker |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240726232135/https://www.dncr.nh.gov/news-and-media/pioneering-female-pilot-subject-nh-historical-highway-marker |archive-date=2024-07-26 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=NH Department of Natural & Cultural Resources |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cleveland |first=Kathy |date=March 11, 2019 |title=Trailblazer in the sky: Aviation museum honors Bernice Perry |url=https://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2019/03/11/trailblazer-in-the-sky-aviation-museum-honors-bernice-perry/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20190314023125/https://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2019/03/11/trailblazer-in-the-sky-aviation-museum-honors-bernice-perry/ |archive-date=March 14, 2019 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=nashuatelegraph.com |language=en-US}}
Career
She formed a photography and aerial photography business with her husband and took photos for organization such as the MacDowell Colony and the Cathedral of the Pines. One of her photographs at MacDowell was of Leonard Bernstein during his time there.{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Bernice B. |date=1960 |title=Leonard Bernstein |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007675664/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=www.loc.gov |language=en}} She also did work for various news organization, including the New Hampshire newspaper The Cabinet. Her aerial photographs included every airfield in New Hampshire and other sites in order to help develop new airports in New Hampshire.
Philanthropy
As the heir of the Blake's restaurant business she was known for her philanthropy. In 1984, she helped create the Hot Air for High Hopes Balloon Festival, an annual hot air balloon event that raised tens of thousand of dollars for charity until its end in 2006.{{Cite web |last=Online |first=Milford History |title=Milford History Online |url=https://milfordhistory.online/bernice-perry-milford-nh |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Milford History Online |language=en-US}} Upon her death in 1996, Perry left $4.5 million in scholarships for students in Milford, Lyndeborough and Wilton and donated over 43,000 photo negatives she had taken to the Milford Historical Society.
Personal life
Her father owned Blake's Creamery in Manchester, New Hampshire, and she met her husband, Winthrop Perry, at the airport.
See also
- New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 268: Bernice Blake Perry (1905–1996)
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{cite web |url=https://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2013/03/28/new-hampshires-first-female-aviator-well-known-photographer-and-philanthropist-bernice-blake-perry-1905-1996/ |title=New Hampshire's First Female Aviator, Well-Known Photographer and Philanthropist: Bernice Blake Perry (1905-1996) |first=Janice |last=Brown |date=March 28, 2013 |website=cowhampshireblog.com |accessdate=January 12, 2025}}
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Category:People from Manchester, New Hampshire
Category:American women aviators
Category:American women balloonists