Helene Dutrieu

For a while now, partially under the influence of the Transportation History Collection at the library where I work, I have been interested in Victorian women cyclists. Yesterday I got the idea to make a book/zine about women cyclists and specifically their cycling costumes; while nosing around for information I found the photo that this drawing is based on.

Helen Dutrieu (1877 - 1961) was a total badass. Born in Belgium, she began cycling competitively to support her family when just a teenager, won several world championships and achieved the women's world record for cycling distance in an hour. She then moved on to performing daring bicycle/motorcycle/automobile stunts in the theater and vaudeville (although presumably out-of-doors in the case of automobiles). In 1910 she became only the fourth licensed woman aviator in the world, and also achieved several firsts--the first woman to fly with a passenger and the first woman to stay airborne for more than an hour. During World War I she drove an ambulance, then directed a military hospital, and after World War I she became a journalist.

Nevertheless there is not a lot of information published about this incredible woman! I found one book, "Before Amelia" by Eileen Lebow, that includes an extended account of her achievements; other than that it is brief mentions. I even looked in the index of a French history of aviation and she wasn't listed, even though she was licensed in France and eventually became a French citizen.

I think Helene's life story would make an excellent basis for a comic book and am mulling ideas over ... I have a couple of other small things I want to do first and also just need to work on my basic writing and drawing skills, but maybe later this year I'll start!