Millie Alford

Rose Mildred “Millie” Alford was the first director of the American Airlines Stewardess College when it opened in Fort Worth in 1957. C.R. Smith, the airline’s founder and president, appointed her. She had started at American as a stewardess and rose into management. She served the company for 33 years.

Her record from those years:

• In 1958 LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole photographed her as head of the school, congratulating graduate Barbara Cline.
• American gave her its Distinguished Service Award, the company’s highest honor, in 1963.
• In 1964 she became a charter member of the FAA’s Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation.
• In 1969 trade press described her as the highest-ranking woman at any U.S. carrier, while she directed stewardess service for American.

She also appears on camera in a 1968 documentary about the college, talking about wardrobe and standards.

Millie graduated from the University of Montevallo in 1942, and the school gave her its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1952. She died in Gadsden, Alabama, on May 11, 2000. Her memorial service took place on June 15, 2000, at the Stewardess College, by then the American Airlines Training and Conference Center.

What Robyn remembers

Robyn started Stewardess College on June 24, 1971. In her memory, Millie was more administrator than classroom teacher, and she handpicked the instructors who ran the school’s interviews. Robyn remembers her as warm. Millie called the trainees “her girls” and came to every graduation, Robyn’s included. She stood at the bottom of the staircase for the class photo, and that staircase is gone now.

Millie’s story is a Golden Wings segment in development and is not in the current cut of the film.