Jimmie Allene Hudson was born April 13, 1904 in Copperas Cove, Coryell County, Texas to Robert L. Hudson (1871 – 1912) and Ollie Maye Thompson Hudson (1873 – 1961). Jimmie was the middle child of three siblings. In the 1900 census, Robert’s profession was listed as “dreyman” which was a term to describe a person who drove a flat bed wagon. In 1910, Robert’s profession was listed as being a carrier for the United States mail. No cause of death is noted, but Robert passed away two years later at the age of forty when Jimmie was just eight years old. In 1914, Ollie Maye married a doctor named William Arthur Gault (1867 – 1950). Dr. Gault had been born in Travis County and was a member of the large family that included lawman Maney Gault, who was a cousin. Dr. Gault and Ollie later settled in Electra, Texas were he continued his medical practice.
Jimmie married Charles Francis Kolp on April 22, 1922 in Wilbarger County. C. F. Kolp had been born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1878. He came to Texas as a young adult. Charles was known for having been an early manager of the Waggoner oil refinery and a long time independent oil operator.
The story of how Jimmie became interested in aviation goes back to 1928 or 1929 and one day in Electra. According to an article in the Corsicana Daily Sun in 1969, Jimmie had just left the movie theater in town when she looked up and saw an airplane. The pilot had come to Electra from Tulsa, Oklahoma in connection with an oilfield assignment. Jimmie sought out the pilot and took a ride that same afternoon. One year later, she had completed flying lessons and took her first solo flight in an OX5 Eaglerock, a biplane, in nearby Wichita Falls. When she earned her license, it was number 10 and notes say she was the seventh licensee among female pilots. Charles purchased a single wing, single engine, white and red open cockpit Spartan airplane later that year and surprised Jimmie with it at Christmas. Over the next forty years, Jimmie was actively involved in aviation.
The couple moved from Wilbarger County to Electra, just into Wichita County. They purchased a home built in the late 1920s by W. T. Waggoner, Jr., grandson of W. T. Waggoner, on what is now Waggoner Street which runs north and south through Electra. W. T. Waggoner, Jr. had taken flying lessons at the same time that Jimmie had taken hers. Charles had a basic airport constructed north of the highway about half the distance between Electra and Harrold. It had three unpaved runways. It can no longer be seen from the air, but is noted on earlier maps.(1)
She was a notable pilot and earned a considerable reputation and was acquainted with other pilots such as Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Howard Hughes and many others. The article from November 16, 1969 in the Corsicana Daily Sun set out some of her honors and her long years of service in the aviation field. She served on the Women’s Advisory Committee on Aviation of the Federal Aviation Administration during the term of President Johnson. She was one of the few Americans in Seoul, Korea when the North Korean captives of the USS Pueblo were released.
Jimmie became a member of many early flying organizations including the OX5 Association (named for women who learned to fly in aircraft built primarily in the 1920s and 1930s and powered by the Curtiss OX5 engine), the Nintety-Nines (an organization of women fliers founded or co-founded by Amelia Earhart at a time when there were only 117 licensed female pilots in the United States) and other groups.
During World War II, Jimmie flew as an officer in the Civil Air Patrol which allowed her to retain her license and fly at a time when most other civilian flyers in the United States were grounded. Although it is not as common to hear of the Civil Air Patrol today, the organization dates back to 1936. According to its website (2), a World War I aviator named Gill Robb Wilson had returned from Germany with the awareness of an impending war and the need to mobilize civilian flyers for national defense. He was joined by other leaders who had similar convictions, leading to a coalition of several local/regional organizations and the creation of the Civil Air Patrol in 1941. The proposal was approved by Congress. The national headquarters began to operate less than a few days before the December 7, 1941 attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. It was quite active during World War II, spotting for submarines, safeguarding shipping lanes, monitoring the southern border with Mexico, providing courier services, towing targets, disaster relief and many other duties. During the war the organization was transferred from the Office of Civilian Defense to the Department of War by a 1943 executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Jimmie Kolp was the first woman commissioned by the Civil Air Patrol of Texas and during the war she provided courier services out of San Antonio. Her rank in the Civil Air Patrol was second lieutenant. While in North Texas, the Kolps held benefits at their 120 acre airfield to promote war bonds. Their field was also used to train pilots from Wichita Falls’ Sheppard Air Force Base.
Charles passed away at his home in Electra on January 20, 1947 from a heart ailment, possibly contributed to by complications related to a surgical procedure he had gone through a few months earlier. His death certificate was signed by his father in law, Dr. W. A. Gault. Charles was interred in Old Electra Cemetery, just north of town and west of the road heading north out of town.
Jimmie remained active as a flyer throughout the rest of her life and was an avid supporter and promoter of women in aviation as well as advances in the field. She said she flew almost weekly. On September 16, 1970, Jimmie had felt ill upon leaving Longview where she had been visiting friends. She flew her Cessna to Love Field in Dallas where she had intended to catch a commercial flight to Temple to be seen by her doctor. While waiting to board the flight she suffered a suspected heart attack, after which she was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Her funeral was held at Electra’s First Baptist Church. Jimmie is interred at New Electra Cemetery also just north of town and east of the old cemetery.
In addition to her many honors and acknowledgements, on April 20, 2024, a historical marker was dedicated to her at Wichita Falls Regional Airport.
Notes:
(1) Paul Freeman’s excellent website, Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields, Texas – Wichita Falls Area.
(2) Civil Air Patrol – www.gocivilairpatrol.com
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