A Legacy of Flight

Growing up, Toni Paylor ’27 didn’t pick famous African American activists like Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass for her Black History Month posters.

She had her own Smithsonian-worthy ancestor to highlight: her great-grandmother, Ida Van Smith, an aviation pioneer who learned to fly at age 50 and founded more than 20 flight clubs for underprivileged children across the United States in the 1970s.

“I’m so proud that she’s part of me and my family,” said Paylor. “People in my age group don’t know about her, and I wanted to bring light to that.”

Now, four decades after her great-grandmother became the first Black woman inducted into the International Forest of Friendship, a memorial to notable aviators, Paylor is honoring Smith’s legacy by pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland and forging her own path in an industry that remains overwhelmingly white and male.

Smith was the daughter of sharecroppers, born in Lumberton, N.C., who watched the airplanes at the local municipal airport and dreamed of flying. But she was pushed into a safe career as a teacher instead. It wasn’t until her four children were grown and she retired that she decided to give her dream another go.

It wasn’t easy—she was turned away at flight schools, but her attitude was, “Nobody can stop me,” said Vandaliah Aderholt, Paylor’s mom, Smith’s granddaughter and an assistant director in University Human Resources. “If you tell me no, I’m going to the next door and the next door until I get my ‘yes.’”

Eventually she did, and she earned a pilot’s license and instructor rating—allowing her to not only fly small aircraft, but teach aviation classes. Then she founded the Ida Van Smith Flight Clubs to give kids ages 13-19, especially Black teens, an introduction to aeronautics. With chapters from New York to Texas, she educated thousands by taking them flying, introducing them to airline personnel and bussing them to museums. She died in 2003 at age 86.

“She let them know they could be anything they wanted to be,” said Aderholt.

That spirit motivates Paylor today. While she’s always been good at math, some other technical aspects of engineering have posed a challenge during her first year and a half. But thanks to the support of the A. James Clark Scholars Program, the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering and the Black Engineers Society, she’s been able to succeed not only in classes, but also conduct research.

“Freshman year, sometimes I would be scared to ask questions,” she said. “I felt like I wasn’t just representing myself, but also Black people, Black women in STEM. I didn’t want to be seen as too loud, too passionate. But I’ve realized I’m supposed to be here, and I shouldn’t be ashamed to speak up.”

One of her favorite moments at UMD so far was speaking to NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’00 while the alumna was aboard the International Space Station.

“It was mind-blowing, asking questions of her while she was up there in space,” said Paylor, who often sees Epps’ signed photo up in the CMSE offices. “Knowing she was in these same chairs, in these same classes, it definitely gives me a push.”

Now, Paylor hopes to build a sisterhood for fellow Black women at UMD, emulating Smith, who rubbed shoulders with pioneers like Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, and was a member of the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots, including Amelia Earhart. Paylor has restarted the local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women, an organization dedicated to service, and already has more than 100 people signed up on her email list. She’s planning to start meetings this semester.

“I want to create a space where people feel like they belong,” said Paylor, who eventually hopes to restart the Ida Van Smith Flight Clubs as well.