The First YL ....

While searching the internet for YL club pages I came across several web pages which talked about the First YL (or first licensed female ham) in their country or the first YL to go on a DXpedition to this island, etc. This made me think that I should search for more YL firsts and I've listed below those I have found so far. If you know of any others that should be added or have corrections to what I wrote below, please email me and include either a link or a reference.

The First US YL

From the book, "CQ-YL, The Story of Women in Amateur Radio" written by Louisa B. Sando, W5RZJ, the question is posed who was the "very first YL to enter an all male hobby?" The response is that "... it appears that the first lady amateur to be really well known from the Rockies to the East Coast was 8NH, Emma Chandler. Emma began operating in Jan. 1915 and was featured in "Who's Who in Amateur Wireless" in QST for Oct. 1916. The May 1917 issue has a photo and description of 8NH, Emma's station at St. Mary's, Ohio. If I can find this picture and get permission from the ARRL, I will try to put a copy of the picture here.

The First Netherland YL

In 1929, a Royal Decree established an Amateur Radio Examination Committee and the granting of personal licenses became a reality. In the period to July 1939, 455 licenses were granted, amongst which the first YL license issued on 29 October, 1929 to Leny van Blokhuijzen. You can read more about the Origins of Amateur Radio Behind the Dykes here . (Note: If anyone knows the callsign of Leny van Blokhuijzen, please email it to me.)

The First Canadian YL

In 1914 ... there were only 79 licensed amateurs in Canada, including the first YL (young lady), Miss M. S. Colville, XDD, of Bowmanville, Ontario. However, only about 10 percent of active amateurs were licensed.You can read more about this topic in The History of Amateur Radio Revisited (Part 3). Or you can read about the entire History of Manitoba Amateur Radio here.

First YLs to visit various Islands during a DXpedition

Kingman Reef - Ann Santos WA1S

Unni LA6RHA adds: The two first yls and also the two first radioamateur in the world to transmit from KVITØYA (White Island) at 80 degrees 5 minutes north and now if I am not mistaken an EU063, were JW9THA Turid and JW6RHA Unni. Our log was even signed by the captain of the ship who brought us up there.

We had 19 contacts from 9 countries from my Tentec Scout 555 - 50 Watt output and a dipole antenna. We had whalerusses popping up behind us and a polarbear on the other side of the bay. We had our life vest on just in case we had to flee the island. The ink in the pen froze so we had to use pencil. We had weapon near us just in case the polar bear would attack. A picture can be found by clicking here.

OK, this is all I have put together so far, stop by again since I will be adding more in the coming weeks.

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Last Updated: March 5th, 2001 by [email protected]