Who was the first licensed female pilot in the USA?

Harriet Quimby was an American journalist and screenwriter who became the first American woman to gain a pilot's license. On the 1st of August, 1911 she received the Aero Club of America license #37, becoming the first woman pilot in America. Quimby also became the first female aviator to fly across the English Channel.

Unfortunately her fame lasted only a short while. She was tragically killed in an airplane accident in 1912. Even after her death she remained one of the most influential and respected women in the history of aviation.