A Leap for History

By Kevin Hieronymus

When Hanna Albrecht left her tiny hometown of Ohio, Ill. 14 years ago to attend the University of Illinois, she, like any other college student, was ready to try some new adventures. She heard about a sky diving club and was ready to give it a try. “It just kind of a whim. Just seemed liked something to do,” she said. “I got out of college and just continued jumping.” Albrecht, 32, has been diving for 13 years with 2,000 dives to her credit. She is a member of Sky Knights Sports Parachute Club with Skydive Milwaukee, based out of East Troy, Wis., making the trip north most weekends when it’s nice weather. Hanna Albrecht “It’s just far enough to get away for the weekend,” said Albrecht, who is also a private pilot.

Certainly skydiving comes with a thrill and an adrenaline rush streaking across the sky. But that’s not why Albrecht does it.

“I just like to have fun. I have an active inner child,” she said. “I’m not really in it for the thrill. I’m in it for the fun.”

Every jump is different, she said, and that’s one of the things she likes about it most.

“It’s new and different every time,” Albrecht said.

Does she have any fear?

“Not really,” she said. “For me, I like to have wellplanned fun, and I really don’t like to be scared. As far as I’m concerned, I really like some of the structure of the sport itself. I don’t think you make good decisions if you’re afraid. So try to plan to not do things that are scary.”

About a year ago, Albrecht applied for the Highlight Pro Skydiving Team, an elite all-female demonstration jump team based out of Arizona with women from all over the country.

They come with all the bells and whistles, flying smoke, streamers and large flags, bringing high energy and excitement to your events, attracting expanded media attention to their shared missions.

“I’ve been jumping for about 13 years. Maybe seven years ago, I started demonstrating jumps, so they were looking for women that were doing a broad range of things and demonstration jumps were one of them,” Albrecht said.

This past summer, on Aug. 18, Albrecht took part in a historic dive with the Highlight Pro SkyDivers in Nashville, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed and protected women’s constitutional right to vote. Tennessee was the last state to ratify the amendment, making it national law on Aug. 18, 1920.

Albrecht was the last of eight divers that dove over the Parthenon and landed in Centennial Park shortly before the dedication of the Tennessee Womens’ Suffrage Monument, and got to “end the show.”

Her gold and white parachute had “VOTE” written across in large letters. She proudly displayed a large purple flag with the inscription, “Shall not be denied,” the language of the first sentence of the 19th Amendment.

The 15-foot by 25-foot flags are heavy and can pose some challenges for someone like Albrecht’s stature. But like her hometown Ohio Bulldogs are well known for, the 5-foot-tall Albrecht is small, but mighty.

“They’re a little bit heavy, so my small stature makes it a little bit awkward for me to move around. But you know where I grew up. I’m used to hard work,” she said.

Other divers carried similar banners with messages proclaiming, “Votes for Women,” and “Equality Can’t Wait,” just like the women before them carried on their protest flags 100 years ago outside of the White House.

The colors of their team jerseys pay homage to the official colors of the suffrage movement: Purple for loyalty, white for purity and gold for hope.

“It was overwhelming to be a part of. It was an important milestone,” Albrecht said. “I feel really proud, really lucky to get to be involved in that sort of celebration and being with an organization that can promote and lift up some voices of people that maybe otherwise don’t have a platform to let their voice be heard.

“I was really happy to use my hobby for good instead of just fun.”

Typically, the Highlight Skydivers hosts major in-person events for their jumps, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, they offered a livestream of the jump so everyone — especially young girls — could watch at home.

The view of Nashville was breathtaking, like none other a tourist would ever see from the ground.

“It’s beautiful. It looks a lot different walking downtown than flying downtown,” Albrecht said. “I’ve never been to Nashville before. It was wonderful introduction to the city. It’s a city I’d love to go back and spend some time there.”

Hanna Albrecht of Ohio, Ill. takes part in the Nashville Suffrage Demo during the 100th anniversary of the signing of the 19th Amendment. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID WYBENGA/D SQUARED PHOTOGRAPHY