[1][2] Her grandfather Elizur Stillman Goodrich ran the Hartford–New York Steamboat Company and the Hartford–Wethersfield Horse Railway.

[3] She attended the Collegio Gazzola in Verona, Italy, and Gibbs College before moving on to Columbia University.

[1][3] Jenson earned her pilot's license in 1927, at the age of 20, thereby becoming the first woman in Connecticut to achieve that milestone.

[1] A year after obtaining her license, Jenson bought her first plane, a Fairchild KR-21 single-engine biplane.

[3] She competed in air shows in events such as racing and "bomb throwing," which involved dropping bags of flour at ground targets.