Amelia Earhart

Amelia smiles under the nose of her Lockheed aircraft

EARLY LIFE

Amelia Mary Earhart known to us as Amelia was born on July 24,1897 in Atchison, Kansas.Although we all know Ms. Earhart as an aviator with a love for planes, this wasn’t always the case. When she was ten, Amelia saw her first plane and was unimpressed. “It was a thing of rusty wire and wood ad looked not at all interesting,” she recounted. Little did she know that after lots of career opportunities her heart would settle on flying. As a young child Amelia’s parents had a troubled relationship which led Amelia’s father, Edwin, to alcohol. When Amelia was 12, the Earhart’s left Kansas, settling wherever Edwin found work. Although Amelia loved her father, he let her down a lot, causing Amelia to become very self reliant and independent at a young age. Later on, a scrapbook created by Earhart in high school was found full of a number of articles about women creating careers for themselves…. For the conservative times of the early 1900s Amelia was considered a young girl with radical dreams. Aside for her unconventional dreams, Amelia didn’t exactly fit into the ladylike mold. She was sent to finishing school, only to get kicked out for playing pranks all the time. Amelia was looked upon as a rebel who wouldn’t conform to the classic ideals of women.

Earhart and Noonan

CAREER

During Earhart’s early adulthood, World War I broke out, and in her second year of college Amelia joined the nurses to help aid wounded soldiers. After the war, Amelia decided to pursue medicine, only to discover her love for planes soon after. In the winter of 1920, Earhart saw her first airplane show and took her first ride in the sky. “As soon as our plane left the ground I knew I had to fly.” she said. Neta Snooks taught Ms. Earhart how to fly and on December 15, 1921 Amelia became the first woman to receive a flying license from the National Aeronautics Association. Earhart worked many different jobs (many of which were “unladylike”) in order to save up for her own aircraft. She was finally able to buy her own airplane when she turned 25. In 1924 Earhart returned to college and became a social worker and only continued flying as a hobby. In 1928 Earhart became the first woman to fly over the Atlantic ocean as “Lady Lindy” coined by her future husband, George Palmer Putnam, a publicist. Against her past beliefs of staying single for life, Amelia and George married in 1931. Rumor spread that people didn’t actually believe Amelia was a capable pilot, rather just a pretty figure head that lived in her husband’s shadow. Amelia was furious when she heard these accusations so she set out to debunk people’s myths about her. Amelia piloted a tiny single engined Lockheed Electra from Canada to Ireland. Later, in 1932, old 5 years after Lindbergh's trip over the Atlantic Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic!

Amelia empowered women to start careers in men dominated professions

WOMAN'S ACTIVISM

Aside for her flying feats Amelia was also a great women’s activist. Ms. Earhart encouraged women to reject constrictive social norms of the raging time and to pursue opportunities and careers that otherwise would not be offered. Amelia motivated women to empower themselves for they could be equal to men. Ms. Earhart also founded an organization of women aviators that would later be called “the Ninety-Nines”. She was also the first celebrity to put out a clothing line made “for the woman who lives actively”.

Amelia Earhart brought her own special style—even to her outerwear (Amelia's aviator jacket)

This photo was taken on June 6th, 1937 only 4 days after Earhart set out to set the record to be the first woman to circle the globe.

HER FINAL FLIGHT

On June 1st 1937 Earhart set out to make a record and fly around the world with her copilot Fred Noonan. The duo departed from Miami and headed east. They made many stops in the next couple of weeks when finally on June 29th they landed in New Guinea. The pair departed from New Guinea on July 2nd and headed 2,600 miles away to Howland Island. Since the plane was very small, the U.S. situated two Navy boats in the Ocean to help Earhart navigate by following their route. Late into the journey Earhart reportedly radioed that they were running low on fuel and only about an hour later she radioed her last words, “We are running north and south.” After that transmission all contact with Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan was forever lost. The search for the two was called off on July 19th, 1937. After the assumed tragedy many were feeling defeated, but as the National Women’s Party wrote in its publication, Equal Rights, “There will never be a ‘Last Flight’ for Amelia Earhart as long as her work is carried on the wings of penned words to those who believe in freedom for women as well as men.” ‘Till today Amelia Earhart’s disappearance remains an enigma that no one has a definite answer to. . … Which leads us to question….Where is Amelia now?