Amelia Mary Earhart (1897-1937)

Amelia Earhart was an aviation pioneer.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas July 24th 1897, six years before the Wright brothers had their first historic flight in Kitty Hawk North Carolina. She moved around a lot as a child, but was able to complete her high school education at Hyde Park High School in Chicago in the year 1916. One year later, she volunteered as a nurse at Spadina Military Convalescent Hospital in Toronto. This hospital provided care primarily for the wounded soldiers of World War I. In 1919, Amelia attempted college, first at Columbia University in New York City, then in 1920 moved in with her parents in Los Angeles where she attented the University of Southern California for a brief period. While in California, Amelia learned to fly. The next year she purchased a Kinner Canary, her first plane. At this time there was less than 100 female pilots in the United States. In 1924, Amelia sold her plane, with that money she bought a car. She then drove her mother from Southern California to Massachusetts where they lived with her younger sister Muriel.

Amelia got work teaching at the University of Massachusetts Extension Program. She then went on to be a social worker with children in the Dennison House in Boston. In 1927, Amelia becomes interested in forming a club for women pilots. Her first inspiring feat happened in 1928 when George Putnam (a publisher/promoter) selected Amelia to be aboard a trans-atlantic flight as a passenger and standby pilot. The flight took place on June 17th and 18th, thus making Amelia the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Her only regret was that she didn't actually fly the plane. With newfound fame, she found it easy to "land" a job at Cosmopolitan Magazine as the Aviation editor, the same year she wrote her first book 20 Hours, 40 Minutes on the Transatlantic Flight.

The next year Amelia took place in the first Woman's Air Derby. This race featured 19 women pilots against each other.

"Finishing a race, as in anything else, is as important as starting, and sixteen of the women crossed the white line at the end. This was the highest percent of "finishers" in any cross country derby, up to that time, for men or women."--Selection from The Fun Of It, Written by Amelia Earhart 1932
Amelia took third place.

In 1930, 99 women aviators formed the first flying club exclusively for women, Amelia was the "99 Club"'s first president. In July of that year, she set the woman's flying speed record of approximately 180 miles per hour. In February 1931, George Putnam and Amelia Earhart wed. Two months later, Amelia sets another world record, for the highest altitude in an auto-gyro by a woman, 18,400 feet. Two months after this, she set out to complete her first solo transcontinental flight in the same auto-gyro, she was sponsored by the Beechnut company.

In 1932, In addition to being the vice president of Luddington Airlines, Inc., Amelia was also able to find time to fly across the Atlantic ocean in a record 14 hours 56 minutes. For this incredible triumph she was awarded

In the same year, she also published her second book, The Fun Of It.

In 1933, Amelia breaks her own previous North American Transcontinental record with a time of 17 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds. She also wins the Harman Trophy for the next two years, making her the recepient of the Harman Trophy three consecutive years. In January of 1935, she makes a solo flight from Honolulu Hawaii to Oakland California in just over 17 hours, becoming the first person to fly solo across the Pacific. By the year 1936, it seemed that all she had left to do was fly around the world, so she plans to do so.

After several attempts in 1937, on what seems to be her most successful attempt she loses radio contact in the central Pacific flying from New Guinea to Howland Island. She was never heard from again.

In a previous letter to her husband, she wrote

"Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

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Prepared by Richard Mugge, a student in Professor Catherine Lavender's History/Women's Studies 386 (Women in New York City, 1890-1940) course, The Department of History and The Program in Women's Studies, The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York.

Send email care of Professor Lavender at lavender@postbox.csi.cuny.edu.
Fall Semester 1998. Last modified: 14 December 1998