Mystery Woman :
Amelia Earhart:
Biography &
Facts About
Disappearance -
Amelia Earhart endures in the
American consciousness as one of the world's most celebrated aviators.
Amelia remains a
symbol of the power and perseverance of
American women, and the adventurous spirit so essential to the American persona.
Born in
Atchison, Kansas on July 24,
1897, the daughter of a railroad attorney, she spent her childhood in various towns, including Atchison and
Kansas City, Kansas and
Des Moines, Iowa. At age 19, Amelia attended
Ogontz School near
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two years later, after visiting her sister,
Muriel, in
Toronto, Canada, Amelia felt compelled to leave school.
Taking a course in
Red Cross First Aid, Amelia enlisting as a nurse's aide at
Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto, Canada, tending to wounded soldiers during
World War I.
The following year, Amelia enrolled as a premedical student at
Columbia University in New York. Shortly thereafter, Amelia's parents insisted she move to
California where they were living.
Learning to fly in California, she took up aviation as a hobby, taking odd jobs to pay for her flying lessons. In
1922, with the financial help of her sister, Muriel, and her mother, Amy
Otis Earhart, she purchased her first airplane, a
Kinner Airster.
Following her parent's divorce, Amelia moved back east where she was employed as a social worker in
Denison House, in
Boston, Massachusetts. It was there she was selected to be the first female passenger on a transatlantic flight, in 1928, by her future husband, the publisher,
George Palmer Putnam
Firsts
Amelia made great strides in opening the new field of aviation to women. In 1935, Amelia became the first person to fly from
Hawaii to the American mainland. By doing so, Amelia became not only the first person to solo anywhere in the
Pacific, but also the first person to solo both the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Also in 1935, Amelia joined the faculty of
Purdue University as a female career consultant. It was the purchase of a
Lockheed Electra, through Purdue University, that enabled Amelia to fulfill her dream -- circumnavigating the globe by air.
Final Flight
In June
1937, Amelia embarked upon the first around-the-world flight at the equator. On July 2, after completing nearly two-thirds of her historic flight -- over 22,000 miles -- Amelia vanished along with her navigator
Frederick Noonan. They took off from Lae,
New Guinea, bound for tiny
Howland Island in the vast
Pacific Ocean.
The distance from Lae to Howland was about equal to a transcontinental flight across the
U.S. A great naval, air and land search failed to locate Amelia, Noonan, or the aircraft, and it was assumed they were lost at sea. To this day, their fate is the subject of unending speculation.
Some theorized the pair ran out of fuel looking for Howland Island, and had to ditch in the Pacific.
Others thought they may have crash landed on another small island. Some speculated they were captured by the
Japanese, accused of espionage, then held as bargaining chips in the event war erupted between the
U.S. and
Japan.
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- published: 21 Mar 2014
- views: 1386