Background

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. Her parents were Samuel ‘Edwin’ Stanton Earhart and Amelia ‘Amy’ Otis Earhart. Amelia was the second child born to the couple after a stillborn baby.

The two sisters, Amelia and Muriel (she went by her middle name from her teens on), remained with their grandparents in Atchison, while their parents moved into new, smaller quarters in Des Moines. According to family custom, Earhart was named after her two grandmothers, Amelia Josephine Harres and Mary Wells Patton. From an early age, Amelia was the ringleader while her sister Grace Muriel Earhart (1899–1998), two years her junior, acted as the dutiful follower. Amelia was nicknamed "Meeley" (sometimes "Millie") and Grace was nicknamed "Pidge"; both girls continued to answer to their childhood nicknames well into adulthood.

Education

From a very young age, Amelia had an adventurous spirit and loved to play outdoors. Earhart received a form of home-schooling together with her sister, from her mother and a governess. She later recounted that she was "exceedingly fond of reading" and spent countless hours in the large family library. In 1909, when the family was finally reunited in Des Moines, the Earhart children were enrolled in public school for the first time with Amelia Earhart entering the seventh grade at the age of 12 years. She then enrolled to Hyde Park High School, from where she graduated in 1916. After graduating, she studied at Ogontz School in Pennsylvania, but failed to complete her program there.

At the outbreak of World War I, she started working with the ‘Volunteer Aid Detachment’ department at the Spadina Military Hospital, where her work necessitated, preparing food in the kitchen and handing out prescribed medication to the wounded. She joined Columbia University to pursue her medical studies, in 1919, but finally decided to quit after being there for one semester.

Career

In California, Amelia went on her first airplane ride in 1920, an experience that prompted her to take flying lessons. In 1921, she bought her first plane, a Kinner Airster, and two years later she earned her pilot’s license. In the mid-1920s, Earhart moved to Massachusetts, where she became a social worker at the Denison House, a settlement home for immigrants in Boston. She also continued to pursue her interest in aviation.

During this time promoters sought to have a woman fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and in April 1928 Earhart was selected for the flight. Some speculated that the decision was partly based on her resemblance to Charles Lindbergh, who had become the first man to fly nonstop solo across the Atlantic the previous year. On June 17, 1928, Earhart departed Trepassey, Newfoundland, Canada, as a passenger aboard a seaplane piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon. After landing at Burry Port, Wales, on June 18, Earhart became an international celebrity. She wrote about the flight in 20 Hrs. 40 Min. (1928) and undertook a lecture tour across the United States. Much of the publicity was handled by publisher George Palmer Putnam, who had helped organize the historic flight. The couple married in 1931, but Earhart continued her career under her maiden name. That year she also piloted an autogiro to a record-setting altitude of 18,415 feet (5,613 meters).

Determined to justify the renown that her 1928 crossing had brought her, Earhart crossed the Atlantic alone on May 20–21, 1932. Her flight in her Lockheed Vega from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was completed in a record time of 14 hours 56 minutes despite a number of problems. She notably experienced mechanical difficulties and inclement weather and was unable to land in her scheduled destination of Paris. Afterward, she published The Fun of It (1932), in which she wrote about her life and interest in flying. Earhart then undertook a series of flights across the United States.

In 1929, she helped found an organization of female pilots that later became known as the Ninety-Nines. Earhart served as its first president. In addition, she debuted a functional clothing line in 1933, which was designed “for the woman who lives actively.”

In 1935 Earhart made history with the first solo flight from Hawaii to California, a hazardous route 2,408 miles (3,875 km) long, a longer distance than that from the United States to Europe. She departed from Honolulu on January 11 and, after 17 hours and 7 minutes, landed in Oakland the following day. Later that year she became the first person to fly solo from Los Angeles to Mexico City.

In 1937 Earhart set out to fly around the world, with Fred Noonan as her navigator, in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. On June 1 the duo began their 29,000-mile (47,000-km) journey, departing from Miami and heading east. Over the following weeks, they made various refueling stops before reaching Lae, New Guinea, on June 29. At that point, Earhart and Noonan had traveled some 22,000 miles (35,000 km).

They departed on July 2, headed for Howland Island, approximately 2,600 miles (4,200 km) away. The flight was expected to be arduous, especially since the tiny coral atoll was difficult to locate. To help with navigation, two brightly lit United States ships were stationed to mark the route. Earhart was also in intermittent radio contact with the Itasca, a United States Coast Guard cutter near Howland. Late in the journey, Earhart radioed that the plane was running out of fuel. About an hour later she announced, “We are running north and south.” That was the last transmission received by the Itasca. The plane was believed to have gone down some 100 miles (160 km) from the island, and an extensive search was undertaken to find Earhart and Noonan. However, on July 19, 1937, the operation was called off, and the pair was declared lost at sea. Throughout the trip, Earhart had sent her husband various materials, including letter and diary entries, and these were published in Last Flight (1937).

Earhart’s mysterious disappearance captured the public’s imagination and generated numerous theories and claims. Notably, some believed that she and Noonan had crashed on a different island after failing to locate Howland, and others posited that they were captured by the Japanese. However, no definitive evidence was found for such claims. Most experts believe that Earhart’s plane crashed in the Pacific near Howland after running out of fuel.

Achievements

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  Amelia Earhart is one of the world’s most celebrated aviator. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set a record of 19 hours and 5 minutes which became the fastest transcontinental flight by a woman. She then broke her own record after she achieved flight time of 17 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
  
  Earhart was presented the Army Air Corps Distinguished Flying Cross in 1932. She was awarded the Gold Medal of National Geographic Society in 1932. Amelia won the Harmon Trophy for ‘America’s Outstanding Airwoman’ for three consecutive years; 1932, 1933 and 1934.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Last Flight

    (Last Flight is a book published in 1937 consisting of dia...)

    1937
  • The Fun of It

    (The first woman to solo across the Atlantic recalls her y...)

    1932
  • 20 Hours, 40 Min: Our Flight in the Friendship

    (20 Hrs. 40 Min.: Our Flight in the Friendship is a book w...)

    1928

Religion

Although Earhart had little interest in religion as an adult, as a child she was baptized in and attended the Episcopal church. She found the idea of manna interesting, and expended a good deal of energy, flour and sugar in trying to reproduce it. She knew that manna should be small, white, round muffins, a cross between a popover and angel food cake, but never succeeded in creating a satisfactory batch, much to her despair.

Politics

Amelia Earhart was a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Views

In addition to her piloting feats, Earhart was known for encouraging women to reject constrictive social norms and to pursue various opportunities, especially in the field of aviation.

Quotations: "As soon as we left the ground, " she said, "I knew I had to fly."

“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.”

“I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”

“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done.”

“Everyone has ocean's to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?”

“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.”

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.”

Membership

Earhart served as first president of The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots.

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  The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots

Personality

Amelia Earhart was an ardent, life-long pacifist. She didn't like wearing goggles while flying. Earhart also didn't like coffee or tea.

Physical Characteristics: Height - 5 ft 7 in / 170 cm

Hair color - dark brown

Eye color - brown

Interests

• Politicians

  Eleanor Roosevelt

Connections

Amelia was engaged to Samuel Chapman but the alliance broke sometime in 1928. She then went on to marry George Palmer Putnam in 1931. Although the couple had no children of their own, Putnam had two sons from his previous marriage.

Father:

Samuel Stanton Earhart

(1867–1930)

Mother:

Amelia Otis Earhart

(nee Otis; 1869–1962)

Spouse:

George P. Putnam

(September 7, 1887 – January 4, 1950)

He was an American publisher, author and explorer. Known for his marriage to (and being the widower of) Amelia Earhart, he had also achieved fame as one of the most successful promoters in the United States during the 1930s.

ex-spouse:

Samuel Chapman

(August 2, 1870 – January 17, 1941)

He was an American politician and a United States Representative from Oklahoma.

Friend:

Eleanor Roosevelt

(October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962)

She was an American political figure, diplomat and activist.

References

• Who Was Amelia Earhart?
• DK Biography: Amelia Earhart
• Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last: Second Edition
• National Geographic Readers: Amelia Earhart (Readers Bios)
• Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
• East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart