My obsession with Amelia Earhart began early in my childhood, the same as at least five of the women in this series. I never wanted to be a pilot. Heck, I didn’t fly until I was 20, but I admire women who are fearless and that’s what Amelia Earhart was.
Amelia Earhart, fondly known was an American aviator who mysteriously disappeared in 1937 while trying to circumnavigate the globe from the equator. She was the 16th woman to be issued a pilot’s license! In the world! She had several notable flights, including becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, as well as the first person to fly over both the Atlantic and Pacific. Earhart was legally declared dead in 1939. I know, I know.
Amelia volunteered as a nurse’s aide for the Red Cross when soldiers started coming home from WW1. Earhart came to know many wounded pilots. She developed a strong admiration for aviators, spending much of her free time watching the Royal Flying Corps practicing at the airfield nearby. She spent one year at Columbia majoring in medicine, but it wasn’t for her. At a Long Beach air show in 1920, Earhart took a plane ride that transformed her life. It was only 10 minutes, but when she landed she knew she had to learn to fly. Working at a variety of jobs, from photographer to truck driver, she earned enough money to take flying lessons from pioneer female aviator Anita “Neta” Snook.
In the summer of 1921, Earhart purchased a second-hand Kinner Airster biplane painted bright yellow. She nicknamed it “The Canary,” and set out to make a name for herself in aviation. She took a variety of jobs to make enough money to keep flying. She set records. Lots. In 1928, Earhart wrote a book about aviation and her transatlantic experience, 20 Hrs., 40 Min. She married the publisher of her book, George Putnam.
Here’s where we get sad. Amelia’s attempt to be the first person to circumnavigate the earth around the equator ultimately resulted in her disappearance on July 2, 1937. Earhart purchased a Lockheed Electra L-10E plane and pulled together a top-rated crew of three men: Captain Harry Manning, Fred Noonan and Paul Mantz. The original plan was to take off from Oakland, California, and fly west to Hawaii. From there, the group would fly across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. Then they would cross the sub-continent of India, on to Africa, then to Florida, and back to California. When the Itasca realized that they had lost contact, they began an immediate search. Despite the efforts of 66 aircraft and nine ships — an estimated $4 million rescue authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt — the fate of the two flyers remained a mystery. The official search ended on July 18, 1937, but Putnam financed additional search efforts, working off tips of naval experts and even psychics in an attempt to find his wife. In October 1937, he acknowledged that any chance of Earhart and Noonan surviving was gone. On January 5, 1939, Earhart was declared legally dead by the Superior Court in Los Angeles.
So, the conspiracist in me says, so that’s how they say what happened. I’m sure it is. Maybe it’s the way she would have liked to die, flying. But it’s incredibly sad.
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