Earhart, Amelia

Date of birth: July 24, 1897.

Place of birth: Atchison, Kansas.

Died: July 2, 1937.

Major contributions: First woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean; first woman to fly alone across the United States; first person to fly from Hawaii to California.

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross; French Legion d’Honneur; Harmon International Trophy; National Geographic Society Medal.

ne of the most celebrated of women aviators, Amelia Earhart is also at the center of a great mystery. On her last flight—a daring attempt to fly around the world—she disappeared, leaving no trace of herself or of her aircraft.

Early Life

In 1917, the year after she graduated from high school, Earhart joined the Canadian Red Cross to help soldiers fighting in World War I. Working at a military hospital, she got to know some airmen and became interested in flying. Earhart flew in an airplane for the first time in 1920, when she immediately became captivated by flying. She began taking flying lessons, although her parents objected. After earning her pilot’s license, Earhart scraped together enough money to buy an airplane.

Within weeks, Earhart set a record for women by reaching an altitude of

14,0 feet (4,270 meters). The record did not stand long, but the flight showed her daring. By the mid-1920s, Earhart’s parents were divorced, and she was living in Massachusetts with her mother. Earhart took a job as a social worker in Boston and on weekends she flew.