Amelia Earhart
By Hazel Sergeant
Amelia Earhart was born July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. Her parents were Edwin and Amy Otis Earhart and her grandparents were Alfred and Amelia Harres Otis Earhart. The family was very wealthy and well educated.Amelia went to a private school in Kansas, while she was living with her grandpaents until she turned 12.In 1909, Amelia, her younger sister, Muriel, and their parents moved to Des Moines, Iowa. During her childhood, she was fascinated by all sports, adventure, mechanical things and travelling.Before she was 17, her parents split up because her father had problems with alcohol. Afterwards they experienced some financial difficulties.
Amelia Earhart is the most famoust female aviator in the world.In her time women had very few opportunitys to learn how to fly and flying was seen as not very ladylike. In 1928 she was the first women in the world to fly across the Atlantic ocean as a passenger . Four years later she herself flew a plane across the Atlantic ocean, in 14 hours and 56 minutes. She was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross by the American Congress, and many other awards and medals.In 1929 Amelia was elected in the National Aeronautic Association, encouraging the international federation of aviation to set separate standards for women than for men (for altitude, speed, endurance records). In her struggle to encourage women to fly, she helped set up a women’s aviation club, called the Ninety Niners. She was elected president of the Ninety Niners in 1935. Supported by her husband George Putnam, Amelia became famous and used to give lectures and presentations across the country to encourage publicity about flying and the ability of women to fly.
Here are some facts that I found most interesting about Amelia Earhart.
- She designed a trap to catch chickens when she was a child.
- She was interested and did a lot of things that only boys and men were allowed to do at that time
- Amelia saw her first airplane when she was 10 years old, and got her flying licence when she was 24. Only 15 other women held pilot licences at that time.
- Even if she could not always afford to buy her own planes, she never gave up on her dream to fly
- The first plane Amelia owned was nicknamed the Canary, and was a yellow Kinner Airster plane.
- Amelia designed flying clothes for women in the aviation club Ninety Niners. In 1932, these designs were advertised in the famous Vogue fashion magazine.
I chose Amelia Earhart because I have never heard about her, and a female heroine sounded interesting.
“Women must try to do things as men have tried.
When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others”
(a quote from a letter to her husband; https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/10-facts-about-amelia-earhart)
Other References
http://www.ameliaearhart.com/about/achievements.html
http://www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org/AmeliaEarhart/AEChildhood.htm
http://www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org/index.html
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Earhart-Amelia.htm