Monday, August 1, 2011

Voices of Women ~ Amelia Earhart ~ Birthday, July 24, 1897

Amelia Earhart


Today we celebrate the 115th Anniversary of the Birth Amelia Earhart...
Earthbound Blessings being sent to you in the Heavens, this day, Beloved One...

Born July 24, 1897, disappeared July 2, 1937, took off on last airplane trip June 1, 1937

Occupation: aviator

Known for: aviatrix, flyer, lecturer, writer -- setting records in aviation, and her 1937 disappearance in an attempt to fly around the world

Also known as: Amelia Mary Earhart Putnam
About Amelia Earhart:

Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas. Her father was a lawyer for a railroad company, a job which required frequent moving, and so Amelia Earhart and her sister lived with grandparents until Amelia was 12. She then moved around with her parents for some years, until her father lost his job due to a drinking problem.

At age 20, Amelia Earhart, on a trip to Toronto, Canada, volunteered as a nurse's aide at a military hospital, part of the World War I war effort. She made several tries at studying medicine and she worked at other jobs including social work, but after she discovered flying, that became her passion.

Amelia Earhart's first flight was at an airshow with her father, which motivated her first to learn to fly -- her teacher was Neta Snook, the first woman instructor to graduate from the Curtiss School of Aviation.

Amelia Earhart then bought her own plane and began to set records, but sold the plane to drive East with her newly-divorced mother.

In 1926, magazine publisher George Putnam tapped Amelia Earhart to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic -- as a passenger. The pilot and navigator were both men. Amelia Earhart became an instant celebrity as a woman aviator, and began to give lectures and fly in shows, again setting records. In one notable incident, she flew First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt over Washington, D.C.

In 1931, George Putnam, now divorced, married Amelia Earhart. She flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932, and in 1935 became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the mainland. In 1935 she also set speed records traveling from Los Angeles to Mexico City, and from Mexico City to New York.
Purdue University hired Amelia Earhart as a faculty member to counsel female students on opportunities, and in 1937 Purdue gave Amelia Earhart a plane.

Amelia Earhart was determined to fly around the world. Replacing her first navigator with Fred Noonan, and after several false starts, Amelia Earhart began her round-the-world flight on June 1, 1937.

Near the end of the trip, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan missed their expected landing on Howland Island in the Pacific, and their fate is still uncertain. Theories include crashing over the ocean, crashing on Howland Island or a nearby island without the ability to contact help, being shot down by the Japanese, or being captured or killed by the Japanese.

Amelia Earhart and Women's History:
Why did Amelia Earhart capture the imagination of the public? As a woman daring to do what few women -- or men -- had done, at a time when the organized women's movement had virtually disappeared, she represented a woman willing to break out of traditional roles.

QUOTES BY AMELIA EARHART

About her first airplane ride: "As soon as we left the ground, I knew I had to fly."

"Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price."

"After midnight the moon set and I was alone with the stars. I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, and I need no other flight to convince me that the reason flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the esthetic appeal of flying."

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it."

"I want to do something useful in the world."

"Please know that I am quite aware of the hazards. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others. [Last letter to her husband before her last flight.]"

"Women must pay for everything. They do get more glory than men for comparable feats. But, they also get more notoriety when they crash."

"The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune."

"After all, times are changing and women need the critical stimulus of competition outside the home. A girl must nowaways believe completely in herself as an individual. She must realize at the outset that a woman must do the same job better than a man to get as much credit for it. She must be aware of the various discriminations, both legal and traditional, against women in the business world."

" ... now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done -- occasionally what men have not done -- thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action. Some such consideration was a contributing reason for my wanting to do what I so much wanted to do."

"My ambition is to have this wonderful gift produce practical results for the future of commercial flying and for the women who may want to fly tomorrow's planes."

"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."

"Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do."

"Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done."

"Anticipation, I suppose, sometimes exceeds realization.'

"Worry retards reaction and makes clear-cut decisions impossible."

"I would rather face a watery grave, than go on living as a fraud."
 

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