Dates

• Existence: 1897 July 24 - 1937 July 2
• Usage: 1897 - 1937

Biographical Note

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. Earhart trained as a nurse and enrolled in coursework on medical studies at Columbia University but quit after a year to move to California. She attended an aviation meet in 1920 in Long Beach, California and soon thereafter took her first ride as a passenger for a 10-minute flight which sparked her passion for flying. She had earned her pilot's license by 1923, being the 16th woman in the U.S. to be issue one. In 1928 she became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. In 1932 she was the first woman to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, for which she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Earhart mentored younger female students as a visiting faculty member at Purdue University. She was also a member of the National Women's Party and a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1931 Earhart married her public relations manager, George P. Putnam. In 1935, Earhart was the first to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii, To Oakland, California in a Lockheed 5C Vega. Later that year she flew from Los Angeles, California to Mexico City, and then from Mexico City to New York.

During an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean. Earhart, Noonan, and her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra were never found, though searches continue to present day. Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939. Earhart was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1968 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973.

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