1.
Earning Her Wings
Betty Dobson
13 January 2015

2.
*Amelia Mary Earhart is born July 24th in
Atchison, Kansas, to Samuel “Edwin”
Stanton Earhart and Amelia “Amy” Otis.
*Her mother does not believe in molding
her daughters into “nice little girls.”
*Childhood activities include climbing
trees, “belly slamming” her sled to start
it down hill, and hunting rats with a .22
rifle.
“There are two kinds of stones, as everyone
knows, one of which rolls.”
*

3.
* Uncle helps build a ramp from the shed
roof; a crash landing and minor injuries
cannot dampen the exhilaration of her
first “flight” (1904).
* Sees her first plane at the Iowa State
Fair and is not impressed ("a thing of
rusty wire and wood and not at all
interesting”) (circa 1907).
* Scrapbooks newspaper clippings about
successful women in predominately
male-oriented fields.
* Family moves to Des Moines, Iowa
(1909).
*

4.
* At a stunt-flying exhibition, a pilot
spots Amelia and her friend, who are
watching from an isolated clearing,
and dives at them.
“I am sure he said to himself, ‘Watch me
make them scamper’.”
* Amelia, feeling a mixture of fear and
pleasure, stands her ground; as the
plane swoops by, something inside her
awakens.
“I did not understand it at the time, but I
believe that little red airplane said
something to me as it swished by.”
*

5.
*Family moves to Minnesota then
to Chicago (1915).
*After graduating from Hyde Park
High School, Chicago (1916),
Amelia attends Ogontz, a girl's
finishing school in the suburbs of
Philadelphia, but leaves in the
middle of her second year.
“In soloing—as in other activities—it is
far easier to start something than it is
to finish it.”
*

6.
*Volunteers as a nurse's aide
(with Canadian Red Cross
training) at Spadina Military
Convalescent Hospital (Toronto)
for the “walking wounded” of
World War One.
“There is so much that must be done
in a civilized barbarism like war.”
*

7.
*After the war, enrolls in
the pre-med program of
Columbia University (New
York) but leaves after the
first semester.
*Joins her parents in Los
Angeles and takes her
first flight with Frank
Hawks (1920).
*

8.
*Completes flying lessons
with Neta Snook in six
months (1921).
*Purchases her first
aircraft— a bright yellow
Kinner Airster —and names
it “The Canary” (1921).
*Sets an unofficial women's
flying altitude record of
14,000 feet (1922).
*

9.
*16th woman to receive
pilot's license from the
Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (World Air
Sports Federation).
*1st woman licensed by
the National Aeronautic
Association.
*

10.
*Sells “The Canary” and buys
an automobile, drives her
mother to Massachusetts and
settles with her younger
sister, Muriel (1924).
*Works as a social worker
with children at the Denison
House in Boston (1926).
*Writes Ruth Nichols about
forming an organization for
women who fly (1927).
*

11.
* First woman to fly across Atlantic
Ocean as a passenger (June). (Three
other pilots had died in the past year
making the attempt.)
Right: With co-pilot/mechanic Louis E. "Slim" Gordon
and pilot Wilmer "Bill" Stultz during a stop in Halifax
* Joins Zonta Club of Boston (July).
* Buys Avro Avian airplane.
* Writes 20 Hrs., 40 Min.
* Completes first transcontinental
flight by a woman (September/
October).
*

12.
*Acquires a single engine
Lockheed Vega aircraft.
*Competes in Women's
Air Derby (Santa Monica
to Cleveland)—finishes
in third place.
*Helps organize The
Ninety-Nines (Int’l
Organization of Women
Pilots) (November).
*

13.
*Sets the women's world
flying speed record of
181.18 mph (July).
*Acquires her air transport
license (October).
“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.”
*

14.
* Becomes first president of The Ninety-
Nines.
* Marries George Palmer Putnam in
Connecticut (February) after his 6th
proposal.
“I want you to understand I shall not hold
you to any midaevil [sic] code of faithfulness
to me nor shall I consider myself bound to
you similarly.”
* Acquires an autogyro and sets a women's
autogyro altitude record of 18,415 feet
(April).
* Completes first solo transcontinental flight
in an autogyro (May/June).
*

15.
* Writes The Fun of It
* Becomes the first woman (and second person) to fly solo
across the Atlantic Ocean in her single engine Lockheed
Vega and the first person to cross the Atlantic twice by air.
* Sets women's record for fastest non-stop transcontinental
flight (Los Angeles to Newark) in 19 hours, 5 minutes
(August).
* Awarded the Army Air Corps Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Becomes the second non-British pilot to receive Honorary
Membership in the British Guild of Airpilots and Navigators.
* Awarded the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society,
presented by President Herbert Hoover.
* Receives honorary membership in the National Aeronautic
Association.
* Wins Harmon Trophy as America's Outstanding Airwoman.
*

16.
*Participates in the National Air
Races in Los Angeles, California.
*Breaks her own North American
transcontinental record with a
flying time of 17 hours, 7 minutes,
30 seconds.
*Wins the Harmon Trophy again
(1933).
*Wins the Harmon Trophy for the
third year in a row (1934).
*

17.
*First person to fly solo across the
Pacific Ocean from Honolulu to
Oakland, California, in 17 hours, 7
minutes (January).
*First person to fly solo from Los
Angeles to Mexico City by official
invitation from the Mexican
Government (April).
*First woman to compete in the
National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio.
*Named America's Outstanding
Airwoman by Harmon Trophy
committee.
*

18.
*Takes delivery of
Lockheed twin-
engine airplane
financed by Purdue
University (July).
*Starts to plan her
round-the-world
flight.
*

19.
*Begins round-the-world flight in
Oakland, California, and sets a record
for east-west (Oakland to Hawaii) travel
in 15 hours, 47 minutes (March).
*Ground loops plane while taking off
from Hawaii for Howland Island and
badly damages it (March).
*Airplane is repaired and a second round-
the-world attempt is started from
Miami, Florida (June).
*Disappears near Howland Island July 2nd.
Final words heard: “We are running
north and south.”
*

20.
*Most expensive air and sea
search in naval history (at the
time) commences immediately.
*$4 million spent scouring
250,000 square miles of ocean.
*U.S. government reluctantly
calls of rescue effort on July
19th.
*Despite many theories, no
proof of her fate exists.
Right: “Amelia” (digital collage)
by Barbara Berney
*

21.
* Courage is the price that life exacts for
granting peace.
* Decide…whether or not the goal is worth
the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying…
* 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.
* Please know that I am aware of the
hazards. I want to do it because I want to
do it. Women must try to do things as
men have tried. When they fail, their
failure must be a challenge to others.
*

22.
Amelia helps promote Cary Grant and Myrna
Loy’s first film together, Wings in the Dark (1935).
*

23.
TRIVIA QUIZ
Can you name each of these
actresses who has played
Amelia in film or on TV?
Bonus points if you know the
movie or series title.

24.
Susan Clark—Amelia Earhart
Amy Adams—Night at the Museum 2
With a tip of the flight helmet
to Chantal Perron for her
one-woman play Aviatrix.

25.
*Memorial lighthouse constructed on
Howland Island (1938).
*Across the U.S., streets, schools,
and airports are named after her.
*Atchison, Kansas, becomes a
virtual shrine to her memory.
*Amelia Earhart awards and
scholarships are given out every
year.
*Memorial statue erected in
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland
(2007).
*

26.
* March 1937—Amelia honoured by
the Zonta Club of Fresno when
members plant a California oak
as their contribution to a tree-
planting dedicatory ceremony.
* April 1938—Zonta clubs
throughout the United States
take up the project of a
memorial, to be decided at the
upcoming district conference in
Berkeley, California.
* July 1938—400 Zonta delegates
in Banff, Alberta, initiate a
revolving scholarship for female
engineering students interested
in aeronautics.
*

27.
* Woman's world altitude record:
14,000 feet (1922)
* First woman to fly the Atlantic
Ocean (1928)
* Speed records for 100 km [and with
500 lb (230 kg) cargo] (1931)
* First woman to fly
an autogyro (1931)
* Altitude record for autogyros:
18,415 feet (1931)
* First person to cross the U.S.A. in
an autogyro (1932)
* First woman to fly the Atlantic solo
(1932)
* First person to fly the Atlantic twice
(1932)
*
* First woman to receive the Distinguished
Flying Cross (1932)
* First woman to fly nonstop, coast-to-coast
across the U.S. (1933)
* Woman's speed transcontinental record
(1933)
* First person to fly solo between Honolulu
and Oakland, California (1935)
* First person to fly solo from Los
Angeles to Mexico City (1935)
* First person to fly solo nonstop from Mexico
City to Newark, New Jersey (1935)
* Speed record for east-to-west flight from
Oakland, California, to Honolulu (1937)
* First person to fly solo from the Red
Sea to Karachi (1937)

28.
* Earhart, Amelia. 20 Hrs., 40 Min.: Our
Flight in the Friendship. Martino Fine
Books, 2014 (first edition, 1928). ISBN-
10: 079223376X; ISBN-13: 978-0792233763.
* Earhart, Amelia. The Fun of It. Chicago
Review Press, 2006 (first edition, 1932).
ISBN-10: 091586455X; ISBN-13: 978-
0915864553.
* Earhart, Amelia. Last Flight. Trotamundas
Press, 2009 (first edition, 1937). ISBN-
10: 1906393141; ISBN-13: 978-1906393144.
*

29.
* Backus, Jean L. Letters from Amelia
1901–1937. Boston: Beacon Press,
1982. ISBN 0-8070-6703-2.
* Blau, Melinda. Whatever Happened to
Amelia Earhart? Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
Contemporary Perspectives Inc.,
1977. ISBN 0-8172-1057-1.
* Briand, Paul. Daughter of the Sky. New
York: Duell, Sloan, Pearce, 1960. No
ISBN.
* Brink, Randall. Lost Star: The Search for
Amelia Earhart. New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 1994. ISBN 978-0393026832.
* Burke, John. Winged Legend: The Story
of Amelia Earhart. New York: Ballantine
Books, 1971. ISBN 0-425-03304-X.
*

30.
* Butler, Susan. East to the Dawn: The Life
of Amelia Earhart. Reading, Massachusetts:
Addison-Wesley, 1997. ISBN 0-306-80887-0.
* Chapman, Sally Putnam, with Stephanie
Mansfield. Whistled Like a Bird: The
Untold Story of Dorothy Putnam, George
Putnam and Amelia Earhart. New York:
Warner Books, 1997. ISBN 0-446-52055-1.
* Devine, Thomas E. Eyewitness: The Amelia
Earhart Incident. Frederick, Colorado:
Renaissance House, 1987. ISBN 0-939650-
48-7.
* Fleming, Candace. Amelia Lost: The Life
and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. New
York: Random House, 2011. ISBN 978-0-
375-84198-9.
* Garst, Shannon. Amelia Earhart: Heroine
of the Skies. New York: Julian Messner,
Inc., 1947. No ISBN.
* Gillespie, Ric. Finding Amelia: The True
Story of the Earhart Disappearance.
Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press,
2006. ISBN 1-59114-319-5.
* Goerner, Fred. The Search for Amelia
Earhart. New York: Doubleday,
1966. ISBN 0-385-07424-7.
* Goldstein, Donald M. and Katherine V.
Dillon. Amelia: The Centennial Biography
of an Aviation Pioneer. Washington, D.C.:
Brassey's, 1997.ISBN 1-57488-134-5.
* Haynsworth, Leslie and David
Toomey. Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The
Wild and Glorious Story of American
Women Aviators from World War II to the
Dawn of the Space Age. New York:
Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1998. ISBN
0-380-72984-9.
* Kerby, Mona. Amelia Earhart: Courage in
the Sky (Women of our Time series). New
York: Puffin Books, 1990. ISBN 0-14-
034263-X.

31.
* King, Thomas F. et al. Amelia Earhart's
Shoes. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira
Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7591-0130-2.
* Lauber, Patricia. Lost Star: The Story of
Amelia Earhart. New York: Scholastic,
1989. ISBN 0-590-41159-4.
* Leder, Jane. Amelia Earhart (Great
Mysteries: Opposing Viewpoints). San
Diego: Greehaven Press, Inc., 1989. ISBN
0-89908-070-7.
* Long, Elgen M. and Marie K. Amelia
Earhart: The Mystery Solved. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0-684-
86005-8.
* Loomis, Vincent V. Amelia Earhart, the
Final Story. New York: Random House,
1985. ISBN 978-0-394-53191-5.
* Lovell, Mary S. The Sound of Wings. New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.ISBN 0-312-
03431-8.
* Lubben, Kristen and Erin Barnett. Amelia
Earhart: Image and Icon. New York:
International Center of Photography,
2007. ISBN 978-3-86521-407-2.
* Morey, Eileen. The Importance of Amelia
Earhart. San Diego: Lucent Books,
1995. ISBN 1-56006-065-4.
* Morrissey, Muriel Earhart. Amelia
Earhart. Santa Barbara, California:
Bellerophon Books, 1992. ISBN 0-88388-
044-X.
* Morrissey, Muriel Earhart. Courage is the
Price: The Biography of Amelia Earhart.
Wichita, Kansas: McCormick-Armstrong
Publishing Division, 1963.ISBN 1-141-
40879-1.

32.
* Pearce, Carol Ann. Amelia Earhart. New
York: Facts on File, 1988. ISBN 0-8160-
1520-1.
* Pellegrino, Anne Holtgren. World Flight:
The Amelia Trail. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa
State University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-
8138-1760-9.
* Randolph, Blythe. Amelia Earhart. New
York: Franklin Watts, 1987. ISBN 0-531-
10331-5.
* Rich, Doris L. Amelia Earhart: A
Biography. Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989. ISBN
1-56098-725-1.
* Safford, Laurance F. with Cameron A.
Warren and Robert R. Payne. Earhart's
Flight into Yesterday: The Facts Without
the Fiction, McLean, Virginia: Paladwr
Press, 2003. ISBN 1-888962-20-8.
* Sloate, Susan. Amelia Earhart:
Challenging the Skies. New York: Fawcett
Books, 1990. ISBN 978-0-449-90396-4.
* Strippel, Richard G. Amelia Earhart: The
Myth and the Reality. New York:
Exposition Press, 1972. ISBN 0-682-47447-
9.
* Thames, Richard. Amelia Earhart. New
York: Franklin Watts, 1989. ISBN 0-531-
10851-1.
* Van Pelt, Lori. Amelia Earhart: The Sky's
No Limit. London: Macmillan, 2005. ISBN
978-0-7653-1061-3.
* Ware, Susan. Still Missing: Amelia
Earhart and the Search for Modern
Feminism. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 1993. ISBN 0-393-03551-4.