AMELIA EARHART LIFE

Early Life Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas, in America's heartland. She spent much of her early childhood in the upper- middle class household of her maternal grandparents. Amelia's mother, Amelia "Amy" Otis, married a man who showed much promise, but had never been able to break the bonds of alcohol. Edwin Earhart was on a constant search to establish his career and put the family on a firm financial foundation. When the situation got bad, Amy would shuttle Amelia and her sister Muriel to their grandparents' home. There they sought out adventures, exploring the neighborhood, climbing trees, hunting for rats, and taking breathtaking rides on Amelia's sled.

Even after the family was reunited when Amelia was 10, Edwin constantly struggled to find and maintain gainful employment. This caused the family to move around, and Amelia attended several different schools. She showed early aptitude in school for science and sports, though it was difficult to do well academically and make friends. In 1915, Amy separated once again from her husband, and moved Amelia and her sister to Chicago to live with friends. While there, Amelia attended Hyde Park High School, where she excelled in chemistry. Her father's inability to be the provider for the family led Amelia to become independent and not rely on someone else to "take care" of her.

Early Career At a Long Beach air show in 1920, Amelia Earhart took a plane ride that transformed her life. It was only 10 minutes, but when she landed she knew she had to learn to fly. Working at a variety of jobs, from photographer to truck driver, she earned enough money to take flying lessons from pioneer female aviator Anita "Neta" Snook. Earhart immersed herself in learning to fly. She read everything she could find on flying, and spent much of her time at the airfield. She cropped her hair short, in the style of other women aviators. Worried what the other, more experienced pilots might think of her, she even slept in her new leather jacket for three nights to give it a more "worn" look.

In the summer of 1921, Earhart purchased a second-hand Kinnbiplane painted bright yellow. She nicknamed it "The Canary," and set out to make a name for herself in aviation. On October 22, 1922, she flew her plane to 14,000 feet—the world altitude record for female pilots. On May 15, 1923, Amelia Earhart became the 16th woman to be issued a pilot's license by the world governing body for aeronautics, The Federation Aeronautique. Throughout this period, the Earhart family lived mostly on an inheritance from Amy's mother's estate. Amy administered the funds but, by 1924, the money had run out. With no immediate prospects of making a living flying, Amelia Earhart sold her plane. Following her parents' divorce, she and her mother set out on a trip across the country starting in California and ending up in Boston. In 1925 she again enrolled in Columbia University, but was forced to abandon her studies due to limited finances. Earhart found employment first as a teacher, then as a social worker. er Airster

First Transatlantic Flight After Charles Lindbergh's solo flight from New York to Paris in May 1927, interest grew for having a woman fly across the Atlantic. In April 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call from Captain Hilton H. Railey, a pilot and publicity man, asking her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?" In a heartbeat she said "yes." She traveled to New York to be interviewed, and met with project coordinators, including publisher George P. Putnam. Soon she was selected to be the first woman on a transatlantic flight... as a passenger. The wisdom at the time was that such a flight was too dangerous for a woman to conduct herself.

First Transatlantic Flight After Charles Lindbergh's solo flight from New York to Paris in May 1927, interest grew for having a woman fly across the Atlantic. In April 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call from Captain Hilton H. Riley, a pilot and publicity man, asking her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?" In a heartbeat she said "yes." She traveled to New York to be interviewed, and met with project coordinators, including publisher George P. Putnam. Soon she was selected to be the first woman on a transatlantic flight... as a passenger. The wisdom at the time was that such a flight was too dangerous for a woman to conduct herself.

The Friendship team returned to the United States, greeted by a ticker-tape parade in New York, and later a reception held in their honor with President Calvin Coolidge at the White House. The press dubbed her "Lady Lindy," a derivative of the "Lucky Lind," nickname for Charles Lindbergh. George Putnam had already published several writings by Lindbergh, and he saw Earhart's flight as a bestselling story with Amelia as the star. Thus began their personal and professional relationship. Putnam started to heavily promote her through a book, lecture tours, and product endorsements. Earhart actively became involved in the promotions, especially woman's fashions. For years she had sewn her own clothes, and now she contributed her input to new line of women's fashion that embodied a sleek and purposeful, yet feminine, look. Through her celebrity endorsements, she gained notoriety and acceptance in the public eye. She accepted a position as associate editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, using the media outlet to campaign for commercial air travel. From this forum, she became a promoter for Transcontinental Air Transport, later known as Trans World Airlines (TWA), and was a vice president of Nati onal Airways, which flew routes in the northeast.

Personal Life Rumors of an affair with George Putnam led to speculation that Amelia Earhart was responsible for the destruction of his marriage in But the couple insisted the early part of their relationship was strictly professional. After his divorce, Putnam actively pursued Earhart, and eventually fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him on several occasions, but Earhart declined. Finally, on February 7, 1931, Putnam and Earhart were wed in Putnam's mother's home in Connecticut. Earhart referred to their marriage as a partnership with dual control. On the day of their wedding, she wrote a letter to Putnam telling him, "I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly."

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