Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Kansas. She was the first child of Samuel “Edwin” and Amelia “Amy” Earhart. She had one younger sister, Grace Muriel “Muriel.” Earhart’s mother did not believe in raising her children in a traditional manner. This belief manifested through homeschooling taught by Amy Earhart. Additionally, she allowed her daughters to play outside in a non-traditional manner. Amelia and Grace climbed trees and hunted rats with rifles, which displeased their maternal grandmother.
The Earhart’s experienced financial insecurity. Edwin occasionally worked as a claims officer for railroads. However, he was in and out of jobs due to alcoholism. Around 1915, Earhart’s maternal grandmother died and left the Earhart’s a substantial inheritance. This inheritance helped the Earhart’s improve their financial status.
Earhart, 1920 (Library of Congress)
Edwin encouraged both Amelia and Grace to get involved with airplanes. In 1920, Earhart’s father bought her a ticket to ride with pilot Frank Hawks. Frank Hawks, like other World War I pilots, used their skills to make money after the war. Pilots (not just military pilots) would buy old decommissioned World War I planes and travel throughout the United States offering plane rides. Other forms of entertainment included “barnstorming.” Barnstorming, which gained popularity in the 1920s, involved daredevil pilots performing stunts and tricks. Barnstormers would also travel to different areas. Charles Lindbergh before his first solo transatlantic flight in 1927, was barnstormer. Some pilots worked delivering air mail.
Flight Training
Earhart’s flight with Hawks inspired her to look into flight lessons. In January of 1921, her father took her to Kinner Field. Kinner Field, owned by Winfield “Bert” Kinner, became the first municipality-owned airport in South Gate, Los Angeles, California. Kinner Field was a two-hundred thirty acre field with a small hangar and a runway. Earhart struck a deal with Neta Snook. Snook, who was the field manager, was the only woman employed at Kinner Field. Earhart would pay Snook’s one dollar a minute rate with Liberty Bonds. They scheduled their first lesson together the day after they met.
Earhart in some her flying gear (National Air and Space Museum).
For Earhart’s first lesson, she flew a dual controlled Canuck. A dual control airplane has two controls. One control is designated to the student while the other is for the teacher. This Canuck had a top speed of sixty miles per hour and a landing speed of forty miles per hour. Snook taught Earhart how to taxi. Taxiing a plane involves moving an aircraft on the ground. By February 1921, Earhart recorded four hours in the air.
On July 24, 1922, Earhart bought her first airplane with the help of her mother. The airplane, designed and owned by Bert Kinner, was a model of the Kinner Airster. The Kinner Airster was a two seater biplane with a single engine. Earhart painted the plane yellow and named it The Canary. The design flaws of the Kinner Airster caused several accidents. He first crash occurred when one of the plane’s faulty engines failed to help the plane gain altitude and caused Earhart to crash into a group of trees near the runway.
Neta Snook (left) with Amelia Earhart (right) in front of The Canary, 1921 (Wikimedia Commons).
Although there are no official records, Earhart completed her first solo flight before December 15, 1921. On December 15, 1921, she received her National Aeronautic Association license. To receive this license, she had to fly solo. Shortly after receiving her license, she flew a Kinner Airster in an air show at the Sierra Airdrome in Pasadena, California.
Earhart began receiving aerobatic training from John “Monte” Montijo. Montijo helped Earhart with advanced aeronavigation and aerobatics. With these lessons, she set her first flying record on October 22, 1922. At an air meet at Rogers Field (California), Earhart reached a height of fourteen thousand feet in a plane with an open cockpit and with no air supply. Her record was acknowledged by the Aeronautical Club of Southern California. On May 15, 1923, Earhart became the sixteenth woman in the world to receive a license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.
From the period of 1923 through 1927, Earhart went through financial troubles. She had relocated from California to Boston, Massachusetts. She had joined the local chapter of the National Aeronautic Association. During this time, she went through numerous menial jobs while periodically flying as a hobby on weekends. On October 15, 1927, Earhart picked up flying lessons administered by Dennison Aviation Corporation. These lessons cost her twenty dollars an hour.
Flight over the Atlantic Ocean
Earhart received a call from Hilton Railey in 1927. Railey had asked Earhart if she wanted to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Railey was searching for a substitute for a transatlantic flight. The previous pilot, Amy Phipps Guest, could not make the flight and suggested a woman pilot. Earhart and Railey came to several agreements: Earhart would not be paid (her “reward” was to be exposed and post-flight opportunities) and she would be able to check equipment. Earhart was named captain. The crew for the flight consisted of Earhart, Wilmer Stultz (pilot), Louis Gordon (mechanic), E.P. Elmer (technology advisor), William Rogers (flight charts), and Dr. James Kimball (weather advisor). The crew was to fly in a Fokker plane named Friendship. A famous Fokker is the iconic red fighter plane flown by Manfred von Richtofen, the Red Baron, during World War I.
Friendship was a modified Fokker seaplane. The fuel tanks, which were located in the wings and cabin, held nine hundred gallons of fuel. The wingspan of the Fokker was seventy two feet. A red/orange painted body contrasted with golden wings, the goal of these colors was to aid rescuers if the plane crashed. Friendship was outfitted with pontoons, which aided in water landings but made take off difficult.
The crew took off from Boston Harbor on July 3 at 6:30 AM in front of multiple reporters. Friendship’s average speed is estimated to have been one hundred fourteen miles per hour. They flew by Nova Scotia, Canada by 8:55 AM in the morning. They landed at Halifax Naval Air Station, on the east coast of Canada. Stultz and Gordon took weather reports from the naval station and they were in the air shortly after. Friendship resumed its flight north towards Trepassey, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Approximately halfway through their journey, the crew encountered fog and were forced to return to Halifax Naval Air Station. The following morning, the crew took off again for Trepassey. They arrived at Trepassey at 2:00 PM. While at first this flight was kept a secret, the flight had since made international news.
The crew going to make the transatlantic flight consisted of Earhart, Stultz and Gordon. There were several failed attempts to takeoff. There were three attempts on June 6 and eight on June 12. The weight of cargo and fuel as well as rough seas were the cause of Friendship’s failed takeoffs.
On June 17, 1928 at 11:40 AM, the crew of Friendship took off for from Trepassey to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The plane encountered fog approximately three hundred miles into the journey. At around six in the evening, Earhart made the last radio contact before the radio died. Stultz took up the navigation. On June 18, the crew was still in the air using the emergency fuel tank. Stultz landed the plane in the water off the coast of Burry Port, Wales at 1:00 PM. Friendship was one hundred forty miles from their original landing point, Southampton, England. A crowd had gathered to watch the crew disembark and to see Earhart, who had become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Friendship arrives at Burry Port, Wales, June 18, 1928 (Reuters Archive).
Earhart and crew traveled to London, England. In London, Earhart had become a celebrity and was offered business deals as well as requests for autographs. On June 28, 1928, Earhart, Stultz, and Gordon boarded the S.S. Roosevelt to return to America.
Earhart continued her aviation career. In 1932, she became the first woman to complete a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. For this flight, she received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1937, she attempted to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. However, Earhart, along with her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared during this attempt. They were last seen in New Guinea on July 2, 1937. After a year and a half, both Earhart and Noonan were declared dead.
Public Figure
Amelia Earhart became a celebrity, especially as she continued to break records and fly. Newspapers dubbed her “Lady Lindy” and other nicknames that referred to how similar she looked to Charles Lindbergh. Earhart was not fond of this nickname. In 1928 she explained, “I’m not Lindy Lady, Lady Lindy, the girl Lindy, I’m just Amelia Earhart.”1“Code Messages Bring Lovers Together Again,” The Paterson Evening News, July 11, 1928, p. 22.
Newspaper article about Earhart’s transatlantic flight, The Courier-News.
Amelia Earhart advocated for women in aviation. On November 2, 1929, Earhart and ninety-eight other women pilots founded the Ninety Nines. These women were ninety-nine of two hundred eighty five licensed women pilots. Earhart served as the first president of this organization beginning in 1931. The goal of this organization was to support women in aviation and to create connections. In multiple newspaper interviews, Earhart advocated for women pilots and for women to become aviators.
Significance
Amelia Earhart is a representative of the “new woman” of the 1920s. Earhart had short hair, entered a male-dominated industry, wore clothes unconventional for a woman and worked to break aviation records. Her style and attitude was similar to those of a flapper. She also worked for her own money to pay for costs associated with aviation.
Railey’s plan of orchestrating the flying of the first women across the Atlantic Ocean was sparked by “Atlantic Fever.” This phenomenon, as well as Earhart’s agreement to complete the flight, is representative of the public’s fascination with airplanes. In the post-World War I era, pilots had become celebrities and made a living at airshows.
Bibliography
“Code Messages Bring Lovers Together Again,” The Paterson Evening News, July 11, 1928, p. 22.
“Girl Lindbergh Crosses Atlantic in 20 Hours After Unexpected Take-off From Trepassey Bay; Lands Voluntarily in Bristol Channel Inlet,” The Courier-News, June 18, 1928, p. 1.
Jones, Russell Douglass. “Heroes of the Sky: Adventures in Early Flight.” Technology and Culture 45, no. 2 (2004): 368–72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40060748.
“Miss Earhart First Women To Fly To England,” The Grand Island Daily Independent, June 18, 1928, p. 1.
Michelle Kukan is a spring 2023 student of Discovering Digital History at Ramapo College. She is a sophomore studying history, American studies and museum & exhibition studies. She is a volunteer for Mahwah Museum’s Veterans Project and works on the Jane Addams Paper Project.
