E

AMELIA EARHART
LIFE

Amelia Earhart

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 feetthe
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 National 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 1929. 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."

THANK YOU
MADE BY
SOURABH KUMAR SINGH
ROLL NO.-38
CLASS-9B