WHO WAS AMELIA EARHART Many women have contributed to progress in aviation during the past century The most famous woman aviator was Amelia Earhart She achieved many firsts Earhart was the first woman Amelia Earhart poses with her Lockheed Electra the airplane in which she crashed while attempting to fly around the world in 1937 4 4 CHAPTER ONE
WHO WAS AMELIA EARHART Vocabulary AVIATION is the operation of aircraft that are heavier than air including airplanes helicopters balloons and spacecraft to fly alone or solo across the Atlantic Ocean and the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California California She navigated routes over land and sea that no woman had traveled before These were all amazing accomplishments for a young woman who grew up wondering what she might do with her life Her family had little money Airplanes in those years were rare and dangerous The facts that woman pilots were so uncommon and that she was so daring contributed to her enormous popularity 5
Quick Fact First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was an admirer of Amelia Earhart’s She became a supporter and close friend AMELIA EARHART Amelia Earhart is remembered remembered for much more than the epic flights she made Her life was important because she proved women can achieve what men can achieve They can pilot airplanes across the country and across the oceans If they have the courage they even can set out to fly around the world The leather-jacketed aviator smiles from the cockpit of a small plane Successful piloting requires years of training and experience 6 6
CHAPTER TWO CHILD OF A NEW CENTURY Amelia Mary Earhart was born in Atchison Kansas on July 24 1897 She was the first child of Edwin Stanton Earhart and Amy Otis Earhart The family lived in Kansas City Missouri where Edwin worked as a lawyer Amelia’s parents were not good with money and her father had a drinking problem This caused stress and unhappiness within the Earhart family Amelia’s sister Muriel was born two and a half years after Amelia Soon after Muriel’s birth Amy and Edwin sent Amelia to stay with her grandparents in Atchison For many years Amelia spent the summers with her parents and the rest of the year with her grandparents Amelia 7
