Labor Day celebrates the American worker. It may have
started with labor unions, but it soon grew broader than that.
This post celebrates an American worker who was also a
pioneer. She made great strides for American women, proving that they have as
much courage as men and are capable of doing many of the same things,
including joining them in the skies. And although it wasn’t exactly a labor
union, Amelia Earhart was one of the founders and the first president of the
Ninety-Nines—an organization of women pilots that still exists today.
On our summer vacation, Roland and I visited Amelia Earhart’s
birthplace in Atchison, Kansas. She was born at her maternal grandparents’
house, shown in the second picture. She also spent a lot of time there during
her early years.
Amelia was always a dare-devil. The third picture shows a
replica of the roller coaster she built in her grandparent’s back yard after
seeing one at the 1904 World’s Fair. I don’t know if the scale is correct or if
the one Amelia built was taller. Amelia
Earhart: Young Aviator by Beatrice Gormley (part of the Childhood of Famous
Americans series), has the roller coaster starting at the top of a tool shed. Either
way, her grandparents soon put a stop to the experiment.
But they couldn’t stop Amelia’s quest for adventure.
Among Amelia’s many accomplishments were being the first
woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (unfortunately, she was not allowed to
pilot the plane on this 1928 flight); the first woman to fly solo across the
Atlantic (1932); the first woman to fly nonstop across the U.S. (coast to coast
in 1933); and the first person (male or female) to fly solo between Honolulu,
Hawaii and Oakland, California (1935).
Those achievements weren’t enough for her. She also wanted
to be the first woman to fly around the world at its greatest circumference:
the Equator. She would take a navigator with her and make several stops for
fuel and a little sightseeing.
On May 21, 1937, Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took
off from Oakland, California, in an Electra airplane. They headed from west to
east, and everything went fine for most of the trip. Amelia and Fred made it to Lae, New
Guinea without any major problems. They were now about three-quarters of the way
through their planned route.
When they left Lae, they headed for tiny Howland Island, where
they would refuel before continuing on to Honolulu. The crew estimated that
they had about twenty hours worth of fuel, which left them little margin for
error.
Ships from the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard monitored
the Electra’s radio signals. Amelia and Fred maintained radio contact most
of the way, but there were indications that they were having problems with
their radio. And in those days before sophisticated equipment, the radio was a
crucial navigational aid.
The last communication from the Electra came a
little over twenty hours into the flight. Amelia’s message indicated that the crew
was having trouble finding Howland Island.
Amelia and Fred were lost at sea on July 2, 1937. After an
exhaustive search for the plane, Amelia was declared legally dead on January 5,
1939.
There have been many theories about what happened. The two
most widely accepted are: (1) the plane ran out of fuel over the Pacific Ocean
or (2) knowing that their fuel situation was desperate, Amelia and Fred tried
to land on the uninhabited Gardner Island and ended up crashing on the reef.
Either situation would have killed them.
Although the official search ended long ago, adventurers and
researchers still spend significant time and money looking for remnants of the
Electra and answers to its disappearance. Maybe one day we will know the rest
of the story, but that day isn’t here yet.
Even so, Americans are indebted to Amelia Earhart for her
pioneering spirit and her example to other women.
* * * * *
The photo at the head of this post shows Amelia Earhart and
Fred Noonan. The picture is in the public domain.
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