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World Changers
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Amelia Earhart
Who was she? We know Amelia Earhart as the most famous of early woman aviators, who attempted to fly around the world. We know that she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. What else should we know? ... 
Various photos taken of Amelia with her plane, the Electra 10E.
The Otis' home in Atchinson, Kansas, where
Amelia grew up.
Amelia first earned her public acclaim in a flash, a news flash. In a publicity stunt on June 18, 1928, she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. She was listed as the captain of the flight, but was really only a passenger. After twenty hours and forty minutes, she landed in the public spotlight as a heroine. She was instantly engulfed in the media storm that her publisher, George Palmer Putnam, had arranged. Her unique physique and boyish figure earned her the title Lady Lindy, after her resemblance to Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly the Atlantic solo. Upon her return to the United States, she published an instant book of her journey and went on the lecture circuit. It was on the lecture circuit that Amelia set out to promote both commercial aviation and her feminist beliefs. From the platform given her by the aeronautical achievements, she could speak freely on feminism and aviation with little criticism or debate. She knew, however, that she would have to do more to prove that women could do whatever they set their minds to, if they were given the opportunity. So, on May 20, 1932, the fifth anniversary of the Lindbergh flight, she flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland, Canada to Londonderry, Ireland. In becoming the first woman to do this, she sealed herself into American and world celebrity. In addition to her most memorable feats, Amelia Earhart achieved the following records:
June 17, 1928 First woman to cross the Atlantic. September 1928 First women's solo trip transcontinental. November 1929 Women's speed record in Los Angeles, California. June 1930 Speed record for 100 km and 100 km with payload. April 1931 Autogiro altitude record of 15,000 ft and 18,415 ft on the same day. May 1932 First woman to solo the Atlantic. First person to cross the Atlantic twice. August 1932 Transcontinental speed record, 19 hrs 5 min. July 1933 Transcontinental speed record, 17 hrs 7 min. January 1935 First person to fly Hawaii to California. First person to solo anywhere over the Pacific. First person to solo Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. April 1935 First person to solo Los Angeles to Mexico. May 1935 First person to solo Mexico to Newark, N.J. March 1937 Record for east to west, California to Hawaii. June-July 1937 Solo flight around the world at the equator fails. Amelia Mary Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937 over the South Pacific Ocean. She was almost done with her round-the-world flight when, flying from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island, her plane disappeared. Sixty years have passed since Amelia Earhart vanished, but we remember her even today for the great things she contributed to aviation and most importantly to the way the world viewed what a woman could become, a national and world heroine. What does she teach us about change?
Photos of Amelia: her typical flight wear, her Kinner Canary, and her parade car in the 1928 welcoming tour.
Amelia Earhart is an example of how we can change the world. When we believe that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to if we are given the opportunity, then all we have to do is to find, earn, and make the most of the life we are given. If we can do only this, then we, like Amelia Earhart, have made a difference and a change in our world. by Timothy A. Shipman
Further reading:
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She
always had a determined spirit, and a natural curiosity that led her to
adventure. On a bitterly cold winter day in 1904, she and her younger sister
trouped up a large hill for a belly-slammer sled ride. Her grandmother
insisted that a young lady sit upon the sled, but Amelia did not think
so. She ran forward a few steps, dove onto the sled and raced down the
hill. At the bottom of the hill, a horse-drawn carriage was on a collision
course with her sled. She tucked down her head, held on even tighter, and
raced right under the horse's legs. She had set her mind on completing
her sled ride, and nothing would stop her once her mind was set. This is
the beginning of a pattern for a woman who would change the way the world
viewed what a woman could do. 
October
1922 Reached 14,000 ft in Long Beach, California.
