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"Women
must try to do things as men have tried. When they
fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."
Amelia Earhart
by Radiyah Shakur
Amelia Earhart is known for her various aviation
achievements, including being the first woman
to fly across the Atlantic (1928), the second person
to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932), and the
first person to solo from Hawaii to California
(1935).
 Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas on July
24, 1897. She was 10 years old when she saw her first
plane at the Iowa State Fair; however, it was ten
years later that her keen interest in aviation was
sparked. During WWI Earhart worked as a nurse’s
aid in Canada, taking her first flight in 1920. She
was so thrilled that she quickly took flying lessons.
Although Earhart's desires were strong, she had to
battle prejudicial and financial obstacles. But the
former tomboy was no stranger to criticism or doubt,
constantly challenging conventional feminine behavior.
She also kept a book of newspaper clippings about
successful women in predominantly male-oriented fields,
like film production, law, management, and mechanical
engineering.
Earhart took her first flying lesson on January
3, 1921, and six months later bought her first plane.
The second-hand, bright yellow two-seat plane assisted
Amelia in setting her first women's record by rising
to an altitude of 14,000 feet. In 1928, she received
a life-changing phone call to join Wilmer Stultz
and Louis E. Gordon to fly across the Atlantic. The
team departed from Newfoundland and landed in South
Wales twenty hours later. That flight made Amelia
Earhart a media sensation.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first person
to make a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic,
which Amelia aspired to do as well. In 1932, exactly
five years after Lindbergh's flight, Earhart became
the first woman to repeat the feat. Because her record-breaking
career and physical appearance were similar to pioneering
pilot and American hero Charles Lindbergh, she was
nicknamed "Lady Lindy."
After breaking various records through the years,
Earhart planned for a final and ultimate challenge.
In June she went to Miami to begin her trip around
the world with navigator Fred Noonan. The pair made
it to New Guinea in 21 days. During the next leg
of the trip, they departed New Guinea for Howland
Island, in the Pacific Ocean. July 2, 1937, was the
last time Earhart and Noonan communicated with a
nearby Coast Guard ship. President Roosevelt authorized
an immediate search; however, she was never seen
or heard from again.
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