Earhart: Famous. Fearless. Vanished.Episode 31:50
The Medal No Civilian Woman Was Supposed to Win
Earhart turns an unprecedented aviation honor into leverage for women who have been told which careers they may pursue.
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Transcript
A civilian woman won a medal reserved solely for military pilots.
A decade earlier, Amelia Earhart climbed to a women's record: 14,000 feet.
In 1928, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Four years later, she piloted the Atlantic crossing solo and nonstop.
In 1932, Earhart's solo nonstop transatlantic flight earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, reserved solely for military pilots.
By an act of Congress, Earhart received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Earhart advocated for women's participation in aviation and for women pursuing careers of their choice.
A record could open the sky; a career could change a life.
Earhart advocated for women to enter aviation and choose their own careers.
She helped create the Ninety-Nines, an organization promoting female pilots.
Earhart was elected the Ninety-Nines' first president.
She also became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic and Pacific.
In 1936, Earhart wrote President Franklin D. Roosevelt about world-flight plans.
I wanted to show what women could do.
She asked Roosevelt to secure Navy permission for refueling at Midway Island.
The next leap would demand machinery, money, and nerve.
On April 19th, 1936, Purdue announced the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research.
Where it leaves off
Contributions to the Purdue fund totaled about $50,000; Earhart purchased the Electra. Then the Amelia Earhart Fund promised roughly $50,000 to turn her next airplane into a flying laboratory built to circle the world.
Sources
- Amelia Earhart's Distinguished Flying Cross Award Card | National Archivesarchives.govsecondary
- Amelia Earhart: Showing What Women Can Do – Pieces of Historyprologue.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- Introduction - Amelia Earhart: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- The Japanese Government’s Offer of Assistance to Help Find Amelia Earhart, July 1937 – The Text Messagetext-message.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- March | 2017 | Memoirs & Memoriesblogs.lib.purdue.edusecondary
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