‘He who has a why to live for Can bear almost any how”
-Nietzsche
The world has seen innumerable brave and courageous men and women who have in the face of impossible situations defied death, even conquered it. But there are only a few whose spirit for adventure is so overwhelming that they choose to embrace certain extinction in possession of a passion they hold supremely satisfying and sublimating. Life for them is a perpetual pursuit of a continuously exciting and constantly engaging enticement, it is a dream whose actualization fuels their determination and dictates their craft and conscience. Adventure is their lifeline, fearlessness their DNA.
There could not be a better and more illuminating example of this ilk than Amelia Earhart.
Amelia Earhart resides in the heart of people not because she was an aviator who set many flying records, not because she championed the advancement of women in aviation, not because she set her heart on things belonging to men’s exclusive preserve, though her list of accomplishments is long and distinguished, actually exceptional. She is dear to people because she displayed an indomitable spirit in pursuit of her life’s purpose and passion. She attempted and accomplished successfully all that was deemed impossible in domains far removed from the imagination of the women of her times.
Missing for 85 years but not forgotten
She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first person ever to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland. During a flight to circumnavigate the globe, Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific in July 1937. She was to complete 40 springs of her life only two weeks away. Her plane wreckage was never found, and she was officially declared lost at sea after a year and a half in March 1939. Her disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.
Early Life
Born in Atchison, Kansas on July 24, 1897, she defied all that was traditional and embraced everything so atypical of women of her times. Earhart’s tryst with flying, destined to bring her immortal fame and glory began in California in December 1920 when she took her first airplane ride with famed World War I pilot Frank Hawks—and was forever hooked. In January 1921, she started flying lessons with female flight instructor Neta Snook. Later that year, she purchased her first airplane, a second-hand Kinner Airster and nicknamed it “the Canary.” Earhart passed her flight test in December 1921, earning a National Aeronautics Association license. Two days later, she participated in her first flight exhibition at the Sierra Airdrome in Pasadena, California.
Record heights
Earhart’s first record came in 1922 when she became the first woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet. In 1932, Earhart became the first woman (and second person after Charles Lindbergh) to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She left Newfoundland, Canada, on May 20 in a red Lockheed Vega 5B and arrived a day later, landing in a cow field near Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Upon returning to the United States, Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross—a military decoration awarded for “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.” She was the first woman to receive the honour.
Later that year, Earhart made the first solo, nonstop flight across the United States by a woman. She started in Los Angeles and landed 19 hours later in Newark, New Jersey. She also became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the United States mainland in 1935.
Between 1930 and 1935, Earhart had set seven women’s speed and distance aviation records in a variety of aircraft, including the Kinner Airster, Lockheed Vega, and Pitcairn Autogiro. By 1935, recognizing the limitations of her “lovely red Vega” in long, transoceanic flights, Earhart contemplated, in her own words, a new “prize … one flight which I most wanted to attempt – a circumnavigation of the globe as near its waistline as could be”.
Experimental
She was a maverick, an iconoclast, who loved demolishing traditional images of women. She was also a loner. A 1915 college yearbook caption captured the essence of her character, “A.E. – the girl in brown who walks alone”. Her restlessly wandering yet extraordinarily resolute mind took her through several experiments and experiences in life, sampling and savouring diverse tastes of adventure. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counsellor to women students. She became a member of the National Woman’s Party and a pioneer supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1929, after placing third in the All-Women’s Air Derby—the first transcontinental air race for women—Earhart helped to form the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for the advancement of female pilots. She became the first president of the organization of licensed pilots, which still exists today and represents women flyers from 44 countries.
Rebel
If she was notably unorthodox in her professional, she was as much of a defiant rebel in her personal life. She married a publisher George P. Putnam, a divorcee himself with two sons from his previous marriage after he proposed six times to her. Earhart referred to her marriage as a “partnership” with “dual control”. In a letter written to Putnam and hand-delivered to him on the day of the wedding, she wrote, “I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any midaevil (sic) code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly.” She continued, “I may have to keep someplace where I can go to be by myself, now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure at all times the confinement of even an attractive cage.” Evidently, Earhart’s ideas on marriage were liberal for the time, as she pointedly kept her own name rather than being referred to as “Mrs Putnam”. There was no honeymoon for the newlyweds, as Earhart was involved in a nine-day cross-country tour promoting autogyros and the tour sponsor, Beech-Nut chewing gum.
But her marriage further strengthened, whetted and refined her passion of flying. Putnam not only shared her dreams but actively helped her plan and execute them. The understanding they shared matured and flourished. He taught her how to present her ambitions and accomplishments to the world at large. Following her disappearance over the Pacific and not being satisfied with the Roosevelt administration’s efforts to find her, he commissioned a private search that unfortunately did not yield any success.
Around the World
In pursuance of her dream, Amelia Earhart took off from Oakland, California, on an eastbound flight around the world. The date was Ist of June, 1937. It was her second attempt to become the first pilot ever to circumnavigate the globe. She flew a twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra and was accompanied on the flight by navigator Fred Noonan. They flew to Miami, then down to South America, across the Atlantic to Africa, then east to India and Southeast Asia. The pair reached Lae, New Guinea, on June 29. When they reached Lae, they already had flown 22,000 miles. They had 7,000 more miles to go before reaching Oakland and fulfilling her long-cherished dream.
Missing in Action
Earhart and Noonan departed Lae for tiny Howland Island—their next refuelling stop—on July 2. It was the last time Earhart was seen alive. She and Noonan lost radio contact with the U.S. Coast Guard cutter ‘Itasca’, anchored off the coast of Howland Island, and disappeared en route.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized a massive two-week search for the pair, but they were never found. On July 19, 1937, Earhart and Noonan were declared lost at sea.
Scholars and aviation enthusiasts have proposed many theories about what happened to Amelia Earhart. The Crash and Sink Theory, the most prevalent one, suggested that Earhart’s plane ran out of fuel while she searched for Howland Island, and crashed into the sea and perished. Another theory hints that she may have landed in a neighbouring island, the Gardner Island, now called Nikumaroro having failed to locate Howland Island, where they may have survived for some time before dying. There are other fanciful theories as well. One such theory mentions that she was captured by the Japanese and executed while another equally fanciful theory is that they worked as spies for the Roosevelt administration and lived under new identities on their return to the US. Her disappearance, even after decades, continues to arouse interest and excitement and is one of the most controversial unsolved mysteries. The official position, however, is that her plane crashed into the sea near Howland Island possibly because the plane ran out of fuel or due to navigational errors. While the controversy is still alive, she still remains the most wanted missing person.
Legacy
Earhart became an acclaimed international celebrity at an early age during her own lifetime. Her charismatic appeal is accentuated by her shyness, steely resolution, fierce independence, dogged persistence and death-defying determination combined together in her rare personality. Her mystifying disappearance and the circumstances leading to it lent a lasting lustre to her legacy and a glowing hue to her uncommon accomplishments. She has been discussed and eulogised in hundreds of articles. Scores of books have been written about her life as a motivational tale for everyone, especially for girls. Hailed as one of the brightest feminist icons, Hillary Clinton in a 2012 memorial address said, “Earhart … created a legacy that resonates today for anyone, girls and boys, who dream of the stars.
Earhart, even after over eight decades of disappearance towers tall in defiance of death. There are people who still believe that she did not perish in the sea. Her iconic legacy has only become richer and more enduring with the passage of time. She is remembered as a fearless intrepid courageous person of outstanding grit and determination. But, above all, she is part of a treasured heritage nurtured by young women across the world for leading a life that was not only eminently successful but exceptionally inspirational. She lived with passion and purpose each day of her life.
“Once more into the fray
Into the last good fight, I’ll ever know
Live and die on this day
Live and die on this day”
Women have often been neglected as major contributors to the history of the world either through commission or distortion. It’s a delight for us to have taken on the challenge to unearth these overlooked gems and keep relevant the stories of amazing women in history.
The author was the former Information and Broadcasting Secretary, GOI. Mr Uday Kumar Varma serves as an esteemed jury member on the SABERA The Social and Business Enterprise Responsible Awards 2021 Jury Board.
This article is part of a series on women in history who have excelled in their area of passion. You may also like to read about the activist Emmeline Pankhurst from England or the lady sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko or just maybe a piece on Frida Kahlo?
