Amelia Earhart: A Beacon of Hope for Women Aviators Around the World

July 24, 1897, a belligerent war against the norm of society is interrupted by the birth of one Amelia Earhart. From the time of her birth in Atchison, Kansas, to her disappearance in the Pacific Ocean at the age of 39, Amelia Earhart was venerated as a beacon of hope for women aviators around the world. She is recognized as the first woman aviator to set multiple records and some acclaim that Amelia Earhart is “perhaps the most effective activist of her time.” Acting upon a simple yearn for flight, Amelia Earhart managed to alter the public view on women as workers as a whole, and provided a hero during the ubiquitous devastation caused by the Great Depression.

Early Life

Amelia Mary Earhart was the first of two children to be born to Amy Otis. Her Grandfather, Alfred Otis, was a high class citizen in Atchison, as well as a judge. Edwin, Amelia’s father, endured many failures which caused his blooming alcoholism to worsen, bringing his family into an unknown poverty. Making a tough decision Amy sent Amelia and her younger sister Muriel to their Grandparents to attend The College Preparatory in Atchison. In 1908, at the Iowa State Fair that Amelia’s father took her to, she caught a glimpse of her first plane. Upon Amelia’s first sight of the plane she had thought it was a “thing of rust wire and wood, not interesting at all.”

During her high school years, Amelia and her family experienced poverty, caused by Edwin’s inability to keep a job. When Amy’s parents died, Amy found herself in possession of a portion of her Grandfather’s estates. Once Amy had full control of her capital she gave some of the money to Amelia. “By September of 1916, Amelia enrolled in Ogontz School at Rydal, Pennsylvania.” She became the secretary of a...

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...melia not been offered the chance to make a transatlantic flight, she probably would have stayed on staff at Denison house, and continued to aid immigrants to the country. Even more astounding Amelia gave part of her small pay check to her mother for support, after much of their grandparent’s money had been wasted. Amelia loved her family, even her father who was a standing alcoholic and would have done anything to help them, including referring her father to a very good doctor when he was deathly ill.

To be great and kind isn’t always the easiest thing to find, because many of the greatest women in history were great because they had so little of a personal life. Amelia was able to embrace her life to the fullest as well a make an impact on society. She will always be considered great in future generations and will always be remembered in future generations.