Amelia Earhart Research Paper

In a small house near Atchison, Kansas, Samuel “Edwin” and Amelia Earhart welcomed their new baby girl on July 24, 1897. Following the family tradition, their little girl was named Amelia Mary after her two grandmothers. Amelia had a wonderful childhood. Most of her time was spent playing with her little sister, Muriel. The girls possessed a spirit of adventure from a young age and played for hours in their neighborhood exploring, climbing trees, hunting rats with a rifle and "belly-slamming" her sled downhill. The girls kept "worms, moths, katydids and a tree toad" in a collection some people found distracting and called the girls “tomboys”.

When Amelia was just seven years old, her uncle made a homemade roller coaster and Amelia took flight

as she sped down the hill and became airborne for a short distance. She told her sister it was just like flying after she crashed dramatically. In 1908, the Iowa State Fair had an exhibit with one of the first airplanes of the Wright Brothers. She was not impressed and did not seem to have much interest in flying as eleven years old.
After graduating from high school, Amelia wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

She began college in Pennsylvania but dropped out to become a nurse's aide assisting in taking care of wounded soldiers during World War I. Amelia thought she would like to become a mechanic so she began to take classes but she soon realized she wanted to go into the medical profession with the emphasis in medical research.

On December 28, 1920, Amelia and her father attended a California air show. This was the turning point in Amelia’s life. She declared “I knew I had to fly” as soon as the plane took off! Amelia knew her dream was not going to be easy to fulfill. She went to work to make it happen, borrowed some money from her mother and took almost all of her earnings to pay for flying lessons. Again, saving her money she was finally able to buy her own plane. Amelia named her plane “Canary” because it was a very bright yellow

plane.
In 1928, Amelia was approached to fly with a team of two other pilots across the Atlantic.

She was the navigator on the flight. Consequently, Amelia Earhart was considered a HERO after she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. A parade was held in her honor and to add to her excitement she was invited to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge. Amelia was still not satisfied with her accomplishment, she really dreamed of flying across the Atlantic by herself. Four years after the celebration, Amanda set out with determination to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, France. She had read about Charles Lindbergh who had made the same flight five years before and wanted to be the first woman to fly the same course. Luck did not follow her. It was a very treacherous flight. Bad weather, ice covered wings and windshield along with heavy dark clouds made it impossible to fly. She was in the air for fourteen hours after crossing the Atlantic and it became obvious she could not continue to fly. Amelia had to bring the plane down in a pasture in Londonberry, Northern Ireland. Even with the aborted flight, Amelia became the second person after Charles Lindbergh to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as a solo pilot. She was awarded many honors and accolades and became the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross from

Congress.
Over the next several years, Aviator Amelia continued to fly and break records including the first person to fly by herself from Hawaii to California. Amelia travelled around the country giving speeches about flying and women’s rights. After a few years, Amelia began to have a new yearning in her heart. She wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. She needed a navigator and chose Fred Noonan so together they took off from Miami, Florida in June of 1937. It took them awhile and several flights but they made it all the way across Africa and Asia to New Guinea in the South Pacific. On July 2, 1937, they continued their journey from New Guinea to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. All seemed to be progressing as planned.
Disaster struck and there was not good news. Amelia and her navigator disappeared and they were never seen again. What happened to them?? No one really knows. The United States government searched for Amelia for several weeks but nothing turned up. Amelia, Fred or their plane have never been found. On January 5, 1939, Amelia Earhart was declared dead.
People always remembered Amelia as a woman who displayed courage and skill as a navigator. Amelia always believed that her flights proved that women and men are equal in “jobs requiring intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness, and willpower”