this video is brought to you by quincy 400.
in the field of aviation few figures loom larger in the popular imagination than amelia earhart
over a relatively brief 10-year career the legendary aviatrix became an icon and
inspiration for women everywhere becoming the first woman to fly the atlantic solo
and setting dozens of long-distance flight records her mysterious disappearance during
an attempted round-the-world flight in 1937 continues to fuel speculation to this day
ensuring her legacy will live on for years to come but before she was a world famous superstar amelia
earhart was a struggling social worker and pilot living in massachusetts whose earliest flights
were instrumental in the establishment of denison field among the first commercial airports in the
united states amelia earhart was born on july 24 1897 in atchison kansas the eldest of two
daughters born to amy otis and edwin earhart a lawyer from an early age amelia displayed a
love of adventure in the outdoors spending long days with her younger sister muriel exploring
the neighborhood collecting insects and engaging in all sorts of rough and tumble play including
building a roller coaster-like ramp that provided emilia with the first taste of flight but aside
from a few idyllic years spent in atchison much of amelia's childhood was characterized by hardship
and constant movement quote there are two kinds of stones as everyone knows one of which roles
because i selected a father who was a railroad man it has been my fortune to roll but when edwin
earhart's law practice failed in 1905 he took a job as a claims officer for the rock island
railroad and moved the family to des moines iowa her first all seemed well for the family with
edwin quickly earning a promotion but he soon began drinking heavily and quickly descended
into alcoholism forcing him to retire from his position in 1914 and seek treatment around this
time amelia's wealthy grandmother died leaving a considerable inheritance however this was reserved
in a trust for amelia and muriel forcing the earharts to auction off the family home emilia
would later describe this event as one of the saddest in her life and the end of her childhood
in 1915 edwin erhard found work with the grand trunk railway and moved the family to saint
paul minnesota he later accepted to transfer to springfield missouri only to find upon his arrival
that the position no longer existed fed up with the constant moves amir hart left edwin and took
her daughters to live with friends in chicago throughout this tumultuous period young amelia
thought long and deeply about her future direction in life keeping a scrapbook of prominent women and
of male-dominated careers such as filmmaking law and engineering in chicago she began canvassing
local high schools seeking out the best science program her unusual approach put off several
candidates with one school rejecting her after she compared their chemistry lab to a kitchen sink she
eventually enrolled at hyde park high school in 1916 but did not enjoy the experience a year but
captioned describing her as the girl in brown who walks alone amelia next enrolled in junior college
at ongon school in rydal pennsylvania but never completed her program during christmas vacation
in 1917 she traveled north to visit muriel at a college preparatory school in toronto
canada it was to prove a formative experience in toronto emilia was exposed to the sobering sight
of thousands of wounded soldiers returning from the first world war inspiring her to abandon her
studies take a first aid course and volunteer as a nursing aide at the spadina military hospital
it was also around this time that amelia earhart finally discovered her lifelong passion though she
had first encountered an airplane at an iowa state fair in 1908 it was during her time in toronto
that her love of aviation was truly kindled at the time toronto was the center of aviation in the
british empire with dozens of military air bases and civilian flying clubs scattered around the
city during an air show at the canadian national exhibition in 1918 the sisters would dive bombed
by a mischievous stunt pilot but the unflappable emilia stood her grounds later reminiscing
i'm sure the pilot said to himself watch me make them scamper it was mid-november
with snow on the ground the backwash of the propellers threw burning biting snow in my face
it was like the finest cold shower you ever imagined i did not understand it at the time but i
believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by i determined then that
i would someday ride one of these devil machines amelia served as a nurse until fall 1919 when like
millions around the globe she contracted spanish influenza her convalescence lasted nearly a year
the disease leaving her with severe sinus problems that would plague her for the rest of her life
once recovered emilia enrolled in the pre-med program at columbia university but after only
a year of studies changed her mind and quit to join her recently reunited parents in california
inspired by her experiences in toronto on december 28 1920 amelia traveled to deity field in long
beach and took her first airplane ride with a barn stormer and future air racing superstar frank
hawks the 10-minute flight would forever change her life with amelia later stating by the time i
had got two or three hundred feet off the ground i knew i had to fly over the next year amelia
worked various jobs including photographer truck driver and secretary eventually raising the 1 000
she needed for flying lessons she took her first lesson on january the 3rd 1921 at kinafield her
instructor being pioneering aviatrix anita snook the first woman to own her own aviation business
and run a commercial airfield though initially skeptical her mother eventually agreed to dip into
her daughter's trust fund to help her complete her lessons and amelia soloed for the first time
in late 1921 she wasted no time establishing herself in the aviation field on her 25th birthday
she brought a bright yellow kinner esther biplane she dubbed the canary and on the 22nd of october
1922 used it to set a world altitude record for women of 14 000 feet over rogers field los angeles
and on may 15 1923 she became the 16th woman in the united states to be issued a pilot's license
by the paris-based international aeronautical federation or fai being a woman in a predominantly
male field presented numerous challenges and to fit in amelia took to sleeping in her leather
flight coat to make it look more worn and cut her hair short in the style of other female aviators
but the good times were not to last when amelia's parents divorced in 1924 she sold the canary and
drove her mother across the country to live with muriel's family in connecticut by this
time a failed investment in a gypsum mine had all but depleted amelia's trust fund forcing her to
settle in boston and seek alternative employment after completing her course in teaching english
at massachusetts university she found work as a social worker at denison house a settlement
house that helped immigrants from ireland syria and china adjust to life in the u.s meanwhile she
continued to feed her passion for aviation joining the boston chapter of the national aeronautics
association writing regular newspaper columns on flying and performing promotional flights for
the kinner aircraft company she quickly gained a reputation for skill and daring the boston globe
calling her one of the best woman pilots in the united states in 1927 amelia invested what little
spare money she had into businessman harold denison's scheme to build an airfield outside
the town of quincy massachusetts completed in july of that year denison field was among the
first commercial airports in the country the site already had an impressive aviation pedigree in
1910 it had played host to the harvard boston aero med the first international flight competition in
the united states and the second such event held anywhere in the world but this was not enough to
guarantee the success of denison's venture while modern aviation had begun in the united states
with the wright brothers pioneering flights of 1903 in the late 1920s passenger air travel
was still something of a novelty for american travelers one of the first commercial airlines
in the country aira marine west indies airways was founded in 1920 by manhattan car dealer
inglis m uppercue the airline flew a thousand mile route between key west florida and havana cuba
allowing prohibition parched passengers to enjoy an endless supply of free-flowing liquor
unfortunately the unreliable and uncomfortable nature of early aircraft along with a number of
fatal crashes caused the airline and many of its successes to fold planting in the minds of the
american people a deep-seated suspicion of flying commercial aviation on the continent was only
kept alive by the government's establishment of a heavily subsidized air mail service harold denison
however was convinced of the future of passenger air travel and sought to make quincy the epicenter
of a transport revolution while it is commonly claimed that amelia earhart flew
the first commercial flight out of denison field this claim has since been disputed she
did however save the airfield from a potential public relations disaster to help promote his
venture in september 1927 harold denison invited world famous german stunt pilot theodora rash to
perform a demonstration flight over denison field during the september 28th flight the engine
on rash's aircraft failed forcing her to make an emergency crash landing in a nearby swamp while
resh was unheard the incident threatened to damage the reputation of women pilots so amelia earhart
jumped into an aircraft and gave what the boston globe called an excellent demonstration of flying
thrilling the assembled crowd and securing the airfield's future miss amelia as she was known
to the locals soon became a regular presence at denison field an exotic figure known for
her masculine dress style and passionate devotion to aviation spending every spare moment logging
ever more precious flying hours but emilia's sojourn in quincy would last barely a year for
on april 27 1928 she received the fateful phone call that would catapult her into super stardom
on the line was u.s navy captain h.h raley who asked emilia to become the first woman
to cross the atlantic by air amelia earhart would be far from the first woman to make the attempt
following charles lindbergh's celebrated solo crossing in may 1927 a number of intrepid women
lined up to be the first to match his feet first out of the gate was 63 year old british aristocrat
princess anne lowenstein wertheim avid pilot and sportswoman on august 31 1927 princess
anne along with pilots captain leslie hamilton and colonel frederick minchin took off from upper von
wiltshire and headed westbound for ottawa their aircraft the focker f sevenson raphael was spotted
by a ship early the next morning but it was never seen again vanishing without a trace the next to
make the attempt were american pilots ruth elder and george alderman who set off from long island
on october the 11th 1927 in a stinson detroiter dubbed american girl engine trouble forced the
pair to ditch the aircraft 500 kilometers short of the azures but they were picked up by a passing
freighter and treated to a dictate parade on their return to the u.s following close behind was
their rival francis grayson who set off from long island on december 23 1927 bound for harbor grace
newfoundland grayson and her crew never reached their destination disappearing somewhere off the
coast of nova scotia on march 13 1928 british shipping heiress and actress elsie mckay and
pilot captain wgr hincliffe attempted a crossing from cranwell lincolnshire to long island but also
disappeared without a trace of the four women to attempt an atlantic crossing before amelia earhart
only wanted to survive the experience nor was amelia earhart the first choice to make the flight
in mid-1927 american-born british socialite amy guest decided to become the first woman
to fly the atlantic and purchased a fokker f7 tri-motor from explorer richardy bird the first
man to reach both the north and south poles by air she christened the aircraft friendship and
set about finding a crew to carry out the crossing however under intense pressure from her family
guest decided that the crossing was too hazardous for her to attempt and agreed to give up her seat
but only if an american girl of the right image could be found to replace her among guests team of
advisors was publisher and promoter george putnam who had already published best-selling books by
lindbergh and byrd one of putnam's associates phoned rear admiral reginald k belnap in boston
and asked if he knew any potential candidates barnap's response would make history i knew
a young social worker who flies called denison house and asked for amelia earhart on june 17 1928
emilia along with pilots vilma schtulz and louis gordon took off from trapezy harbour newfoundland
and headed east landing 20 hours and 40 minutes later in buryport wales emilia did not pilot the
flight and was instead tasked with keeping the flight log she later expressed his appointment
at a passive role lamenting to reporters staltz did all the flying he had to i was just baggage
like a sack of potatoes maybe someday i'll try it alone nonetheless the pioneering flight made
amelia earhart an instant celebrity granting her the fame and resources she needed to pursue
her aviation ambitions after marrying george putnam in 1931 amelia purchased a lockheed vega
aircraft on may 20 1932 and became the first woman to repeat charles lindbergh's historic feat making
a non-stop solo flight between harbour grace newfoundland and carlmore ireland in 14 hours and
56 minutes many more aviation firsts soon followed including the first solo flight from hawaii to
california a fifth place bendix transcontinental air race finish and seven women's speed and
distance records during this time amelia also founded the international organization of women
pilots as her first call for members yielded 99 responses emilia dubbed the organization the 99s
the name that it still holds to this day in 1935 amelia set her sights on her most ambitious feat
yet a 29 000 mile circumnavigation of the globe along the equator for this epic voyage amelia
purchased a state-of-the-art lockheed tenney electra airliner and partnered with experienced
navigators fred noonan and captain harry manning the crew set off on their first attempt on march
17 1937 crossing the pacific ocean from california to hawaii however three days later the aircraft
was severely damaged in an accident on takeoff and had to be shipped back to the mainland for repairs
on june 1st earhart and noonan set off again their route taking them from miami through 26
stops in south america africa south asia and australia reaching les new guinea on june 29th
just after midnight on july the 2nd the pair departed for lay bound for howland island a
tiny 1.6 mile long speck of land in the central pacific they never arrived with the coast guard
carter itasca recording the aircraft's last radio transmission at 7 45 am an extensive search for
the aircraft turned up nothing and amelia earhart and fred noonan were officially declared dead on
january the 5th 1939. in the eight decades since her disappearance the ultimate fate of amelia
earhart has been hotly debated with theorists variously speculating that she and noonan
survived for a time on a nearby desert island or were captured and executed by the japanese
but that's a subject for another video back in quincy denison field steadily grew and served
as a successful commercial airport until 1942 when it was taken over by the navy
to create the squantum naval air station the base was used through the second world war to train
allied air crew and patrol the eastern seaboard however squantum's proximity to boston's logan
international airport and the short length of its runways made it unsuitable for modern jet fighter
operations and in 1953 the base was shut down and naval air operations relocated to the weymouth
naval air station today almost nothing remains of denison field the cradle of u.s commercial
aviation and amelia earhart's last waypoint on her journey into aviation legend bonus fact
the creator of creole crayons among other things edwin and alice binney's daughter dorothy was for
a time married to publisher and promoter george p putnam who would in turn have two children with
her before the couple were divorced so what's this have to do with our story today well the ultimate
cause of the divorce was in part because of a long-standing affair dorothy had been having but
also the fact that putnam himself had fallen in love with amelia earhart the two became extremely
close when earhart came to live with putnam while they wrote a book together chronicling her
aforementioned first flight across the atlantic after he got divorced shortly thereafter he would
propose to amelia earhart six times before she finally accepted as to her hesitation here we
have a letter from the legend herself which she gave him on their wedding day in it earhart wrote
you must know again my reluctance to marry i feel the move just now as foolish as anything
i could do i know there may be compensations but have no heart to look ahead on our life together
i want you to understand i shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me nor
shall i consider myself bound to use similarly if we can be honest i think the difficulties which
arise may best be avoided should you or i become interested deeply or in passing with anyone else
please let us not interfere with the other's work or play nor let the world see our private joys or
disagreements in this connection i may have to keep some place 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 i must exact a cruel promise and that is you will let me go in a year if we find no happiness
together i will try to do my best in every way and give you that part of me you know and seem to want
also extremely odd for her time she chose not to take her husband's new name they also didn't
bother with any honeymoon or anything both going right back to work after their weekend wedding
her back on a flight tour and he back to his day job it all worked out though once she saw her
husband really did want her as she was and wasn't in the slightest bit interested in interfering
with her work or her being an extremely atypical wife she would later state a few years later i
had no special feelings about mr putnam at first i was too absorbed in the prospects of the trip and
my being the one to make it of course after i had talked to him for very long i was conscious of the
brilliant mind and keen insight of the man we came to depend on each other yet it was only friendship
between us or so at least i thought at first at least i didn't admit even to myself that i was in
love but at last the time came i don't quite know when it happened when i couldn't deceive myself no
longer i couldn't continue telling myself that what i felt for gp was only friendship i knew
i had found the one person who could put up with me and finally to conclude this
not so quick fact section a great quote from earhart after crossing the atlantic solo and
becoming the first person to cross bayer twice she stated if there is anything i have learned
in life it is this if you follow the inner desire of your heart the incidentals will take care of
themselves if you want badly enough to do a thing you usually do it very well and a thing well done
as a society is organized usually works out to the benefit of others as well as yourself
you