Amelia Earhart Broke Barriers, But It Was Her Disappearance That Dominated Headlines
Amelia Earhart was one of America’s most admired figures and remains one today. She wasn’t just a trailblazer in aviation; she took to the skies at a time when women were expected to stay firmly on the ground. Every flight challenged the limits placed on her - and on women everywhere.
In 1937, Earhart's story took a tragic turn when her plane vanished during a round-the-world flight. Nearly a century later, her fate and her navigator, Fred Noonan, is still a mystery.
From her record-setting achievements to her partnership with publisher George Putnam, this is the story of a woman who reshaped history and left behind a legacy that continues to captivate the world.
Amelia Earhart Wasn't Always a Frequent Flyer
Before aviation became central to her life, Amelia Earhart supported herself through a range of ordinary jobs. Like many women of her era, she worked where opportunities were available, including as a nurse’s aide and, later, as a social worker. Flying didn't initially provide a steady income, and even as her reputation grew, she felt the need for financial stability.
As her achievements brought her public recognition, Earhart expanded her work beyond the cockpit. She gave lectures, wrote articles and promoted aviation to a wider audience. In 1935, she joined Purdue University’s Department of Aeronautics as a visiting faculty member, where she advised students - particularly women - interested in aviation careers.
She Didn’t Follow a Traditional Academic Path
Despite her many achievements, Earhart never thrived in traditional academic settings. She was clearly intelligent, but classroom life didn’t hold her interest. She enrolled in a pre-medical program at Columbia University, only to realize fairly quickly that it wasn’t the right path for her.
In 1925, Earhart attempted to return to college and complete a degree, but, once again, chose to step away. She later took summer courses at Harvard to continue her education, but these plans ended when she was unable to secure a scholarship to MIT.
Flying Didn’t Immediately Win Her Over
It’s hard to imagine now, but flying didn’t immediately appeal to Earhart. When she first saw an airplane, she later described it as nothing more than “a thing of rusty wire and wood.” In 1908, this assessment wasn’t entirely wrong. At the time, aviation held little fascination for her, and she gave no indication that flight would one day define her life.
Her attitude began to change years later while she was working as a nurse’s aide in Toronto during World War I. With few diversions available, she and her friends often spent time at nearby airfields, watching military pilots train and take off. Gradually, those afternoons on the ground sparked a growing interest in what was happening in the air.
The Woman Who Taught Earhart to Fly
Aviation in the early 1900s was almost entirely dominated by men - and, in many ways, it still is. It'd be easy to assume Earhart learned to fly from a male instructor, but that wasn’t the case. Her first lessons came from another woman who was already carving out her place in the skies.
Neta Snook was one of the earliest female aviation entrepreneurs and the first woman to operate her own flying school. She charged Earhart one dollar per minute of flight time, paid in Liberty Bonds, making each lesson a serious financial commitment.
Earhart took her first flight with Snook in 1920 at the Long Beach airfield. The experience was brief, but it was enough to set the course for the rest of her life.
Earhart's First Plane Wasn't Great
When Earhart started flying, it didn't take her long to realize this was something she was truly passionate about. Within six months of taking her first lesson, she was scouting around trying to find a plane to buy. The one she settled on was a second-hand yellow Kinner Airster biplane. Earhart, with the help of her mom, bought the aircraft for $2,000.
Earhart lovingly dubbed the plane "The Canary," due to its color, but Neta Snook thought she made a huge mistake, thinking it was overpriced and overused.
An Unlikely Friendship in the White House
When she wasn’t flying, Amelia Earhart moved comfortably through political and social circles. One of her closest friends was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, whom she met in 1932. Roosevelt admired Earhart’s independence and courage, and their conversations turned to aviation - she even began taking flying lessons!
One of their most memorable moments came during a White House dinner, when Earhart invited the First Lady on a spontaneous nighttime flight to Baltimore. Amelia took the controls while Eleanor flew as her passenger - an unexpected outing that captured the spirit of their friendship and Earhart’s influence.
Her Friends Were a Big Deal
Earhart may have been a force to be reckoned with in her day, but she wasn't the only female riding the skies. A lot of the women she surrounded herself with were also great and experienced fliers.
Louise Thaden set records for women's speed, altitude and solo-endurance flying in 1929. To this day, she remains the only pilot to have done all three at the same time. Ruth Nichols was also a notable example of a female pioneer of the era.
Finding Love in an Unexpected Place
Earhart and George Putnam's relationship eventually turned into a romantic one, but, at first, it was all professional and above board. Putnam had published several works on Charles Lindbergh, Earhart's male counterpart, and he was writing a book on Earhart when he began to fall for his subject.
The two worked closely together on public appearances and lectures, but Putnam was already married at the time. By 1931, he was divorced and wanted to make an honest woman out of Earhart, whom he loved and adored.
Earhart's Husband Proposed Six Times Before She Relented
When Earhart first met her future husband, George Putnam, she was already engaged to wed Samuel Chapman. For reasons unrelated to Putnam, she broke off the engagement in 1928.
By this point, George had decided he wanted to marry Earhart and relentlessly pursued her. After five failed proposals, the sixth time was the charm and Earhart finally said "yes." They married in 1931 at Putnam's family home in Noank, Connecticut, but she was reluctant right up until the very last second to sign her life away.
She Didn't Believe in Monogamy
Most lovebirds about to be married send gifts to each other before the big day. A little gesture of love isn't unheard of... But Earhart opted, instead, for a hand-delivered letter expressing her disbelief in monogamy. It read:
"I want you to understand that I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly. 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."
She Had No Desire to Be a Mother
Despite being married to Putnam for six years, Earhart was far too busy to have children, and she expressed no desire to expand their family. However, she was very close to Putnam's two children from his former marriage and particularly adored David, who frequently visited.
Just like her husband, the kids (who, by this point, were approaching adulthood themselves) were rightly devastated by Earhart's disappearance and tried desperately to find her. "She and I got along good," David later said in a rare interview. "She was the boss, of course. I did what she told me to do."
'Cosmopolitan' Employed Her as Its Aviation Editor
It might go without saying, but Cosmopolitan magazine doesn't need an Aviation Editor these days. It's more about fashion and lifestyle than spending time flying a plane, but back in the 1920s and '30s, flying was all the rage. Cosmo asked Earhart to be its Aviation Editor. She accepted and it was all systems go.
Over the course of their collaboration, Earhart penned 16 articles for the publication. She tried hard to settle the fears of women and encourage them to take to the skies.
Breaking Records When Women Weren’t Supposed To
Amelia Earhart earned her reputation through a series of historic firsts. In 1928, she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air - although she did so as a passenger. Four years later, she flew the same route solo, becoming the first woman (and just the second person ever) to make the non-stop transatlantic flight alone.
That same year, Earhart continued to push boundaries closer to home. She became the first woman to fly non-stop across the United States, setting speed records along the way. In '35, she accomplished one of her most dangerous feats yet: a solo flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, California - a route no pilot, male or female, had ever completed alone.
Earhart Didn't Always Win
Given her vast list of accomplishments, Earhart was clearly a champion. However, she didn't always win when it came to competitive flying. In 1929, after already establishing a name for herself in aviation, she entered the Santa Monica-to-Cleveland Women's Air Derby. She was in fourth place until her friend, who was one place ahead of her, had an accident.
Subsequently, Earhart placed third in the heavy planes division, but never became fully engrossed in the competitive racing field. Coming in third was still a huge achievement, but it wasn't quite the thrill she was looking for.
Her Mom Was Just as Impressive
Earhart didn’t grow up without strong influences. Her mother, Amy Earhart, was independent and adventurous in her own right - an unusual combination for a woman of her era. Before marriage and children, Amy became the first woman to climb Pikes Peak in Colorado, a feat that reflected the same determination her daughter would later show in the air.
When her daughter developed a serious interest in flying, Amy didn’t discourage it. Instead, she offered her support, including using part of her inheritance to help Earhart buy her first airplane.
Her Style Was as Unconventional as Her Flying
At a time when celebrity branding was virtually unheard of, Earhart launched her own clothing line, Amelia Earhart Fashions. The collection was sold through major department stores, making her one of the earliest public figures to turn personal style into a commercial brand.
Her designs reflected her life in aviation, featuring practical cuts and subtle flight-inspired details like propeller-shaped fastenings. The line included dresses, coats, scarves and hats - all clothing that were meant to be worn, not just admired.
Earhart also took a hands-on role in the process, sewing sample garments herself and helping shape the designs that carried her name.
Her Final Flight Was Meticulously Planned
One of the most confusing things about Earhart and Fred Noonan's disappearance was the detail that went into planning their flight to Howland Island. It should've been infallible. The pair had many back-up plans, in case something went wrong. If they went down over water, they'd ditch the plane and use their raft while they awaited rescue.
Theories abound, but the flight encountered several problems from the get-go. Witnesses who saw the plane take off believe the radio antenna was damaged, while the overcast weather conditions would've made navigation extremely difficult. There's also some speculation that the maps they were using were inaccurate.
A Disputed Final Message
After setting off at 12:30 AM, Earhart remained in contact with the USCGC Itasca. Her last message came through at 8:40 that morning, indicating they were around 20 miles southwest of the Nukumanu Islands.
"We must be on you, but we cannot see you. Fuel is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet," said Earhart before giving coordinates an hour later. A few days later, a child in Texas was scanning the radio when she heard, "This is Amelia Earhart," several times, along with two people arguing, and, finally, "The water is knee deep!"
At the time, the US Coast Guard dismissed it as a hoax, but the transmission later gained further credibility.
A Search Unlike Anything Before It
When Earhart's plane went missing on July 2, 1937, everyone was rightly panicked. By this time, she was a national treasure and one of America's brightest stars. For two weeks, the government poured its resources into finding Amelia, spending just over $4 million.
Even after the search ended, Earhart's husband didn't give up. He spent a fortune of his own money, charting boats to continue the quest to find out what happened to his wife. Although he scoured the Pacific, she and Noonan were never found.
Some Believe the Japanese Captured Earhart
Officially, no one knows what happened to Earhart or why her plane disappeared so suddenly. Journalist Mike Campbell gave one theory that gained a lot of traction. According to him, the most plausible explanation for her disappearance is that she was captured by the Japanese.
Campbell asserts that Earhart and Noonan were believed to be spies by the Japanese, who took them into custody and tortured them for information. When they didn't give them anything, they were slain.
There's a '99-Percent Chance' the Mystery Has Been Solved
In 1940, skeletal remains were located on the remote Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro. After being studied and analyzed, it was determined they belonged to a Caucasian female who stood between 5'6" and 5'8" tall.
The director emeritus of the University of Tennessee's Forensic Anthropology Centre, Richard L Jantz, wrote, "The bones are consistent with Earhart in all respects we know or can reasonably infer." If not, they're from “someone very similar to her."
Kate Prince
