Amelia Earhart

“ The remark went unnoticed; the press continued in notes of triumphant praise—except for one discordant chord sounded by M. E. Tracey in the New York World-Telegram: “Amelia Earhart has given us a magnificent display of useless courage.... The interest in such performances is one great weakness of the present age.”
Amelia retained her composure. “If science advances,” she said, “and aviation progresses, and international good will is promoted because of my flight, no one will be more delighted than I—or more surprised.” ”

“ For most of the basic scenes and incidents in the story of Amelia Earhart I am indebted to G. P. Putnam’s Sons and to Harcourt, Brace and Company, whose books by Amelia Earhart and George Palmer Putnam provided me with the beginning framework for my biography. From AE’s 20 Hrs., 40 Min., The Fun of It, and Last Flight (arranged by G. P. Putnam) , from GP’s Soaring Wings and Wide Margins, I have carefully chosen events, transcribed letters, and quoted conversations. ”

“ The bigger question, never addressed by Klaas, Gervais, Reineck or (Tod) Swindell, is WHY Amelia Earhart – who is so determined to live out her days incognito – would continue to associate with her old aviation pals AND wear one-of-a kind decorations which could ONLY have been worn by Earhart. Seems a pretty sloppy way of safeguarding IB’s “secret identity,” which the government has spent millions to establish.
Another curious thing about the Sea Spray Inn photo is how Guy Bolam towers over Irene, even though he was standing behind her. ”

“ Why Amelia Earhart would want to assume another identity and begin a new life completely detached from her beloved mother, sister, family and many friends is, of course, one of many obvious questions this theory has elicited from its critics. The answer to this question, as well as many others that present logical obstacles to the acceptability of the Irene Bolam hypothesis, has never been expressed in a manner coherent enough to convince any but its few proponents, whose motivations are themselves sufficiently tenuous as to arouse well-founded suspicions. ”

“ This revelation alone is a dead proof against the theory, as Irene Bolam is seen to be well known and “traced” by two people back to her early school days. How and when could Amelia Earhart have come into the scene and “become” Irene Bolam? All of the above leads to the conclusion that Kelley’s statement about his participation in the “repatriation of Amelia Earhart” must be rejected by serious researchers. ”

“ More than once, the grand affirmation, “The mystery is solved!” has been heard, only to fade into silence in the wake of competing ideas and evidence. To this day, no definitive “smoking gun” evidence has been uncovered or released, thus no universal agreement exists as to the true fate of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.
One of the most controversial hypotheses about Earhart’s disappearance is the so-called “survival theory.” This theory posits that Earhart survived World War II in Japanese custody, and was then somehow “repatriated” back to the United States in 1945. ”

“ The Lockheed Electra
Before taking off for Honolulu, 1937
Fragment of wood possibly associated with AE’s last flight
Josephine Blanco Akiyama
AE and Fred Noonan on the last flight
xi
Author’s Note There are many women who wish they were men; few men who wish they were women. Amelia Earhart did not want to be a man—she was the essence of femininity; but she did want to do many of the things men can do—and a few of the things men cannot do. ”

“ In 1934 the New York Herald Tribune held its annual conference; the topic: “Women and the Changing World.” Amelia Earhart was a guest speaker. In the audience was Dr. Edward C. Elliott, president of Purdue University. Up on the platform Mrs. William Brown Meloney rose to introduce the famous woman flier.
“I present to you,” Mrs. Meloney said, turning to AE, “evidence against a ‘lost generation.’ For I remind you that no generation which could produce Amelia Earhart can be called a lost generation. She has set a pace for those of her age and time. ”

“ I’m a false heroine now, and that makes me feel very guilty. Someday I will redeem my self-respect. I can’t live without it.”
Hilton Railey understood. She did not want to be the symbol of something she was not. Now she would have to spend the next few years becoming what she was already in the eyes of the press and the public—a woman flier who deserved the acclaim she had received.
Amelia looked again at the Avro Avian below. The fuselage was covered with medals and mementoes to which was added:40 “To Amelia Earhart from Mary Heath. Always think with your stick forward.” ”

“ The day she told me of the trans-Atlantic project, and swore me to secrecy, she said, “And I’ll be back for summer school. I have weighed the values and I want to stay in social work.” Her simplicity, her honesty, her complete lack [16] of any quality that makes for sensationalism—this is Amelia Earhart. A few days after the flight project was under way, a dinner guest at Denison House, who was learning to fly at the East Boston Airport, told of the big Fokker monoplane that Byrd was “to fly to the Antarctic” ”

“ Trying to explain Amelia’s alleged uncharacteristic actions relative to her loved ones, proponents of the survival theory have advanced the idea that her family in fact did know about her repatriation but were sworn to secrecy about it. Such an explanation, fabricated without any evidence to support it, certainly seems improbable. Every member of Amelia’s family was an object of media interest, and had many friends and extensive social contacts. All of them would have to have been the very best actors in the world to be able to keep such a secret for decades. ”

“ Nevertheless, these files seem to indicate that the Japanese had more than a normal interest in Amelia Earhart, because of212 another event that happened, curiously, again in the Marianas. This new evidence has never before been made public.
At the end of the war on the island of Saipan a Navy dentist worked with his assistant, a native girl named Josephine Blanco. It was 1946. Dr. Casimir R. Sheft, now practicing in New Jersey, was taking a break between appointments and talking with a fellow dentist. During the conversation Dr. ”

“ He did not think he should keep his daughters in school at all costs. Sometimes he took Amelia and Muriel with him on his trips for the railroad—to Kansas City, Des Moines, St. Paul, Chicago—thinking the22 visits as educational as classes in school. He also took the girls along whenever he went on a fishing jaunt. For such things as a lunar eclipse he would let them stay up late at night. And Amelia never forgot the one occasion in 1910 when she saw Halley’s comet.
“Anything unusual is educational,” Amy Earhart said, supporting her husband’s views. ”

“ A young American woman has crossed the Atlantic in an aeroplane and has arrived safely on the shore of Wales. Within the past few months three other women have lost their lives in attempting the same feat, and Miss Earhart is to be congratulated on escaping their fate. The voyage itself, for nearly all the way through fog, is a remarkable achievement made possible by the skill and courage of the pilot. ”

“ Pioneering must go on, whatever the toll; the waste places must be conquered. Since, however, the faculty of Reed University, in Oregon, declares that it is impossible for a person blindfolded to tell one cigarette from another, it seems to us that the only honorable course left for Commander Byrd, in order to vindicate science and validate Miss Earhart’s gift, is to fly to the South Pole blindfolded. ”

“ Society cannot profit directly or indirectly from Miss Earhart’s journey. She is an international heroine simply and solely because, owing to good luck and an airman’s [295] efficiency, she is the first woman to travel from America to Europe by air. A scientist has died after many years of agony because of his devotion to the work of healing, and for him there are only brief paragraphs in the newspapers, while Miss Earhart has columns. ”

“ They were full-sized birds that slid on the hard-packed snow and rose into the air with an extra roar that echoed from the evergreens that banked the edge of the field. They were a part of war, just as much as the drives, the bandages and the soldiers. I remember well that when the snow blown back by the propellers stung my face I felt a first urge to fly. ”

“ FLYERS ALL EIELSON, WILKINS, BYRD, CHAMBERLIN, BALCHEN, STULTZ, EARHART, GORDON
BOSTON, JUNE 9
The crash was an interesting experience. In such a crisis the passage of time is very slow. I remember it seemed minutes while we were approaching the inevitable cabbages, although of course it was only a few seconds. I had leisure [85] to reach over and turn off the switch before we hit.
More than once I have nosed over. Whenever a plane is compelled to stop suddenly there is danger of so doing. I have come down in a muddy field where the wheels stuck. ”

“ In soloing—as in other activities—it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it. Almost every beginner hops off with a whoop of joy, though he is likely to end his flight with something akin to D. T.’s. ”

“ I make no statement as to how young youth is. To soothe excitable mothers, I should say, they needn’t worry yet about children under seven adding to life’s complexities by trying to fly, and that pilots’ licenses can’t be obtained after fifty-two. ”

“ We are out of Halifax about 15 minutes. The take-off took one minute in a perfectly calm sea. We loaded 100 gals. of gas after we had waited since about 7 A.M. until 9 for its arrival. Any other day in the year, I suppose, would have been better to get it. I wandered around and looked over the station, stopping a few minutes in what I was told was Commander Byrd’s home when he was in charge of the station during the war. Major Harrup is there now and while the station is not active just now, is going to be soon, with several seaplanes assigned to it. ”

“ She was a dull, spiritless child, yet a close observer could perceive that there was not so much lack of talent, as want of development. Her mother was too broken-hearted to infuse much animation, which was very essential to such a passive nature as Amelia's. She was shy of every body, and her home, poor as it was, constituted her world, for it was all she knew of it. Mr. Crawford was now an abject of constant terror. Unfit for any regular occupation, no hour of the day was secure from his intrusion, and, as if to vex his wife to the utmost, ho sought every means to annoy and abuse Amelia. ”

“ Poor little Amelia went clad in severe simplicity; durable woolen frocks in winter, and washable, unfadable, and non-soil-showing frocks in summer. She, although her mother had perhaps more money wherewith to dress her than had any of the other mothers, was the plainest-clad little girl in school. Amelia, moreover, never tore a frock, and, as she did not grow rapidly, one lasted several seasons. Lily Jennings was destructive, although dainty. Her pretty clothes were renewed every year. Amelia was helpless before that problem. ”

“ Too true it is, I am afraid, my dearest creature, that the highest human happiness is imperfect. How rich would be my cup, was it not for one poisonous drop which embitters the whole! O, Amelia! what must be the consequence of my ever having the honour to call you mine!—You know my situation in life, and you know your own: I have nothing more than the poor provision of an ensign's commission to depend on; your sole dependence is on your mother; should any act of disobedience defeat your expectations, how wretched must your lot be with me! O, Amelia! ”

“ Many are happy who have not received even a stocking from their parents.”
“Ah, yes, I know that. I am not envious of these riches, but rather that your child has you and so many friends to thank for all these, and for all she has received from them. Such garments, the gift of a mother, must keep one doubly warm.”
Amelia showed her benevolence towards Barefoot, by going with her to the door of the court-yard, and treating her with as much respect as though she had eight horses in the stall.
All was lively confusion, when Amrie came again upon the dancing-ground. ”

“ Bennet, which, I own to you, I don't chuse, as she is a person whom nobody knows, I very much doubt whether she herself would like it; for she is a woman of a very unaccountable turn. All her delight lies in books; and as for public diversions, I have heard her often declare her abhorrence of them."
"What then," said Amelia, "could occasion all that gravity from the moment the masquerade was mentioned?"
"As to that," answered the other, "there is no guessing. You have seen her altogether as grave before now. She hath had these fits of gravity at times ever since the death of her husband." ”

“ Soon after the Friendship flight AE realized that she needed a man to protect her, to help her continue as the symbol that she was. GP was the man to clear the way for her, to find the money, to stand beside her in the press of circumstance, to support her in every venture. Although many men could fill such requirements in a husband, Amelia felt that she could find happiness, if it were possible to find it with anybody, only with George Putnam. ”

“ I warrant you, we will contrive some method to repair such a loss."
"Thou heavenly angel! thou comfort of my soul!" cried Booth, tenderly embracing her; then starting a little from her arms, and looking with eager fondness in her eyes, he said, "Let me survey thee; art thou really human, or art thou not rather an angel in a human form? O, no," cried he, flying again into her arms, "thou art my dearest woman, my best, my beloved wife!"
Amelia, having returned all his caresses with equal kindness, told him she had near eleven guineas in her purse, and asked how much she should fetch him. ”