Transcripts For CSPAN3 Amelia Earhart - Legend Legacy 20240

CSPAN3 Amelia Earhart - Legend Legacy July 13, 2024

To be the first woman to make the solo trip. Smithsonian national air and Space Museum Curator Dorothy Cochrane discusses some of the theories around her disappearance. Good evening. Im lauren with Smithsonian Associates and im so glad youve joined us for tonights program. To members im glad youre here. Its your ongoing support that make events like this possible. Any of you joining us for the first time a warm welcome and the opportunity to explore the wide range of programs we offer. Now is a perfect time to turn off your cell phones. Thank you for doing that. 85 years ago this month Amelia Earhart became the first aviator to fly solo from honolulu, hawaii to oakland, california. On may 21st, 1932, exactly five years after american aviator Charles Lindbergh floyd solo across the atlantic ocean, earhart became the first woman to repeat that feat. We are thrilled to welcome Dorothy Cochrane. She curates the collections of general aviation aircraft, flight material, aerial cameras and history of general aviation and women invasion. Shes the coauthor of the aviation careers of igor sokorsky as well as an essay on Amelia Earhart. She earned her private pilot license in 1994 and is a member of the aircraft owners and Pilots Association and experimental aircraft association. So now please join me in welcoming Dorothy Cochrane. [ applause ] well good evening, everyone. Thank you so much use the mic. I am. Its supposed to be on, right . Can you hear me now, as they say. Ate pleasure to be here. I thank the Smithsonian Associates for inviting me. As i walked in tonight i realized that i remembered being here with some of the people im going to talk about later in the evening for a symposium about, i dont know, 25 years ago. Was anybody else here then . Okay. Just checking. I dont want you to get a repeat, you know. So, yeah, i did want to point out book here that just came, smithsonian medicine american women. Par for the course about amelia, she gates four page spread in there. Still obviously very popular and everybody wants to know about her but there are a lot of other exciting women in this book and i just want to encourage you to go online and check it out and see who else. We got several other female aviators in there and a whole breadth of women who have done all kind of things in all kind of splints. It was a cool book and happy to be a part of it. So, let me see here. Thats all it has to do with the american womens Historical Initiative that the smithsonian is running all this year, which is, of course, the anniversary testify 19th amendment women getting the right to vote because of her story and its an Ongoing Program youll be seeing all year long. So, well go on without further ado. When a media starvidis appears off the faye of the earth public speculation will run wild. January 11th as she mentioned was the 85th anniversary of her first solo flight from hawaii to the u. S. Mainland and Amelia Earhart was the pioneering pilot. Few people know of this milestone but mentioned earharts name and most everyone perks up, yes they know who she is. And they probably have an opinion on how or why she disappeared on her 1937 around the world flight. After all her disappearance is one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. Earhart was a decorated pilot and a major celebrity during the 1930s, second only to charles lynnberg in terms of notoriety but even after the largest maritime search of the yeara came up empty and amelia was declared legally dead and even after nearly 83 years people continue to think of her and wonder what really happened her. Which each new theory or book or expedition her name remain in the public arena. But is that the only reason earhart is remembered . Why do people continue to search and more importantly why do they care . Amelia earhart is the most famous american female pilot and arguably the most famous one in world history. And accolade due got her aviation career and her mysterious disappearance. On may 21st, 1932 she became the first woman and second person after charles lynnberg to file nonstop across the atlantic. I have to put an asterisk its the north atlantic. I found out a few years ago or a year ago there was a gentleman that through the south atlantic. Sometimes i have to mention that. Flying a red lockheed vega 5b she leveled newfoundland, canada and landed in londonderry, ireland. On august 24th and 25th of that year she made first solo nonstop flight by a woman across the United States from los angeles to newark. Establishing a womans record of 19 hours and five minutes. And setting a womans distance record of 2,447 miles. To be sure, amelia had courage and commitment. It takes courage to embark on a path thats so different from the norm, but earhart felt that tug all her life. She was born on july 24th, 1897 in kansas, the daughter of edwin and amy otis earhart. Her sister muriel was born two years later. She was a tomboy. The neighborhood leader. She could hand all gun and sew her own clothes. The family made moves due to her fath fathers spotty diplomat record. They lived in minnesota and chicago and visited him when he was working in iowa where she saw her first airplane. Her parents separated on and off so she learned to depend on herself. She and muriel often spent happiest times with their grandparents where grandmother immersed them in typical midwest society. Sheproprietiys of the yeara. She was smart but head strong and not afraid to speak up for herself, her friend or fellow students. An avid reader she scoured the newspapers and magazines for articles on accomplished women, cut them out and paefted them into a scrapbook. One entry was about a female doctor by the name of dr. Raiche. However, i dont know if that article also mentioned she was a pilot and had built her own airplane with her husband. Well never know. When her mother received a modest inheritance she enrolled the girls in private boarding schools. We went to school in suburban philadelphia and muriel went to school in toronto. But when she went to visit muriel at cool in toronto at christmas, this is christmas of 1916, she was moved by the presence of the world war i wounded pilots who were up in toronto. And she decided that she was going to leave school just before her graduation and become and work as a nurse and a nurses aide in the Military Hospital tending to those who actually suffered from shell shock, or ptsd as we know it today. An she also took a visit to a flying club there and that kind of ignite ad spark in her. She thought about that. But following her medical thread she entered Columbia University Extension Program and took premed courses in the fall. She stayed for a semester and then at her parents request joined them in los angeles for the summer of 1920. The following months there were air shows at many airfields and started to learn more about aviation and on Christmas Day 1920 she and her father attended an opening for a nurpt at rogers field which featured many expedition acts. Her first and then she took a flight with veteran flyer frank hawks and declared as soon as i left the ground i knew i myself had to fly. Her first instructor was anita snook who is shown here, a barn stormer herself from iowa who gave lessons in a curttis jenning. It didnt last too long. Amelia took instruction from monty a barn stormer and movie stunt man and did very well with him as well. Teen pay for her flight lessons she worked as a telephone clerk, photographer and even a truck driver. And she soloed in 1921 and took her trials for the national egt license in that time. In 1922 she bought a kenner air steer from a local designer flying shows and then wasting no time in setting a womans altitude record. Get this of 14,000 feet. She barely knew how to fly, right, but she was determined to go up and do this. It was part of the exhibition attitude and what people did in the era, and people were excited to see anybody flying, really, and loved seeing the sport of it all. In 1923, then, she passed her flight test and became the 16th woman to receive an official Federation Internationale pilot license. But when her parents parted for the final time she sold the airplane and left with her mother moving the east be near her sister muriel. She was driftinor the next few years. She wasnt interested in marriage or motherhood but hadnt figured out what she wanted to do. She took some time to go back to columbia, took some course at harvard, did some short jobs here and there. But eventually took some course work that led them to a job at the denison settlement house in boston where he is began work with immigrant families. And at that time when she was settled in that job and making some money she was able thoen locate the local flying school and the flying clubs at denison airport and got herself back into flying joining the national ear astronautic association. Now she was starting to find herself again. Had she had a job an avocation, she had friend and having a good time. However, opportunity came knocking when she offered when she was offered the opportunity of a lifetime to become the first woman to fly as a passenger across the atlantic ocean. She passed an interview in new york city with people who had already promoted lindbergh and richard bird and richard bird was part of the group. And she passed it and was sworn to silence then until the group prepared for a flight. I keep hitting something here. What am i hitting . Lets try that. There we go. I have to watch what im doing. She was a stand in. New york socialite amy phillips who owned an f7 friendship and wanted to make flight herself as a passenger. She was a socialite from new york. Her family strongly objected. So they set about asking around and looking for someone who could make the flight and they were trying to find the right sort of girl. She had to be smart, have a good background, and then as it turned out with amelia she was a bonus because she already had some womens records. So she fit the requirements just fine. Before leaving for newfoundland with pilots wilmer and lou, she wrote a philosophical note to her family just in case she didnt return. She said quote hooray for the grand adventure. I wish i had won. She accepted the challenge, even though flying the atlantic in 1928 was very risky, 40 of the 1927 attempts failed. And 25 proved fatal. And the putnam group wasnt alone. It was race. Another woman named mabel ball determined to make the flight in a columbia. The race was on. The lindbergh era was there. Lindbergh flown atlantic. Just air mindedness and everyone was interested invasion. All kind of records and flights being and the. So everyone was involved in the game and the public just loved it, they ate it up. Just a very exciting time. It brought about investment and interest and regulation, all the things that aviation needed to actually become a form of transportation and grow into, of course, military Flight Airlines and more of what we know today. So, on june 17th, 1928, earhart departed newfoundland in a c plane. She had been promised time at the wheel, at the controls, but it was not to be. During the 20 hour 40minute flight to breakpoint, wales she got zero flight time. However she was able to fly the plane from wales to england. She said i happened to be a woman and the first to make a transatlantic corrosion by air and the press and public seemed to be more interested in that fact than anything else. It was a the tumultuous reception in wales, england, new york, chicago, pittsburgh. She hid her disappointment except for one reference for just being baggage. Stunned by the crowds she managed to find a buy an aircraft from lady mary heath. Before she could fly it she was obligated to George Putnam who was running the publicity to write a book and within two months she wrote her book, her first book entitled 20 hours and 40 minutes which talked mostly about aviation and women and people wanting to fly and a bit about the flight itself. So then she came and flew, came back to fly from the east coast to california and back. A trip that had a few crackups and break downs but everyone who flew then had those. It gave her an opportunity to speak with people and learn to interact with them and the media and most importantly it brought theory the realization this fame she was starting to get might give her the opportunity to actually earn a living in aviation which is what she wanted to do. George putnam of the putnam publishing and publicity family became her manager and she began lecturing and writing in aviation and learned how to deal with the press while guarding her privacy. One of her first moves was to join the Editorial Staff of cosmopolitan magazine. So now she was determined to succeed. So she acquired her transport license. She maded sure she did more flying, got better at it, took trials that were necessary to dedicate her so she would be taken as a serious pilot. In august of 1929, flying very speedy lockheed vega similar to the one we have in the collection she placed third in the all womens air derby behind two other women. This was the first transcontinental fright for women and it was important from santa monica to cleveland, ohio where the Cleveland Air races were and it was a race that she helped organize, but more importantly it was a race that was closely followed by the press and public and proved women could make a long and dangerous flight. They were capable of making these flights day in and day out, taking care of the airplanes, taking care of themselves, learning how to fly in all kind of weather, make decisions and a lot of men, of course, didnt think women could do that and they were out to prove that they could. Will rogers dubbed the flight the powder puff derby, but louise said we rather just be called pilots, thank you. I forgot to mention, then there was the beechnut auto gyro. She flew that around as well. That was a new plane that was a short takeoff and landing plane with the rotor on the top. That was a whole different design. That took some time to learn how to fly that. And she flew that across country and back. And the second day that she flew it she went up dean an altitude record in that. She wasnt afraid of technology, she wasnt afraid of trying something new. She did have her crackups but so did other people. Everyone is testing out all these new designs. Shes not afraid of technology or a challenge. In fact shes eager for it thats what keeps her going. So after the derby, the women who participated in it, they finally found all these other women who were very interested in flying, just like them. They really didnt know each other. And there were two Different Levels of flying in the derby, and once they got to know each other they did what all pilots do talk about opportunities and jobs and airplanes and decided that they needed to have their own group and so they created a group that would be for social and networking purpose, finding jobs, all of the above. Female pilots obviously lacked the social and economic independence that men had, and they were it was harder for them to get aircraft. They couldnt get paid, couldnt get jobs. Most of the jobs they had were very, very small and didnt pay well. So they sent out a group of women organized, sent out letters to the 285 licensed female pilots. 99 responded and 26 actually showed up at valley stream, new york to organize the club and thats the image of them here. Amelia is in the back there on the left, about three or four in. And in the front, on the front right is faye wells. When i came into this theater i was saying i know i think we spoke here a few years ago. I think faye wells was speak about amelia because she knew amelia so well and a longtime friend of the smithsonian and just a marvelous pilot herself. Shes the one in the flight suit. So, yes. Thats that. Okay. And then now she was being managed by George Putnam. Flying seemed to be the easy part for earhart. She felt a far motherinlaw risk from a stream of marriage proposals from her manager George Putnam. He was married when she first met him but he and his wife dorothy divorced and amelia really had nothing to do with that. It was dorothys idea, she had other plans, she had other interests and she divorced george. George, i dont think minded too much because he really liked amelia and he started proposing to her not long after the divorce. Though she liked him, they were successful business partners, she really valued her independence. And she was afraid it would compromise her life. On the other hand, george was her publicist and he knew what she wanted to do and he was good at it. So she finally married him on her own terms in february of 1931, after delivering a letter of mixed emotions. She dismissed the quote medieval quote of faithfulness and also requested a cruel promise that you will let me go in one year if we find no happiness together. Some called it a marriage of convenience. They remained together and while other husbands of women pilots often objected to their wives flying george kept amelia on a treadmill. She chose the flights, he booked the alexandr the lectures. Putnam was demanding and not wellliked by any of her friend. But bobby had to admit, she said i might have been famous if i had a promoter like george. So, she was still flying with friends, louise, Eleanor Smith and ruth nichols. Ruth nichols was quite the competitor. All of them, faye won the womens air derby. Nichols was trying to flierks had an idea to fly the trick. Amelia was getting the idea to fly atlantic. She had done it as a passenger but she felt she hadnt done enough flying yet. She was doing a variety of race, doing a variety of shows, but she felt she really needed to show the discipline and show that she could actually accomplish a flight like this. So she bought a differentin  lockheed vega than the one she used in the derby, the red one that we have in the collection of the national air and space museum and determined to prove herself she decided to slow the atlantic. She thought a transatlantic flight would bring her respect, something that other women sought too. Ruth nichols already had made an attempt in 1931, crashing in canada, but she recovered and was planning another flight within a few weeks of earhart taking of

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