famous women

Who is Amelia Earheart?

05/10/2010 liza 0Comment

Amelia EarheartI first heard about Amelia Earheart when I learned the lyrics of A Walk to Remember’s soundtrack, Someday We’ll Know which is sung by the New Radicals and Mandy Moore feat. Jonathan Foreman. And that line is…

Jonathan:
Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?

From then on, I became fascinated about her. So who is Amelia Earheart and why this song is uncertain about her “whereabouts”

According to Wikipedia,

Amelia Mary Earhart; (born July 24, 1897; missing July 2, 1937; declared legally dead January 5, 1939) was a noted American aviation pioneer and author.[1][2] Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross,[3] awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.[4] She set many other records,[2] wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.[5] Earhart joined the faculty of the world-famous Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman’s Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day.

I was inspired by her story and will to achieve what she really wanted. There have been also several news before about her being spotted in various places, confusing people if she really disappeared, just hiding or playing spy for the American government. Just recently, I learned that there’s a film about her, played by Hilary Swank, “Amelia”. I’m not sure if it has been shown already but this is the trailer.

I would like to quote one two lines from this movie.

Richard Gere: Why do you want to fly?
Hilary Swank (playing as Amelia): I want to be free.

While I don’t feel her eagerness to be the first woman to fly around the world but I’m a woman and I know how she feels. It’s certainly a pride to become someone that the nation would look up to and be remembered while doing something that you really love doing.

I say to myself that if there’s another woman whom I would like to meet, if given a chance aside from Mama Mary, then that would be Amelia Earheart.

Here’s another documentary clip made by History.com about what happened to Amelia Earheart.

Image by: Wikipedia

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