Amelia Earhart
1897–1937 · American (Kansas) · Interwar Period
Known for: First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic—disappeared over the Pacific during an around-the-world attempt in one of aviation's greatest mysteries
Earhart was a tomboy who took her first airplane ride in 1920 and immediately knew she had to fly. She set multiple aviation records and became the most famous woman in America. She was feminist, independent, and media-savvy—carefully managing her public image.
She married publisher George Putnam but insisted on an equal partnership, writing him a letter before the wedding saying she wouldn't hold him to a 'medieval code of faithfulness.' She and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared near Howland Island on July 2, 1937. Their fate remains unknown.
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