My name is Ameila Earhart. I was born on July 24, 1891, in Atchison, Kansas.  My parents' names are Amy Otis and Edwin Stanton Earhart.  My little sister Muriel was born two years after I was. 

When I was little Muriel and I would visit our grandparents’ house. We would seek out adventures, explore the neighborhood, climb trees, hunt for animals, and go joyriding on my sled.

My family moved around because my dad struggled to find employment. We moved to Chicago, IL in 1915. I attended Hyde Park High School.  I learned to be independent and responsible because of my childhood circumstances. These experiences help build my character.

Class 

  of 

1916

I graduated High school in 1916. After graduation, I went to visit my sister in Toronto, Canada for a Christmas vacation. Upon my return, I decided to volunteer as a nurse’s aide for the Red Cross.

During my time as a nurse's aid, my interest in aviation took flight. I gained a new perspective about the sky.  

I made the decision to enroll in medical studies at Columbia University in 1919 but that did not last long. It was about a year into school when my parents got reunited and I left school to be with my family. 

In 1920 at an air show in Long Beach, I got to ride in a plane for the first time. I knew I wanted to be a pilot before the plane could touch the ground. 

In the summer of 1921, I was able to purchase my first plane. I nicknamed her, “ The Canary”. The name suited it well; It was a Kinner Airster biplane painted bright yellow. On October 22, 1922, I flew The Canary 14,000 feet, which set an altitude record for female pilots. 

I was issued my pilot’s license on May 16, 1923, and became the 16th woman to be issued one.

My family needed money to survive so I decided to sell The Canary. I did not think I could make an honest living flying a plane.

My parents soon divorced in 1924. My mother and I set out on our own adventure. We began in California and ended up in Boston. 

In 1927 I got back into aviation and joined the American Aeronautical Society’s Boston Chapter. While in the Boston area I gained experience with airplanes being a sales representative for Kinner airplanes. I also wrote articles related to flying in the local newspaper.

Charles Lindbergh completed a solo flight nonstop from New York to Paris. About a year later I received a phone call. It was Captain Hilton H. Railey, who was a pilot and a publicity man. He asked me, “ Would you like to fly the Atlantic?”

My heart sank and I gathered my voice and said “Yes.” I then traveled to New York and had several interviews and deliberated with project coordinators. They had chosen me to be the first woman on a transatlantic flight.

The transatlantic flight took off from Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland in an airplane named Friendship. Wilmer ‘Bill” Stultz was the pilot and Louis E. “Slim” Gordon was the co-pilot. I did not get to pilot the plane on the 20 hours and 40-minute flight that ended up touching down at Burry Point, Wales. I took the transatlantic flight on June 17, 1928, and it just grew my ambition more to want to be able to fly by myself. I was given the nickname “Lady Lindy”, created from Lindberg’s own nickname.