Amelia M. Earhart Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas and she was an American aviation pioneer and author who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Earhart first gained national attention in 1928 when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane as a passenger on a flight piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon. She authored 20 Hrs., 40 Min., recounting the flight. That same year, she was appointed aviation editor for Cosmopolitan magazine and co-founded The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots.

Throughout the 1930s, Earhart set multiple aviation records. She was the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California, in 1935. She also made solo flights from Los Angeles to Mexico City and from Mexico City to Newark. Her aircraft of choice for many record flights was the Lockheed Vega and later the Lockheed Electra.

In 1937, Earhart began an attempt to circumnavigate the globe with navigator Fred Noonan in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra. After completing more than 22,000 miles of the journey, the aircraft disappeared on July 2, 1937, during the flight from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean. A massive search effort followed, but neither Earhart, Noonan, nor the plane was found.

Earhart was also known for her work as an advocate for women's rights and for promoting women in aviation. She held a faculty position at Purdue University beginning in 1935 as a career counselor and advisor to the Department of Aeronautics.

Amelia Earhart's final resting place remains unknown. Her disappearance continues to be the subject of investigation and public fascination.