Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) in 1928 was the first woman to fly (as a passenger) across the Atlantic, and in 1932 the first woman (and second person, after Charles Lindbergh) to fly solo and nonstop across that ocean. She flew many record flights, published several books and accomplished much for women in aviation. This collection consists of a file of correspondence, telegrams, official Coast Guard dispatches from the USS Itasca, and reports relating to the planning of Amelia Earhart's 1937 flight and the naval search for her after her disappearance.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a file of correspondence (predominantly carbon copies), telegrams, official Coast Guard dispatches from the USS Itasca, and reports relating to the planning of Amelia Earhart's 1937 flight and the naval search for her after her disappearance. The file contains correspondence signed by George Putnam and some of the correspondence relates to the radio frequencies that were to be used/were used by Earhart during her trip. This file evidently belonged to W. T. Miller, who was Airways Superintendent at the Bureau of Air Commerce, United States Department of Commerce. Miller was very involved in asserting sovereignty over Pacific Islands, such as Howland, during the late 1930s.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original reverse chronological order.
Biographical / Historical:
Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) in 1928 was the first woman to fly (as a passenger) across the Atlantic, and in 1932 the first woman (and second person, after Charles Lindbergh) to fly solo and nonstop across that ocean. She flew many record flights, published several books and accomplished much for women in aviation before attempting on June 1, 1937, an around-the-world flight from Miami, Florida in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. She and navigator Frederick J. Noonan were flying from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island when they disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. A exhaustive sea and air search, ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt, was unsuccessful in locating Earhart and Noonan.
Provenance:
John Davison, Gift, 2010, NASM.2011.0006
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
