This collection consists of material collected and organized by Doris L. Rich during research in preparation for her 1989 book, Amelia Earhart: A Biography. Materials include reproductions of newspapers, books, periodicals, correspondence, and typed/handwritten notes by Rich.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of material collected and organized by Doris L. Rich during research in preparation for her 1989 book, Amelia Earhart: A Biography. Materials include reproductions of newspapers, books, periodicals, correspondence, and typed/handwritten notes by Rich.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 5 series, based upon the original order provided by Doris L. Rich.
Series 1: Biographical Files
Series 2: Amelia Earhart Chronology
Series 3: Historical Chronology
Series 4: Book Correspondence
Series 5: Subject Files and Bibliography
Information added by processing archivist is in brackets. Most notably, Doris L. Rich maintained a very formal tone in her correspondence, frequently addressing women by their married name only, ex. Mollison, Mrs. James. The processing archivist has added additonal name information in brackets when possible, ex. [Amy Johnson].
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. An exhaustive sea and air search, ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt, was unsuccessful in locating Earhart and Noonan.
Doris L. Rich (1920-2009) was a freelance journalist and photographer in Hong Kong from 1949 to 1967. She taught English in Bangladesh and Ghana before moving to Washington, DC in the late 1970s. Her first book, Amelia Earhart: A Biography, was published by the Smithsonian Press in 1989. In the book, Rich downplays Earhart's disappearance and instead focuses on Earhart's many contributions to the aviation field and her championing of women's rights. The book was proclaimed one of the Notable Books of the Year by the New York Times in 1990 and served as the basis for Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight, a made-for-television movie in 1994.
Provenance:
Doris L. Rich, Gift, 1990, NASM.1991.0003
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
Through the glass ceiling to the stars the story of the first American woman to command a space mission Colonel Eileen M. Collins, USAF (Retired), NASA astronaut, with Jonathan H. Ward
Dale Butler Sigler (1885--1965) joined the US Navy in April 1908 and became part of the Aviation Corps in the summer of 1911 as one of the first group of aviation mechanics. This scrapbook was compiled by Dale Butler Sigler and consists of photographs, drawings, and ephemera regarding the early days of US Naval aviation.
This collection is in English.
Scope and Contents:
This scrapbook was compiled by Dale Butler Sigler prior to his death in 1965, and consists of photographs, drawings, and ephemera regarding the early days of US Naval aviation. In addition to Sigler, prominent figures in naval aviation shown in the scrapbook include John Rodgers; Theodore Gordon "Spuds" Ellyson; John H. Towers; Victor Daniel Herbster; and Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Aircraft shown in the scrapbook include the Wright (Co) Model B, US Navy Aircraft; Curtiss A-1 (AH-1); and Curtiss A-2 (Owl, E-1, AX-1). The scrapbook also includes information on the first two Navy airfields: Greenfield Point, Maryland and North Island, San Diego Bay, California. The scrapbook also contains a four-page biography of Dale B. Sigler and his career in naval aviation.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Dale Butler Sigler (1885--1965) joined the US Navy in April 1908 and became part of the Aviation Corps in the summer of 1911 as one of the first group of aviation mechanics. Sigler left the US Navy in April 1912.
Provenance:
United States Navy, Gift, 1966, NASM.XXXX.0295.
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.
![view "Amelia Earhart: A Biography" [Rich] Collection digital asset: Finding aid](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/findingaid.gif "Finding aid")
