Amelia Earhart

The personal papers of aviator Amelia Earhart will soon become more accessible to visitors and scholars thanks in part to a new climate-controlled archive that is being built on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Purdue Libraries’ and Special Collections Center will house Purdue University’s rare collections, including those of Earhart, a former lecturer at the University.

Purdue is home to the George Palmer Putnam collection of Amelia Earhart papers, the world’s largest collection of papers, memorabilia and artifacts related to the late aviator. The collection documents the personal life, aviation career and business activities of Earhart. The papers are divided into seven categories, from Earhart’s flying career to oversized materials.

“We will be able to preserve the unique collections and attract valuable private collections of generations of distinguished Purdue alumni,” said James L. Mullins, dean of libraries.

The 12,368-square-foot center has a price tag of approximately $2.7 million and will be equipped with both security and fire-suppression systems to protect the papers. Plans also call for a scholarly research reading room and a classroom for up to 30 people.

Construction is scheduled to begin next October and be complete by August 2008.

Earhart served as a counselor in the study of careers for women and an advisor in aeronautics at Purdue University in 1935. One year later, she purchased a Lockheed Electra airplane with funds from the Purdue Research Foundation. With her new plane Earhart began planning a world flight at the equator.

For more information about the George Palmer Putnam collection of Amelia Earhart papers at Purdue University, visit their Web site at www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/aearhart/.

Amelia Earhart’s latest journey has landed her a spot in the California Hall of Fame.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, first lady Maria Shriver, inducted Earhart and 10 other individuals into the hall of fame on Wednesday, Dec. 6 in a red carpet ceremony that took place in Sacramento.

Earhart, who moved to California sometime around 1920, obtained the urge to fly after attending a stunt-flying exhibition with her father in Long Beach. A short time later, she took her first flight lessons at Kinner Field near Long Beach. Earhart never looked back.

Members of Earhart’s family were on hand for the ceremony and received a Spirit of California sliver medal plated with gold and adorned with green ribbon. The medal was designed by internationally-acclaimed artist Robert Graham, known for his Quetzalcoatl statue in San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

The California Hall of Fame is the brainchild of Shriver, who called the event “an extraordinary night for California.”

Additional inductees included Clint Eastwood, Cesar Chavez, Sally Ride, Billie Jean King and Ronald Regan, among others.

The audacious journey of Amelia Earhart is etched in history books across the globe? and her perplexing disappearance still boggles the mind of researchers everywhere. Although her name is now synonymous with aviation today, Earhart was somewhat catapulted into the lime life in her time. The original musical ?Amelia?s Journey? follows Earhart?s spellbinding journey from unknown individual to unforgettable legend.

Approximately 10 years ago, Annapolis, Maryland attorney/composer-lyricist Doug Schenker crafted the musical out of his fascination with the Atchison, Kansas native?s story. He recruited the assistance of playwright Linda Page and together they brought the story of Earhart?s ascension into fame to life. This will be the third run for ?Amelia?s Journey,? which sold-out houses for its entire run when it premiered one year ago.

The musical traces the relationship of Earhart and publisher-promoter George Palmer Putnam, the man who masterminded her publicity tour and eventually married the famed aviatrix, during the years of 1928 until 1937. In Schenker?s words, ?It follows the relationship between reluctant celebrity Earhart and Putnam, who exploited his media contacts and used multiple commercial sponsors to create a superstar who wrestled with the demons of celebrity.?

The show stars Mary Spencer as Earhart and Scott Tanski as Putnam. Both actors are reprising the roles from previous productions of ?Amelia?s Journey? and are excited to be back playing their respective parts.

?Amelia?s Journey: The Creation of a Reluctant Celebrity? will run at the Chesapeake Arts Center?s Studio Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland until July 31. For more information, please visit www.ameliasjourney.com.

Amelia Earhart will be the focus of a traveling National Geographic exhibit that will hit the road this fall.

?National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure? will provide families with an exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in the thrilling world of maps. Dynamic exhibit elements, grouped by land, sea, air and space themes, invite families to become explorers, chart new territory and plan their own adventures.

The exhibit will feature a number of interactive components and unique artifacts, including charts used by Earhart?s navigator and a pair of aviator goggles worn by Earhart herself! Special Map Walls allow visitors to check out enlarged maps from the journeys of a number of featured explorers, including Earhart.

Developed by the Children?s Museum of Indianapolis in cooperation with National Geographic Society, ?Maps: Tools for Adventure? opens at the Children?s Museum of Indianapolis in October of 2006.

For more information about the exhibit, including a complete tour schedule, click here.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Monday, July 31 that 11 famous Californians, including aviation queen Amelia Earhart, would be inducted into the newly formed California Hall of Fame.

In addition to Amelia Earhart, celebrities to be included in the Hall of Fame include actor Clint Eastwood, former astronaut Sally Ride, Walt Disney and former President Ronald Reagan. The Hearst and Packard families will also be included.

Nancy Reagan, the former president’s widow, said in a statement that her husband’s life “embodied the California dream, and he loved this state with all his heart. I am very touched that his life continues to be an inspiration to so many.”

The formal induction ceremony for the hall of fame will be held on December 6, 2006. The location for the hall of fame will be the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. Sponsored by Bank of America, the hall is intended to celebrate the achievements of Californians in the areas of the arts, education, business, labor, science, sports, philanthropy and public service. New members will continue to be inducted each year and chosen based on merit and current events.

The small town of Atchison, Kan., a charming and historic city on the bluffs of the Missouri River in the northeast corner of Kansas, is home to the birthplace of the world?s most famous aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. As a tribute to their most famous town daughter, the city hosts a yearly weekend long ?Amelia Earhart Festival,? which took place on July 14 and 15.

The idea for the festival began when the town decided to celebrate the 100th birthday of Amelia Earhart in 1996. The first festival included food, fun and fireworks and was originally planned as a one-time event.

The festival turned out to be such a big hit that it became an annual event and a tradition. Thousands of Earhart admirers travel to the Kansas town each year to celebrate and mingle with other fans. The fireworks show is one of the highlights of the festival, as festival-goers all make sure they obtain a prime spot for the show directly on the banks of the Missouri river.

Highlights of the 2006 festival included a Friday evening lakeside concert, a downtown fair with arts and crafts booths, live entertainment, food vendors, children?s activities, panel discussion with authors and researchers, a luncheon honoring the 2006 recipient of the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award, a speakers? symposium featuring women of achievement, a number of exciting carnival rides, aerobatic performances and a spectacular fireworks display over the Missouri River.

Amelia Earhart?s accomplishments will forever be remembered and continue to influence others to achieve their dreams. For more information on the festival and Amelia?s birthplace, please visit http://www.atchisonkansas.net.

After Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, a wealthy American woman living in London named Mary Guest expressed an interest in being the first woman to make the trip. After deciding it was too dangerous to undertake herself, she instead opted to sponsor the project, suggesting that they find “another girl with the right image.” In April 1928, Amelia Earhart got the call.

Earhart interviewed with the project coordinators (who included publisher George P. Putnam, her future husband), and was asked to join with famed pilot Wilmer Stultz and co-pilot/mechanic Louis Gordon on the historic flight. Although Earhart was nominally to be a passenger, she piloted the plane for part of the journey noting in the log book, “If anyone finds that wreck, know that the non-success was caused by my getting lost in a storm for an hour.” The team left Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland in a Fokker F7 on June 17, 1928, and arrived in Burry Point, Wales, United Kingdom, approximately 21 hours later. When they returned to the States they received a ticker tape parade in New York and a reception by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

Earhart went on to become one of the most celebrated aviators of the day – male or female – until her tragic disappearance in 1937 while trying to circumnavigate the globe by plane.

?We?re very proud to offer to the collecting public the historic original flight plan from the 1928 transatlantic flight, consigned directly by the surviving nephew of Wilmer Stultz,? said Tom Slater, Director of Americana auctions for Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries. ?On a color-tinted map of the North Atlantic, pilot Stultz carefully marked off the intended flight plan, tracing the journey from its original starting point at Boston, through Newfoundland, and ultimately ending on the coast of Wales. Meticulously written by Stultz in red are the exact longitude and latitude references for dozens of islands, cities, etc, which could serve as landmarks during the flight, or if they veered off course.?

?Also included is the original contract under which Stultz agreed to make the flight,? said Slater. ?Under this agreement, Stultz received a salary of $250 per week while preparing for the flight, plus a bonus in the princely amount of $20,000 upon successful completion – this “carrot” being a clear indicator of the risks involved.?

Slater added, ?Knowing well the risks of transatlantic flight, as he had attempted such a feat previously with another patron, Stultz turned to his friend, Commander Richard Byrd, the noted South Pole explorer – in fact, the plane flown by Stultz and Earhart was the same one that Byrd had previously used in his historic flight over the South Pole – writing him and asking that he hold the $20,000 promised fee as an independent third party, apparently not trusting that his wife would receive the money if something befell him before he was able to return to America to claim it. Byrd’s actual letter to Stultz, agreeing to perform this favor, also accompanies this lot. Following this adventure, Stultz became the personal pilot of John Hay Whitney. Tragically, he was killed in a test flight of Whitney’s Waco Speedwing biplane over Roosevelt Field, Long Island, on July 1, 1929.?

Adding addition display appeal are two more items: an original 8″ x 10″ photograph of Wilmer Stultz and Amelia Earhart aboard the U.S.S. President Roosevelt, and Stultz’s personal pilot’s license. The license pictures a great, youthful photo of Wilmer and is signed by none other than Orville Wright, who was Chairman of the issuing authority – the National Aeronautic Association of the United States of America.

?Heritage has had a great deal of success offering Amelia Earhart items in the past,? Slater said. ?In December 2005, we sold the famed aviatrix?s flying cap for $16,730, and a pair of her goggles for $2,987. Truly scarce by any definition of the term, material associated with this pioneer aviatrix is in demand by collectors world-wide.?

?The term ?museum piece? has never been more fitting than when discussing this historic artifact,” said Slater. ?This exquisite map is not only of tremendous historical importance, but possesses tremendous display appeal; sure to be the focal point of any aviation collection!?

Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the historic Amelia Earhart documents in their upcoming Political Memorabilia and Americana Signature auction, to be held June 7, 2006 at their headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

For more information about Heritage?s auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HeritageAuctions.com.