Description of Figure/Doll

Link to higher resolution images at ClipPix

USA: Kansas

Location: Midwest USA

Capital: Topeka

Main language: English

Currency: US dollar

Figure/Doll

Construction: plastic, leather

Height in Centimeters: 30

Height in Inches: 12

Amelia Earhart: Pilot from Kansas Who Disappeared in Pacific Ocean

Reading Level: 5.05

My name is Amelia Earhart. I was born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897. As a little girl, I was what you might call a tomboy.  I loved collecting insects and frogs. I learned to shoot a rifle, and I used it to kill rats in the barn. It was much more fun to be outside with dogs and horses than in the house with dolls!

Kansas is a very flat state with many fields. More wheat is grown in Kansas than any other state. Way back in 1897, there were no cars in Kansas. Instead, we had horses to travel from one place to another. I often dreamed about being able to fly like a bird, but that certainly seemed impossible.

Then, a few years later, Wilbur and Orville Wright made history by flying the first airplane at Kitty Hawk. Suddenly my dream did not feel so impossible. Of course I was still a girl, and girls were supposed to be nurses or doctors.

So, I went to school and became a nurse. I was happy being a nurse and helping people, especially during World War I. Then, when I was 23 years old, I had my first airplane ride. At that point, I knew I had to be a pilot.

It costs a lot of money to learn to fly. You have to pay the instructor and either rent or buy an airplane. I borrowed some money from my mother and worked very hard. When I finally earned my pilot’s license, I set a new record for female pilots.  I flew up to 14,000 feet - higher than any other woman had before. I set a few other records in the small planes that were available back then.

Five years later (1925), I was invited to be the navigator on an flight across the Atlantic Ocean. After 21 hours of flying, the plane landed in Wales. I was the first woman to fly across the ocean!

When I got back to America, I was treated like a hero They had a ticker tape parade for me in New York.  I even got to meet the President at the White House.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made headlines as the first pilot to fly a plane all by himself across the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly, I had a new goal – I wanted to be the first woman to fly to Europe. So on May 20, 1932, I took off from Canada in a bright red plane with one engine. The flight was very dangerous. I ran into bad weather, thick clouds and ice. But I did it!! After 14 hours, I landed in a cow pasture in Northern Ireland. I was the second person to cross the ocean by myself. I was the first woman to ever do so. When I got home this time, I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress.
 
Still I was not satisfied.  I wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. So, in 1937, I and my navigator took off from Florida. We flew across Africa and Asia to New Zealand. However tragedy struck. As we flew to an island in the Pacific Ocean, we crashed. We were never heard from again. It was like we just disappeared from the earth. The United States government searched for over three weeks, but they could not find us.

Even though my life ended in that plane crash, I hope that other women will “reach for the sky” and follow their dreams.