The Mystery of Amelia Earhart

The Amelia Earhart US Airmail stamp was issued on July 24 1963. But who was Amelia Earhart and why was she so important? This stamp story will uncover the mystery of Amelia Earhart.

This stamp features the plane used in her final flight.

Amelia Earhart's history

In 1904, there was a seven year old girl from rural Kansas called Amelia Earhart. She made a ramp from the roof of her family's garden shed and hurled herself down in a wooden box.

At school and college, she was solitary and hard-working, and she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do when she grew up. During WWI, she volunteered as a nurse and met wounded pilots, which started her interest in the world of planes.

In 1920 she flew in an aeroplane for the first time, minutes into the flight she knew what she wanted to do. Not many women flew in those days, so this was a difficult task to complete.

She saved up for flying lessons and in 1921 bought her own second hand plane. In October 1922, she set a new altitude record for female pilots, 14,000 feet. However, she had to give up this dream when her family were struggling financially.

In 1927, she was part of a crew of three who flew across the Atlantic. At the time, only a few people had achieved this.

Why is Amelia Earhart important?

Earhart was suddenly a celebrity; she carefully built on this. She wrote a book, advertised leisure clothing and became a passionate advocate for female equality. She became the first woman to fly solo around the USA.

In 1932, she took on an even bigger challenge a solo flight across the Atlantic. These flights could last around 15 hours, during this time the pilot had to stay alert and focused the whole time. The flight would push the plane to its limits, if something went wrong you would drown.

None of this fazed Amelia and she completed the flight from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland in May 1934. The only challenge that now mattered to Amelia was to be the first woman to fly around the world.

In May 1937, she set off with her navigator Fred Noonan. They completed Brazil, Africa, India, Australia and New Guinea.

On 2nd July, she took off from New Guinea heading to Howard Island in the mid-pacific. This was the most dangerous part of the journey. She never arrived.

Since then, the mystery about what happened to Earhart and Noonan has been rife. So many theories surround what happened but even after extensive searches, no traces could be found. To this day, the mystery about what happened to Amelia Earhart remains an unanswered one.

However, 88 years since Earhart's disappearance, satellite images are causing a stir. Taken of a lagoon on Nikumaroro, researchers at Purdue University believe it is an image of Earhart's plane. A research team will now go and investigate this in November of this year.

Maybe 2025 will resolve the mystery of Amelia Earhart.

Amelia Earhart and Feminism

She was and still is a huge figure in the world of feminism. She challenged gender roles and shone in a career that was male led. She actively supported the National Women's Party and the Equal Rights Amendment. She used her fame to promote gender equality.

Even though media was in its early days of creation. Earhart and her husband, George Putnam, understood the power of media. They used it to promote her image as a role model and advocate for women's advancement.

Her legacy and story inspires so many women today. She has inspired women to pursue their ambitions and challenge the gender roles. She is a celebrated feminist figure.

Learn more about the history of Amelia Earhart in our next edition of Stamp Collector magazine. In stores this Friday.