Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “Daughter of the Sky: The Story of Amelia Earhart” written by Paul L. Briand and published in 1960. As the New York Times wrote in their review of the book when it was published “While so many were struggling to keep themselves or their business intact, this fine, calm young woman from 1928 to 1937, experienced a whole series of spectacular successes.”
Earhart was an American pioneer of aviation. In 1937 she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her life, she embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance has become a cultural icon. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and she set many other records.
Recently, in 2024, a company that operates unmanned underwater vehicles found via sonar what appears to be the remains of an airplane on the ocean floor near Howland Island. The object, shaped like her particular plane, was located along the path she had been expected to fly in the Pacific Ocean. More exploration, however, is necessary to confirm whether this is indeed Earhart's missing aircraft.