Celebrating Amelia Earhart

July 24th is National Amelia Earhart Day, an annual celebration of the aviation pioneer who has inspired generations of women and girls to dream outside of traditional roles. Who was this woman who remains an icon decades after her 1937 disappearance? Learn more in today’s podcast. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good

(00:27):
for Today. Whenever the most famous women in American history
are named, Amelia Earhart always makes the list. In fact,
in seven, at the time her plane disappeared over the Pacific,
this record breaking aviator was as big a star as
Greta Garbo. During the nineteen thirties. She was the subject

(00:47):
of countless magazine articles, newsreels, songs, and books. She endorsed
products ranging from Kodak film to beach nutgum, and she's
still a popular icon. Amelia Earhart routinely shows up on
magazine and covers, from MS to national geographic. Movies still
get made about her, so this is the perfect time
to celebrate her life. Today is National Amelia Earhart Day,

(01:10):
which would also have been her a hundred and twenty
third birthday. So who was this woman who inspired so many?
Born on July seven in Kansas, Amelia Earhart never worried
about sticking to the rolls defined for women in her day.
As a girl, she played basketball, took an auto repair course,
and later attended college. In nineteen twenties, she signed up

(01:33):
for flying lessons, and shortly after her twenty fifth birthday
in ninety two, she bought her first plane, a bright
yellow secondhand biplane she called the Canary. In nineteen thirty two,
Earhart made headlines by becoming the first woman to fly
solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was only the second person,
after Charles Lindbergh to accomplish that feat. Now her approach

(01:56):
to life could be summed up by one of her quotes.
Women must try to do things as men have tried,
she said. When they failed, their failure must be but
a challenge to others. Her fame was huge in June
of ninety seven when she set out with her flying
partner Fred Noonan to become the first woman to fly
around the world. The pair left from Miami, and we're
on their final leg of the journey over the Central Pacific.

(02:19):
When they're playing lost radio contact. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered
a major two week search, but Earhart and Nonon were
never found Amelia Earhart was more than a glamorous aviator. Historians.
Susan Ware told PBS she didn't just fly for herself,
she flew for women. She deliberately pushed this message to

(02:39):
encourage women to follow their dreams and to do what
they wanted. If she were alive today, Amelia Earhart would
undoubtedly call herself a feminist. She was an avid supporter
of the National Women's Party, and in nine thirty two
she lobbied President Hoover on behalf of what was then
known as the Lucretia Mott Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment.
She also helped to stab at the ninety nine a

(03:01):
Women's Aviation Club. The organization is still around, with more
than a hundred and fifty chapters in the US and Canada.
Amelia Earhart lived a life of purpose and meaning, one
that continues to provide a beacon for women today. So
here's something good for today. We can all take inspiration
from the life of Amelia Earhart, even if we never

(03:22):
get behind the controls of a plane. Her advice still resonates.
One of my favorite sayings from her is the most
difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is
merely tenacity, and she was unapologetically herself. She dresses she pleased,
she did as she pleased, and she never looked back.
And as she said quote, decide whether or not the

(03:43):
goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop
worrying and keep her example in mind whenever you see
a woman breaking a barrier. The Navy just announced its
first black female jet fighter pilot. NASA says, a woman
will walk on the moon. In this line of fearless
American women goes back to Amelia Earhart. So let's say

(04:04):
thank you to her on her a hundred and twenty
third birthday. Thank you for listening, and please share today's
something Good with others in your life. This is Kim Azzarelli,
co author of Fast Forward and co founder of Seneca Women.

(04:26):
To learn more about Seneca Women, go to Seneca Women
dot com or download the Seneca Women app free in
the app store. Care Something Good is a production of
the Seneca Women podcast network and I Heart Radio Have
a Great Day. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

(04:47):
check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.